BCA Miller grease nipples and grease guns?

[Arthur MooreParticipant @arthurmoore87122]

Hi everyone, I have been given a BCA miller which has round headed grease nipples about 5.8mm across.

Will something like the Hilka grease gun fit these nipples, or what do I need?

https://hilka.co.uk/manual-grease-gun-set-84800120.html

I do not want grease to leak all over the machine when I try to use the gun on a nipple for the first time.

Thanks for your help, Arthur

[Arthur MooreParticipant @arthurmoore87122]

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I do not want grease to leak all over the machine when I try to use the gun on a nipple for the first time.

Put a cloth down as a precaution? Might even need to be oiled, not greased?

[Arthur MooreParticipant @arthurmoore87122]

Yes – I wondered if they were oil nipples, but I unscrewed one and it is definitely full of grease.

I will definitely put down some cloth, but hope that someone on the site would have found what type of gun best fitted these antique nipples so that not too much goes to waste.

I also wondered if I would be better unscrewing each nipple and putting the end of the grease gun in the hole?

[Phil PParticipant @philp]

I would be using oil and not grease on your BCA, I have Boley & Leinen which is its predecessor and only use oil on that one.

Phil

[Arthur MooreParticipant @arthurmoore87122]

Thanks Phil,

Some of the Boley millers seem to have the same round head grease nipples as mine and some have oil pots. Has yours the round headed grease nipples? If so, are you just squirting oil in the nipple and did you clean out the grease, or was it always oil lubricated?

I am not too worried about the table and vertical slide given the small amount of machining that I need to do.

The thing that has to be right is the main spindle with a grease nipple half way up the column and a horizontal feed from the nipple to the spindle. As I use small diameter mills, Tony at LathesCo said I should consider increasing the diameter of the pulley on the motor to increase the rotational speed, but I would not like to do that without ensuring the spindle was properly lubricated.

[Arthur MooreParticipant @arthurmoore87122]

I thought some photos would help:

The BCA Miller

Grease nipple on front of main spindle

Grease nipple on front of spindle

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Welcome, Arthur

Nice to see the original cotton belt there !

.

The recommended lubrication was:

Main Spindle : 2 Nipples : Oil : Shell Vitrea 37

Slides and Rotary Table : Nipples : Grease : Shell Alvania 2

Rotary Table Worm : Oil : Shell Vitrea 37

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Here’s a useful list of substitutes for the discontinued Vitrea Oils: **LINK**

https://www.lubefinder.com/range/shell-vitrea.html

MichaelG.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Thank you for this question and answers – I have the same machine and was wondering what lubricants it needs.

[Phil PParticipant @philp]

Here is a shot of mine, it has oiler cups where the outer sleeve has a knurled ring that you rotate half a turn to reveal the hole in the top.

Phil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

That’s a beauty, Phil

MichaelG.

[Arthur MooreParticipant @arthurmoore87122]

Thanks for all the useful information. Just what I needed

Phil – your machine is in lovely condition. Did you fully refurbish it and did you use Tony's book and was it useful?

Arthur

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