Vactra 4 vs Vactra 2

[SteveM]

Found a partial gallon each of both Vactra 4 and Vactra 2 at Dad's house.

The "lifetime supply" gallon that I bought 15 years ago is #2.

#4 is ISO 220 and #2 is ISO 68, so, 4 is thicker (or thickerer if you are old enough to get that reference).

Why would I use one vs the other?

Steve

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,

That would depend on the lubrication specifications
for the piece of machinery in question. Most of the
smaller machines that the home shop machinist is likely
to see would use the Vactra #2 but some larger machines
could need the Vactra #4.

Also, Vactra #4 stays put better on vertical surfaces
than #2.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

[SteveM]

Also, Vactra #4 stays put better on vertical surfaces than #2.

Ah, good for the knee on the mill.

Steve

[John Hasler]

> Ah, good for the knee on the mill.

Which causes me to consider Lucas engine oil additive for the knee on my Avey: it's supposedly ISO 1500 and it is *way* stickier than chain saw oil.

[Harold_V]

Vactra is reported to have properties that manage "stick-slip". Lucas engine oil may not have that protection, so it may not be a good choice. I Don't know, so if you learn anything please post on the subject.

H

[John Hasler]

Vactra oil is not going to happen, so its the Lucas or more of the chainsaw oil I've been using. The latter works well on the table ways but tends to run off the vertical ways.

[SteveR]

I use Vactra #2 on my mill and lathe ways. I thought I would capture this as a reference.

From the Mobil Vactra website:https://www.mobil.com/English-US/Indust ... red-Series

"Mobil Vactra Oil Numbered Series products are recommended for the lubrication of machine tool slideway systems. They are designed for use with combinations of cast iron, steel and non-metallic way materials. Mobil Vactra Oil Numbered Series may be applied by hand, forced-feed lubricator or in flood application by circulation system.

Mobil Vactra Oil No. Series of products are suitable for use in applications that require Fives Cincinnati specifications P53, P47, and P50.
Mobil Vactra Oil No. 1 and No. 2 are recommended for horizontal slideways on small to medium size machine tools. They are also suitable for circulating application in large machines and as a moderate duty hydraulic fluid.
Mobil Vactra Oil No. 3 and No. 4 are normally recommended for large machines where way pressures are high and good precision is required. They are also recommended for vertical and inclined slideways where drain-down can be a problem and for moderate service machine tool gear drive mechanisms.
Mobil Vactra Oil Numbered Series can be used for lubrication of ball screws, linear guides, headstocks, translating screws.
Mobil Vactra Oil Numbered Series is recommended for applications where oil contamination of the aqueous coolants shortens coolant batch life."

Here is the relationship to SAE oils - sorry- I can't figure out how to make a nice table:
Vactra# ISO Viscosity Grade Equivalent SAE Grade
#1 32 10W
#2 68 20W
#3 120 ~33W
#4 220 50W

SteveR

[SteveM]

Thanks, Steve. Very good information.

Steve

[Glenn Brooks]

steve, great info! +1 on the Thanks!!

Iam just using some Vactra #2 to recondition an old Cincinnati table top 18” lathe residing at the Hawaii Railroad
Society Shops in Ewa. #2 is indeed a fairly thin oil. A bit thinner than the gallon of way oil I bought for use back in Washington. but really nice stuff for lubing up the ways. Interestingly, according to your ISO chart, #2 is the same ISO rating as the standard medium weight hydrolic oil we use in our locomotives. It ‘feels’ like a different formulation though. Must contain additives specific to lubricating machined surfaces that don’t need to be included in low pressure transmissions.

Glenn

[pete]

That oil "feel", I fully sympathize with anyone living far enough away from a machine tool supplier to make getting the real Vactra no. 2 tough to find. I went a lot of years playing with various oils including that easy to get for me chain saw bar oil and even easier hydraulic oil. I finally got fed up with that and tried ordering a gallon of Vactra no. 2 through our local automotive and industrial supplier. Either they didn't want the hassel or it just wasn't available to them but I couldn't get one gallon. I could and did get a 5 gallons of Vactra no.2 though. More than enough to see me out and then some. Either I'm fooling myself just because I know it's the proper slideway oil, or what I found really is true and that there's a noticable improvement in the slides movement on even my smallest lathe. On it the slide movement just feels much more predictable and much smoother even over using light weight machine oil like 3 n 1. Like everyone says any oil is better than no oil, but personaly I'm convinced (or willing to lie to myself) there's enough difference in the Vactra no. 2 to make it worth finding if at all possible. My BP clone mill lube specifications show no. 2 for the table ways and no.4 or no.2 for the vertical knee surfaces. No explanation of why the no. 4 on those, but I've always thought it was logical because they were vertical surfaces and could think of no other reason why they'd use a different weight of way oil there. I use the no. 2 on the knee ways because that's all I have. Oddly it has a one shot lube system that goes to that area as well as the table ways so I'm not sure how two weights of oil could be used unless you blocked the ports off and manualy lubed the knee ways.

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,

Can you order from McMaster-Carr? They sell
in 1 gal (as well as 5 gal.) containers.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

[SteveM]

I got my 1-gallon jug from Enco. MSC is still selling it, although the container looks different (blue instead of black).

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/60002151


Steve