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Mini-lathe lubricants

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jemglen:
Can anyone recommend a lubricant for the tumbler, leadscrew and changewheel gears on the 7x12 mini-lathe? I'm in the process of prepping mine (after owning it for two years without using it -- long story  :bang:) and rebuilding the left-hand end I stumbled over what to use to lube the gears  :scratch: Also, having constructed a cover for the apron gears what should they be packed with?

White lithium grease is mentioned elsewhere and I do have some but I don't like the way the stuff emulsifies and just kind of sits there appearing not to do very much.

Bernd:
I've used plain 20w-50w motor oil on my lathe gears. If it works in your car engine it should work fine in your lathe. Another oil I would use would be an oil for manual transmmisions. It's stickeir than motor oil.

As far as grease is conserned I would use any kind of gear grease.

Remember this stuff was engineered for industrial type use so it should work very well for our hobby machines that don't get put through everyday production.

I'm sure if I'm wrong here I'll hear about it from the  :borg:.  :D

Regards,
Bernd

Darren:
Are your 7x12 changewheels plastic? If so, like mine and I wouldn't use any lube with these. No need and lube gets messy   :wave:

websterz:

--- Quote from: jemglen on March 19, 2009, 10:31:23 AM ---Can anyone recommend a lubricant for the tumbler, leadscrew and changewheel gears on the 7x12 mini-lathe? I'm in the process of prepping mine (after owning it for two years without using it -- long story  :bang:) and rebuilding the left-hand end I stumbled over what to use to lube the gears  :scratch: Also, having constructed a cover for the apron gears what should they be packed with?

White lithium grease is mentioned elsewhere and I do have some but I don't like the way the stuff emulsifies and just kind of sits there appearing not to do very much.

--- End quote ---

Are you talking about the aerosol white lithium "grease" or the real stuff that comes in a tube. I tried the spray one time and was not at all happy with it. I switched over to the thicker stuff that comes in a squeeze tube and have been quite satisfied with it. I use it on my my 7x12 lathe as well as my x2 mill with no issues.

jemglen:
Thanks chaps.  :wave:

Darren: plastic changewheels and actually, I did wonder if they might be fine unlubed -- it kind of goes against the grain not to lubricate moving surfaces which are in contact and yet oil and plastic doesn't seem like an especialy good mix either (though Bernd, I appreciate your comments on 20w50).

Websterz: the aerosol stuff. It goes on wet but dries out really quickly, emulsifies, traps dirt and chips and..well you can see why I don't like it!  :lol: On the other hand I use the squeezable stuff to lubricate cameras that I'm repairing/CLAing and it works very well, especially for curtain drum gears. Hmm, maybe it's good for lathes too  :doh:

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