Tascione

Bought an old Derbyshire lathe. What type of oil should I use for the headstock? The knockout hole in the tailstock spindle does not show any part of the inserted part. How should I go about removing the centering post that is in the spindle? Should I leave it alone? I have never used a lathe before. Don't want to screw up the lathe. I am relying on the videos and guidance from this forum.

Thanks,
Raymond

Raymond
I use Mobile Velocite #6 for my watchmakers lathes. Very good spindle oil. You can get a pint of it up on Amazon for reasonable price.
Your dead center is possibly the wrong one. Not a problem though as long as the taper is correct. I have experienced same problem.
You can grind two parallel flats on the sides of the center to fit a small wrench around or pliers with parallel jaws. Then just twist a little and it will come right out.

Dean

Thank you very much! I had planned on following the video on making a tapered dead center for practice. I didn't want to damage the lathe out of ignorance. Appreciate your help.