Spindle oil is a kind of low viscosity anti wear oil which is used for high speed spindles generally in textile industries is also used in machine tools where low viscosity oil required in other industries also. Most of giant oil manufacturer company like Shell, Mobil or Total produce & market spindle oil or slideway oil.
What Is Spindle:
It is a rotating shaft like a spike used for twisting fibers like wool, flax, or yarn. Mostly spindles are used in the spinning industry to convert cotton into yarn.
Spindle Oil:
In the textile spinning industry spindle oil is one of the most used lubricants. Generally, this oil is made from low-viscosity mineral base oil. In most of the spindle oil formulations, there are anti-wear agents, rust, corrosion & oxidation inhibitors as additives. The base oil is highly refined & mostly paraffin based. Mostly Spindle oil 10 & spindle oil 22 are widely used for high speed spindle or low pressure hydraulic applications. The basic characteristics of a good spindle oil should be good oxidation resistance and effective water separation quality. This oil is also known as slides, circulating or bearing oil also.
Spindle Oil Specification:
Appearance of spindle oil is light color or colorless. Mainly low viscosity like 2 ,5 ,10 or maximum 22 viscosity spindle oils are available in the market. If you go though into detail specification of spindle oil you will find that, flash point of this oil is around 150-250°C (ASTM D92),viscosity index likely 100 & pour point -30°C (ASTM D97).
Spindle oil Vs Hydraulic Oil:
In high speed machines, you will find that low viscosity hydraulic oils are used as spindle oil substitutes. It can perform, if you exactly can match the viscosity grade. Many oil manufacturing companies sometimes do this by using viscosity modifiers. But always you should follow the Machine manual for the right oil selection because using hydraulic oil as a spindle oil substitute can hamper machine performance as hydraulic oil does have not high emulsification resistance or water separation capability which is important for the textile spinning spindles.
FAQ:
Q. What Viscosity is Spindle Oil?
Generally, Spindle Oil is low viscosity textile oil for high speed machines, this low viscosity would be 2,5 or 10 cSt at 40°C but sometimes may need 15 or 22 viscosity grade Spindle oil also required.
Q. Is Spindle Oil a mineral Oil?
Yes, its a mineral oil made from highly purified gumming free base oil & some additives for works against emulsification, oxidation ,rust & corrosion.
Final World:
Though Spindle oil is an essential industrial oil specially for the textile spinning sector; but because of its low consumption it’s not too much popular as industrial oil & many spinning operator use spindle oil substitute but for the longevity of spindles & ring frames, everyone should use the spindle oil of right viscosity grade which is recommended by the machine manufacturer.
