Regular Lathe Oil Maintenance Reduces Downtime and Saves Money

Just like getting regular oil checks on your car, you should maintain the oil supply regularly on your LeBlond lathe.

Everyone that drives a car knows that if you don’t regularly change the oil in your vehicle, the engine will likely break down. If you don’t change the oil on your LeBlond lathe, you could have problems with the bearings and other headstock components. This could require costly repairs of several thousand dollars.

LeBlond Ltd. suggests that you change the oil every 2,000 hours of operation. This is equivalent to yearly oil changes for a regular eight-hour shift and every six months for two eight-hour shifts that your machine shop is in operation.

You should check the oil in the headstock, quick change (QC) box as well as in the apron. These three units have oil sight level gauges, and these gauges are shown in the lathe manuals. It is also important that the hand-operated oil pump on your lathe is functioning correctly. If oil is not flowing from the oil pump, then you should service your machine. For reference, the oil pump is located on the apron and is shown in the parts manual.

It is good practice to keep an oil maintenance chart for your LeBlond lathe. A handwritten document should be sufficient to note the dates when the machine was serviced.

If you have questions on the type of oil that is required for your LeBlond lathe, call LeBlond Ltd. at (888) 532-5663. They sell oil and will answer questions on viscosity and other pertinent requirements.

If you’re interested in new LeBlond or K.O. Lee machines or require original OEM parts for your LeBlond, K.O. Lee, Standard Modern, Johnson Press, Deka Drill and W.F. & John Barnes equipment, call LeBlond Ltd. at (888) 532-5663.