Posted by BillS on November 25, 2009 at 00:11:04:
In Reply to: Re: Antique Barber Colman #12 posted by Jim Pollock on November 24, 2009 at 16:54:34:
Well, I'm gonna confess - the lub oil we used was bar chain oil - sticky, viscose, and cheap! You know, the oil used on chain saw bars. At the time, it was the cheapest oil I could buy from the distributor. We had a lot of machines and a lot of oil cups, so it made sense. It stays in the bearings better than most oils. Never had a bit of trouble from using it.
I guess it builds up in the cutting oil but that didn't seem to be a problem either.
I think the center is a good support - I wouldn't go to a lot of trouble to change to a shaft/sleeve arrangement.
Thing about a center - make sure the arbor center stays clean and centered. Best way to be sure is to finish grind the arbor between centers.
We made our arbors out of 4150 preheat treat material. Always stayed straight, almost impossible to bend. Springy and tough. Grind the taper, arbor, and flank, thread it on the lathe, and you've got a winner.