Ways oils

Ways oils collects 19 oils from Chevron, Mobil, Shell in this catalogue. The ISO viscosity grade is the oil's thickness at 40 °C, plus or minus 10 percent. Match the grade the machine manual names before you compare brands. The figures below are the makers' typical values, not a batch certificate. Confirm the current data sheet before you fill a machine. Published viscosity indexes run from 60 to 115. A higher index thins less between 40 °C and 100 °C. That matters in a cold start and in a hot gearbox, and it is not the same thing as the ISO grade. Pour points run from -30 °C to -3 °C. The machine should still start at least 5 °C warmer than the pour point of the oil you pick. 0 are flagged synthetic and 19 are not. Synthetic here means the maker said so. It is not a viscosity grade and it is not, by itself, a reason to leave the ISO grade the manual asks for. None of these rows are tagged PAG. If a data sheet later says polyalkylene glycol, do not mix that oil with a mineral or PAO fill. 8 can be bought in a small package from the retailers linked on each oil page. The others have no listing yet. A missing buy button is not a comment on the oil. Use the table to sort the grade, the viscosity index and the pour point, then open an oil for its data sheet, its equivalents and its buy links. Equivalents on this site are other published oils in the same application and grade. They are not exact substitutes, and the OEM specification still governs.

On a machine tool

Two loops from the Evolvent shop: a gearbox window and a hob under a flood of cutting oil. They are context for the job, not a picture of a brand in the table.

Gears running in oil, seen through a Tsugami gearbox window. Footage by Evolvent.
A 70-tooth gear being hobbed under a flood of cutting oil. Footage by Evolvent.
OilISOKV40VIPourBuy
Chevron Way Lubricant 323233.6115-18—
Shell Tonna S2 M 323232100-30—
Mobil Vacuoline 1405323296-12Yes
Mobil Vactra Oil No 13232—-30Yes
Shell Tonna S2 MX 686868105-24Yes
Chevron Way Lubricant 686864.6104-18—
Shell Tonna S2 M 68686898-24—
Shell Tonna S3 M 68686898-24—
Mobil Vacuoline 1409686896-6Yes
Chevron Way Oil Vistac 686864.661-24—
Mobil Vactra Oil No 26868—-18Yes
Mobil Vactra Oil No 3150156—-6Yes
Chevron Way Lubricant 220220209100-15Yes
Shell Tonna S2 MX 22022022099-15—
Shell Tonna S2 M 22022022098-15—
Shell Tonna S3 M 22022022098-15—
Mobil Vacuoline 141922021596-6—
Chevron Way Oil Vistac 22022020960-15—
Mobil Vactra Oil No 4220221—-3Yes