About a week or so ago, I found several parts of my system were no longer getting properly oiled. I had a problem once before, that I was able to resolve by blowing out the offending line with air. This time, the lines were not accessible, so some major surgery was required.

I've had this problem with every machine I've owned or worked on - eventually, the oiling system stops working properly, and it is a major PITA to fix, since all the manifolds and flow control valves are buried under the table, and on top of the head.

Rather than just "fix" the problem, I decided to take another approach entirely, and completely replace it. The stock system has 13 oiling points:

X Rear Horizontal sliding surface and Dovetail
X Front Horizontal sliding surface and Dovetail
X Front Dovetall/Gib
X Ballnut
Y Rear Horizontal sliding surface and Dovetail
Y Front Horizontal sliding surface and Dovetail
Y Front Dovetall/Gib
Y Ballnut
Z Linear Guide (X4)
Z Ballnut

One oil pump line feeds the X/Y axes, a second feeds the Z axis. The Z axis has a 5-outlet manifold, located on top of the head, with a #2 check-valve/flow-control-valve on each of the 5 outlets. The X/Y axes have two manifolds connected in series, located between the saddle and table, with a #2 check-valve/flow-control-valve on each of the 8 outlets. The check valves prevent back-flow between circuits when the pump is not active, and also regulate flow to all the oiling points. Trouble is, several of my valves were partially, or completely plugged, and even 125 PSI air was not enough to open them.

To make the system more serviceable, I decided to move all the manifolds outside, where they'd be accessible, and where the oil flow in each circuit could be monitored visually. I also opted to do away with the fixed check valves/flow control valves, and replace them with this kind of manifold, which has a needle valve to adjust the flow to each circuit:

Attachment 247496

To get them quickly I had to take what I could get, which was one 10-circuit and one 8-circuit manifold, both from Amazon. I mounted the 10-circuit manifold to the left side of the saddle, and the 8-circuit manifold to the right side of the head carriage, then ran all new lines to the 13 oiling points. The result is excellent oil distribution, and adjusting how much oil each circuit gets is trivial, since everything is out in the open. As I used translucent white tubing, I can now easily see that each circuit is getting its oil. If anything does clog, I'll be able to clear the clog easily, without having to disassemble the machine.

The only issue I have right now is the Z manifold drains back to the oil pump between uses. I planned all along to have one-way valves on the two pump outlets to prevent exactly this problem but I don't yet have the valves in-hand.

The final step will be to build a very simple piston pump operated by a small air cylinder, and use that to make an auto-oiler.

Here are a couple of pictures of the new manifolds. The X/Y manifold is now mounted to a bracket bolted to the side of the saddle, with a sheet-metal cover over it, to divert coolant.

Attachment 247498 Attachment 247500

This was a big job - it took basically three days, but at this point, I think it was well worth the effort! One thing I will say - this is NOT an easy machine to take apart and re-assemble. Doing the Z axis was not terribly difficult (and I expected that to be the hardest part!), and I was able to do it without actually removing the head or carriage. But the X/Y axes are actually pretty difficult to disassemble and reassemble, compared to the other machines I've worked on. The "easy" way to do it would actually involve completely removing the table and saddle, which I did not want to do, as I was working alone, and the table is too much for one person to handle safely.

Regards,
Ray L.