Question Machine lubricants?

What is the preferred lubricant for slideway and lead screws?

I am currently using
Sewing Machine Oil for the lead screws
and
Motor vehicle CV joint grease for the slideway.

hey,

- your used oil is perfect, i think.
- you should use multi-purpose grease instead of motor vehicle grease.

Ok cheers drilldevil

The main motivation is to lubricate without attracting dirt / crud and swarf.

sounds good guys.

Is universal lithium-EP grease NLGI-class 2 good for the Stepcraft machine or does it have to be a lighter class grease?

Hi all,

I use normal 3in1 for the screws and some WD40 Specialist Lithium grease for the shafts, I think that is overkill but it doesnt attract dirt at all which is great, still clean as a whistle!

Kind regards,
Alex

heustec
I think I read that 3in1 can go a bit sticky in time.

heustec wrote: ... I think that is overkill but it doesnt attract dirt at all which is great, still clean as a whistle!

As always: Better safe than sorry!

One of the very important things about the correct lubrication is that it should be Resin and acid free.

Yeah 3in1 can go sticky, but i find that the constant movement mitigates this. Also its cheap, readily available and works!

tikka wrote: Is universal lithium-EP grease NLGI-class 2 good for the Stepcraft machine or does it have to be a lighter class grease?

Personal experience and some new information indicates that the option listed above might not be the best one to use. Related topic . According to various internet pages some extreme pressure (EP) additives (phosphorous and sulfurous compounds) are corrosive to yellow metals such as brass and bronze. Didn`t find any information about the additives my particular grease has. I contacted Stepcraft and they advised to use Microlube GL261, if I understood correctly then Stepcraft 2 machines come with a tube of grease included. From Klüber Lubrication datasheet found the following: "Tried and tested grease for protection against tribocorrosion, contains EP additives". At the same time I didn`t find any information as to what NLGI grade GL261 has. From my own experience the NLGI class 2 seems to be too thick so planning to do some tests with 0 or 00 class.

The reason why I want to use grease in the first place is that of course the manual instructs me to and because grease sticks to surfaces and should stay in position. Wouldn`t lighter oil drip down from the upper rail and leave it dry?

I changed my grease to Mannol 9985 Li-EP 00/000 Low Viscosity Grease about a month ago. Seems better than thicker grease because it stays on the surface as a thin film rather than gather into lobs of grease and leave the surfaces dry. Have abot 30min of cutting time with the new grease, don`t see any traces of corrosion or other problems.

Hi all,

Can anyone clarify for me what lubricant to use on the X, Y, Z threaded spindles? My machine is a 2/840 with brass (rather than plastic) spindle nuts.

My assembly manual said to use the supplied grease on the profiles and the spindles, but an operation manual that came with it said NOT to use grease on the spindles, and to use sewing machine oil. Does anyone know which it should be for my machine, or does it matter?

I've been using grease on the profiles and a good 3-in-1 oil on the spindles, with no visible problems so far - about 40 hours of machine time so far, mostly cutting foam and paper with a drag knife, so not much load on the machine.

Cheers,
David

Actual information from Stepcraft: do use grease on the spindles:
wahtch the video tutorial on maintainance

heustec wrote: Hi all,

I use normal 3in1 for the screws and some WD40 Specialist Lithium grease for the shafts, I think that is overkill but it doesnt attract dirt at all which is great, still clean as a whistle!

Kind regards,
Alex

Another thumbs up for the WD40 Specialist Lithium grease:

wd40specialist.com/products/protective_white_lithium_grease