re-assembling 3 jaw - oil or dry

[Mcgyver]

took my 3 jaw apart for cleaning today, and when it came time to reassemble, I thought i should check on my normal habit of oiling the scroll and gears etc. maybe its better dry so dirt and grit won't form an abrasive paste? Most times, a mechanism is either sealed like a gear box where the lubricant can stay clean or open, such as ways where its easy to wipe down. The inside of the chuck is a little of both.

what do you guys think, oil or dry?

[Millman]

I say wipe on a thin coat of oil, come back and wipe it out with another rag. Make sure to not let it POOL anywhere. That microscopic layer will make it turn smooth, but not enough to trap and hold grit.

[Carld]

I clean it completely of oil and dirt. Then put a good grease on the gear side of the scroll plate and the pinion gears. I leave the scroll and jaws dry. You do not want any oil on the jaw side of a 3 jaw chuck. Any chips that fall in are traped and will cause trouble and will be hard to blow out with an air gun.

[Millman]

{be hard to blow out with an air gun}} Compressed air and grease combination. You should be ashamed. Spanky Spanky

[nheng]

I liberally grease the pinions and rear of the scroll with a thick, black moly disc brake grease. Hardly any sling from it. The front is just oiled lightly with any excess spun off at high speed into a hand held shield around the chuck. Den

[wierdscience]

Grease the scroll bearing,which is the ID of the scoll and the pinion bearings and nothing else.Use the heaviest grease you can find,this is the one time bucket and pin grease is okay.

[Peter Neill]

I can't remember where I read it, but I recall somewhere that fine graphite powder was very good for just this sort of application. It's dry so swarf won't stick to it, and is an excellent lubricant.

Peter

[Millman]

The graphite actually works better than the oils and greases. Sure some will disagree.