Question on proper lubrication for a mill head

[737mechanic]

I was going over the Millport mill I recently bought and noticed the oil cup on the front of the head so attempted to add some oil and it would not take any so I unscrewed it and it was packed with grease which brought my attention the the grease zerk on the side of the head at the same level as the oil cup. Not knowing for sure if this was one of the oil zerk fittings and not a grease fitting I unscrewed it to have a look and it was packed with grease also. I then cleaned out as much grease out of both cavities where the oil cup was and the grease fitting was and blew air through each of them and noticed air would come out the opposite cavity so now I am confused what I should be putting in the oil cup and the grease fitting since they are connected.

Below is a picture of the two points on the head I am talking about, the grease fitting is #1 and the oil cup #2.

Below that is a page from a bridgeport manual after hardinge bought them that says lubrication for the oil cup "None on grease packed heads". So is it safe to assume I should only need to grease the zerk fitting and ingore the oil cup? If so how much grease does it take and what type grease should I use.

[John Evans]

1 That is the lube point for the hi-low range 1/2 teaspoon every 6 months lubri-plate 105
2 I oil that every few uses of the mill , spindle oil.

[spro]

737 verified the channel between the grease fitting and the oil pot. His mill must have sealed bearings. They probably left the oil pot there as an escape hatch so it doesn't load atop something you can't see.

[pete]

Is that the only oil cup on your mill 737? Mines a 3/4 sized BP clone but has a full sized head/ motor on it. There is a grease zerk on the side of the head but I checked before going near it with a grease gun. It takes a light weight spindle oil and that's the fill point that oils the O.D. of the spindle inside the head. It's a total loss system so I just top up as it needs it. Might be worth a good look around that head to see if you've got an oiling point for the spindle as well. I guess I should change out that zerk fitting for an oil cup so there's no future mistakes made if someone doesn't know grease would be real bad idea.

[spro]

This comprehension is pretty important. Consider if the quill bearings are open, replaced sealed bearings above deny oil from getting to those below. If the bearings above are still open and the quill bearings are replaced with sealed bearings, That oil sits upon the seals and will mix with the proper grease inside the bearings.