What oil for Babbitt bearings?

[shane lyall]

I Just set up my (from what I can find on the web, No tags anywhere so not sure) 1900-1910 Fay Eagan 12 inch jointer. I've never owed a machine with Babbitts so it's all greek to me. I do have a couple drip oilers ordered from Amazon but want to run it now. I don't have room for my 6 inch and this beast and my little benchtop unit has such short tables, it just doesn't do the job. As I said, I can't find a lot of info on oil weight to use. I plan to soak them down before start up but with what? I have bar oil for my chainsaw, as well as some motor and air compressor oil on hand but can pick up whatever I need. Any advice? EDIT: I know the drill...No pic...Didn't happen...Heres my proof! LOL! I also got a 3 horse GE IR motor and a second set of knives with it for $400 so, maybe not a full on gloat, still a pretty good deal in my mind. The only thing I'm unhappy with is putting it together by my self! I bet this thing is WELL over 1000 or 1200 pounds! I ended up breaking it down in as many pieces as I could and still struggled!jointer.jpg

[Stephen Cherry]

OWWM has lots on old machines, and how to keep them up.

[Andrew Fleck]

Mobile Velocite #10 is my recommendation. I own a babbitted jointer too and researched the type of oil to use extensively. It took me forever to find the right recommendations, but this is what I settled on and it works great. I'm not saying other oils won't work. They very well may, but I know this one works for sure in my babbitted jointer application. I have my cutterhead spinning at roughly 4300 rpm and my bearings don't get hot or show any kind of wear using this oil. Hope this helps.

[shane lyall]

Thanks guys. That's what I needed.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I use 5w30 in my bandsaw. It does turn a heck of a lot slower though.

[Erik Loza]

It has been many years but I recall my grandpa using regular 30W motor oil on his Babbitt machines. Out of curiosity, anyone try a synthetic motor oil or zinc additive in this type of applicaton? There are lots of benfits to those in internal combustion applications.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Larry Gipson]

It has been many years but I recall my grandpa using regular 30W motor oil on his Babbitt machines. Out of curiosity, anyone try a synthetic motor oil or zinc additive in this type of applicaton? There are lots of benfits to those in internal combustion applications.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Sounds about right. My dad always used a 20 or 30wt non-detergent oil on babbit bearings. He was a chief machinists mate in the Navy for 20yrs and lived inside aircraft carrier engines for several years, which I guess made him a pretty good mechanic.

The Mobile Velocite oil that was recommended looks good though.

Larry

[Benjamin Miller]

I would use 20 weight non-detergent oil. You can buy it at Tractor Supply in 2 gallon containers. 90% of the time, 20 weight non-detergent is the answer to "what oil should I use for x?".

Velocite #10 is a spindle oil, designed for machinery with very tight tolerances and high speeds. I use it in my surface grinder and milling machine. It's very thin, almost like water, so I don't think it would be a good choice for a babbitt matchine -- it will quickly drain out and will need to be constantly added.

[Bradley Gray]

I have a 16" Fay and Egan Jointer. I use the same 30w non detergent that I use in my old Ford Tractor. Does yours have the square head? I had the head of mine reworked by a machinist to hold 4 knives instead of 2 - much smoother cut.

[Larry Edgerton]

It has been many years but I recall my grandpa using regular 30W motor oil on his Babbitt machines. Out of curiosity, anyone try a synthetic motor oil or zinc additive in this type of applicaton? There are lots of benfits to those in internal combustion applications.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

I used Royal Purple synthetic in my Porter. They sponsored our race truck so we had shelves of it. Never had to re-pour the bearings so it must have been ok.

Larry