Pm1340gt Open Gear Lube?

[Alan H.]

I finished cleaning the cosmoline off my new PM1340GT today.

The last piece of the job was cleaning up the open gears. Here are some photos including a “before and after” of the gears.

Now that I have got this thing cleaned up, I am looking for experience on what lube to use on the open gears.

 

[Bob Korves]

Grease, wire rope lubricant, or open gear lube. Oil gets thrown off and so does not last very well. Others recommend motorcycle chain lube, which sounds like it would work, I haven't tried it.

 

[davidpbest]

Alan, This is what I use on the open change gears:

http://tinyurl.com/hjrlagp

AMSoil Heavy Duty Metal Protector - doesn't sling off after it dries, leaves a waxy like lube that lowers the gear-clang noise considerably. Be sure to adjust those gears per the manual posted on QMT web site.

 

[davidpbest]

Also, for way oil, I use Mobil Vacuoline 1409. This is the original foumulation for Vactra No. 2. Some years back, Mobil changed their formulation for Vactra No. 2, taking out the tackifiers (which increase the tack, the stickiness of the surface of the oil). The Vacuoline 1409 with tackifiers added results in a way oil that doesn't drip off but provides the same lube characteristics as normal way oil. Mobil sells it only in 5 gallon buckets, but you can buy it in small quantities from BRW Technologies: http://www.brwtechnologies.com/Vacuoline_1409_p/mobil_vacuoline_1409.htm

 

[Alan H.]

Alan, This is what I use on the open change gears:

http://tinyurl.com/hjrlagp

AMSoil Heavy Duty Metal Protector - doesn't sling off after it dries, leaves a waxy like lube that lowers the gear-clang noise considerably. Be sure to adjust those gears per the manual posted on QMT web site.

Thanks David for the reminder on how to adjust the lash in the gears - important!

The AMSoil product reminded me of Boeshield T9 which I use all the time on my woodworking machines for corrosion protection. I took a look to see what it is and it is a bit leaner in oil than the Boeshield. I am quite familiar with Boeshield but not AMSoil but from your description, it behaves much the same. Here are the SDS sections on content:


AMSoil:

Boeshield:

Both are using Propane and Butane as propellent but the distillate/oil content is much higher in Boeshield. However I think both would make a fine corrosion inhibitor on raw metal.

Edit, also meant to say that their waxy nature should provide lubrication as well as you point out.

 

[Alan H.]

Okay, I spent a little time perusing the "studies" today on this topic and in allignment with Bob and David's advice, I have decided to give the following a trial. Because I have it on hand, I am going to Boeshield the gear sides to protect them from corrosion and then treat the gear cogs with CRC Industrial Extreme Duty Open Gear and Chain Lube.

The big advantage on this is the tackiness and content of this CRC product. It has significant amounts of graphite and molybdenum disulphide coupled with the heavy oil. It has a good reputation for this application and is specifically designated for open gears and chains. Downside is that it does not come in an aerosol can with a straw. Therefore I plan to spray an appropriate amount in container and brush it on the gears to avoid the mess. You will notice that even CRC describes it as a "Black Semi-Viscous Liquid". I have used powdered moly in the past in another application and it is truly nasty stuff in terms of a mess and stains. Here's the big component makeup from the Safety Data Sheet:

I am thinking that while this will be a bit messy it will provide the durable lubricity that one needs for the gears. I am hopeful that I will confirm the experience of others that it will not sling the lube everywhere under the cover.

 

[abrace]

Alan,

How did this work out for you?

Okay, I spent a little time perusing the "studies" today on this topic and in allignment with Bob and David's advice, I have decided to give the following a trial. Because I have it on hand, I am going to Boeshield the gear sides to protect them from corrosion and then treat the gear cogs with CRC Industrial Extreme Duty Open Gear and Chain Lube.
View attachment 140446

The big advantage on this is the tackiness and content of this CRC product. It has significant amounts of graphite and molybdenum disulphide coupled with the heavy oil. It has a good reputation for this application and is specifically designated for open gears and chains. Downside is that it does not come in an aerosol can with a straw. Therefore I plan to spray an appropriate amount in container and brush it on the gears to avoid the mess. You will notice that even CRC describes it as a "Black Semi-Viscous Liquid". I have used powdered moly in the past in another application and it is truly nasty stuff in terms of a mess and stains. Here's the big component makeup from the Safety Data Sheet:

View attachment 140445

I am thinking that while this will be a bit messy it will provide the durable lubricity that one needs for the gears. I am hopeful that I will confirm the experience of others that it will not sling the lube everywhere under the cover.

 

[Bob Korves]

I am thinking that while this will be a bit messy it will provide the durable lubricity that one needs for the gears. I am hopeful that I will confirm the experience of others that it will not sling the lube everywhere under the cover.

Don't get it anywhere near your clothing! It will not come out! And the spray cans shoot it everywhere except where you are aiming...

 

[Alan H.]

Alan,

How did this work out for you?

Abrace, seems to work well. I will give it another dose soon.

I hosed the gears down well with the Boeshield and then applied the CRC to the gear faces with a brush as planned. It takes very little to coat the teeth and I used the jog function to spin the gears and drug the loaded brush over them while they rotated. This gave them a good uniform coating. When it began to drip and run, I stopped.

I should have waited to let the Boeshield on the teeth dry thoroughly and then apply the CRC. I think the CRC was a bit diluted by the Boeshield but as previously discussed there's nothing wrong with Boeshield by itself.

So my planned technique of brushing the CRC on the teeth worked. I sprayed the CRC into an empty water bottle to capture the liquid. I was fearful that the trichlor would eat the plastic bottle so I transferred the CRC to a small glass bottle for storage. By the way, I let the propane boil off and when it stopped bubbling, I capped it.

I used WD40 to clean up the drips. WD40 is my machine tool cleaner of choice. I have in the shop by the gallon for big jobs but keep a spray can handy at all times.

By the way, the CRC was harder to come by than I expected. I bought it via Amazon but had to wait a week or two.

 

[abrace]

I see zoro sells the CRC stuff for about $11 a can. I will wait until I need something else from them then add a few cans.

I have a Grizzly G4003G (a 1236 lathe similar to the PM version) and their manual suggests a standard NLGI #2 grease. I used that, but it just flung it everywhere and didn't seem to get into the nooks and crannies of the gears. I think this may be a better option.

Why did you spray it into a bottle and brush? Was it just to keep overspray down?

---Aaron