what is this oil fitting called and how do you oil it?

sgt panties · Apr 22, 2018

Hi, I have a Chinese lathe with about 20 flush style "oiler ports" as in the picture. This is probably a very basic question but it's difficult to research if you don't know what the darn things are called. So... what are these called and how do I oil them?

atomarc · Apr 22, 2018

I'm not sure what other folks call it but I call it a button oiler. I modified the tip of a Plews oil gun with little slots so I could depress the little ball and pump oil through the little side slots of the tip into the fitting.

Stuart

rjs44032 · Apr 22, 2018

Style GB Ball Oiler | GITS Manufacturing

I use GoldenRod oil cans with small tips for these.

Best Regards,
Bob

plastikdreams · Apr 22, 2018

Most of your eagle type dispenser will be able to put oil into them...

L Vanice · Apr 22, 2018

In the USA, the name, as stated by Gits, the major maker, is "ball oiler."

Style GB Ball Oiler | GITS Manufacturing

Most any oil can with a small tip can depress the ball and force oil past it. So no special equipment is needed.

Larry

TDegenhart · Apr 22, 2018

I slipped a short piece of heavy rubber hose over the end of the oiler. Press against the ball oiler and pump. Hydraulic pressure forces oil past the ball. More effective where several squirts of oil are needed such as ways.

Tom

jrmach · Apr 22, 2018

what I would like to know is how do you replace those pos's.
Seems like a lot of times the life expectancy is short

JST · Apr 22, 2018

jrmach said:
what I would like to know is how do you replace those pos's.
Seems like a lot of times the life expectancy is short

Pull old one out, tap in new one carefully (no BFH need apply).

Side cutters may pull the old one, sometimes a wood screw will go in the hole and give enough pull to do it, if the ball etc has gone elsewhere for some reason.

Gordon Heaton · Apr 22, 2018

atomarc said:
I'm not sure what other folks call it but I call it a button oiler. . .

There is a 'button type' lube fitting, usually used with grease, but occasionally in years past also with oil. It is normally used where high pressure injection of the lubricant is required. The fitting has a well-defined neck which accepts the injector much like a shell holder used in reloading.

atomarc · Apr 22, 2018

Gordon Heaton said:
There is a 'button type' lube fitting, usually used with grease, but occasionally in years past also with oil. It is normally used where high pressure injection of the lubricant is required. The fitting has a well-defined neck which accepts the injector much like a shell holder used in reloading.

Gordon,

Yes..I've greased many of those fittings. The Chevron tank farm I worked at had a million big valves and every one had a button fitting on top..just waiting for a couple of pumps of the absolute stickiest grease I have ever seen, It would put baby shit on a blanket to shame. :eek:

Stuart

bridgedog · Apr 22, 2018

The button fittings I have used the most were on Delmag hammers. A little moly mixed with some diesel creates Delmag juice.
Any who have driven a little piling will know what I mean.

thermite · Apr 23, 2018

sgt panties said:
Hi, I have a Chinese lathe with about 20 flush style "oiler ports" as in the picture. This is probably a very basic question but it's difficult to research if you don't know what the darn things are called. So... what are these called and how do I oil them?

View attachment 226608

"Ball oilers" Used in USA also. Logans had 'em, 1950's when SB still used flip-lid Gits.

They need cleaned thoroughly before oiling, lest the dirt and tramp metal particles they ALWAYS trap around the ball be pushed into the lube supply.

Once cleaned, what you want is a pressure oiler with a resilient tip to seal against the bezel around the ball so the pressure reliably pushes the ball back against spring tension so the lube gets IN, not all over the outside.

Smallest and cheapest, "Oregon" - for chain saws or such. Downside is it needs straight-line space back of it to use, even if not much of it.

Any GOOD pump-oiler can be modified with a DIY resilient tip to get into more places more easily if not also already so available store-bought.

Maker SHOULD have shipped one with the lathe, cheap as they can be. Pray it is the worst shortcut they took.

mike 44 · Apr 23, 2018

I replaced all the ball oilers with cup oilers. I screwed a drywall screw into the ball oiler a couple of turns, then pulled straight up by pulling with the claw of a hammer. I bought cup oilers in a metric size from McMaster Carr.
mike

CarbideBob · Apr 23, 2018

Is there a common and off the shelf tip that cleanly oils these little guys?
Not a hack or a lot of handheld force, something made to do the job that a ten year old can handle and not make a mess?
Bob

gregormarwick · Apr 23, 2018

CarbideBob said:
Is there a common and off the shelf tip that cleanly oils these little guys?
Not a hack or a lot of handheld force, something made to do the job that a ten year old can handle and not make a mess?
Bob

After a number of years of casual searching, the answer is apparently: "Nope".

You just need to find an oilcan with a nozzle that's small enough to go inside the hole - which is easier said than done.

Also, the small axial pump style grease guns are reasonably effective, but still fall short on the "not make a mess" part.

Rigor · Apr 23, 2018

L Vanice said:
In the USA, the name, as stated by Gits, the major maker, is "ball oiler."

Style GB Ball Oiler | GITS Manufacturing

Most any oil can with a small tip can depress the ball and force oil past it. So no special equipment is needed.

Larry

In typical American fashion, NO F'ing Metric ones available. When will you guys wake up???

L Vanice · Apr 23, 2018

Rigor said:
In typical American fashion, NO F'ing Metric ones available. When will you guys wake up???

Wake up, mate. You only have to look at their vast selection to find them: Metric Ball Valve Oilers | GITS Manufacturing

They even do BSP threads.

Larry

DDoug · Apr 23, 2018

Rigor said:
In typical American fashion, NO F'ing Metric ones available. When will you guys wake up???

If YOU want Metric fittings...Why don't YOU go get them ?

Instead of complaining about how another country doesn't have them ... :nutter:

Rigor · Apr 23, 2018

L Vanice said:
Wake up, mate. You only have to look at their vast selection to find them: Metric Ball Valve Oilers | GITS Manufacturing

They even do BSP threads.

Larry

Thanks.........too early?????????...............

digger doug said:
If YOU want Metric fittings...Why don't YOU go get them ?

Instead of complaining about how another country doesn't have them ...

Relax digger............I'm not complaining. I just woke up...................

EPAIII · Apr 23, 2018

It seems to me that any of the "pump" style oil cans will have a proper tip for these fittings. It has a cone shape on the outside and a simple hole in the middle. The tip of the cone is smaller than the hole that is holding the ball and when you press it against the ball it pushes it in a bit and the cone seals against that hole so the oil does not leak (in theory anyway). Then the pressure of pumping the oil forces the ball just a bit further and forces the oil past the ball and into the machine.

These oil cans are certainly very common.

pump type oiler - Google Search

CarbideBob said:
Is there a common and off the shelf tip that cleanly oils these little guys?
Not a hack or a lot of handheld force, something made to do the job that a ten year old can handle and not make a mess?
Bob

what is this oil fitting called and how do you oil it?

Plastic

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