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Saving a 1943 Springfield Engine Lathe, Part 15:



While I was trying to figure out how the gears came apart, I took a minute to open up the oil wells.
On this box, there were three major oil "wells" at the top- rather than just a drilled hole with a Gits cup pressed in,
these were large (almost 1" dia) "pots" covered with a pressed-in steel disc. The Gits cups just pressed into
the disc, and under them, at the bottom of the well, was a disc of felt. The felt, of course, acting both as a filter
(in case any debris made it past the spring cap of the cup) and as a reservoir, letting oil flow through slowly to
drip-feed the shafts. On this box, one cup was sheared off entirely, and both the others were badly damaged.

The pressed-in discs, too, were all but impossible to get out by prying. So, with a bright idea in mind,
I checked Mcmaster to see if a threaded oil cup was available, and if so, in what threads. Turned out
there's a 5/16" fine thread that was perfect for the already-drilled holes. So I just tapped the
holes in the discs, and used a slide hammer to pop 'em out.



As expected, the one with the sheared-off oil cup was full of junk and debris...



And one of the others had been pumped full of grease.



Continuing with the disassembly...







Once the gear stack was out of the way, I was able to use a fine pin punch to tap the threading plate rivets out from the inside.



I was exceptionally lucky in that the majority of the gears, shafts and bushings were in very good shape.



















And finally, the output shaft drive gear to the leadscrew.






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