Grease Type for Fiber Gears

[dalee100]

Ain't none of that information printed on any tube or 5 gallon bucket of grease I've ever bought. Maybe it should be, I don't know. But few really care about base chemistry or viscosity.

[JRouche]

Generally you want a lubricant that is very tacky to reduce sling-off.

Motorcycle chain lube Very tacky.. JR

[Willy]

What does the OEM recommend?

You mentioned that although the machine appears to have been worked hard with very little TLC, it shows virtually no wear despite the fact that the grease is dried out and caked up. Must be pretty good stuff.

Grease does tend to harden up given time as it bleeds it's base oil out slowly and of course oxidation takes it's toll as well. The fibrous gear material and plastics too, tend to also harden the grease more quickly than steel gears alone would.

Silicone greases as mentioned by Doozer are not recommended for the steel gears although they work great on plastic gear sets.Both mineral oil based and POA and SHC synthetic greases are usually highly compatible with both steel and man made gear materials.

So many possible variations to deal with in regards to the chemistry that makes up the structure of the fibrous gears and the reactions to various grease types and their thickeners and additives that I find it hard to make sound blanket recommendation, only because it's not my machine.

Personally I would go with an EP LB/GC rated grease and softer grade in the NLGI 0-1 viscosity range. I presume the bearings are also lubricated with the same lubricant as the gears?

But if you can track down the manufacturers recommendation, this would be my first choice as only he knows exactly what went into the makeup of those gears.
We can only speculate....and probably get lucky 85% of the time.



Edited due to grammar and spelling. LOL

[nickel-city-fab]

Just taking a wild guess here:

https://www.amazon.com/Kluber-ISOFLE...SYHKE5ER1J0YH6

""

ISOFLEX NBU 15 is primarily used for spindle bearings and high-speed plain bearings, e. g. in machine tools and textile machines applications are in threaded spindles, ball screws operating under high loads, running gear bearings, as a long-term grease in cableway bearings and in precision engineering

ISOFLEX NBU 15 is a high-speed grease with a good pressure absorption capacity. It consists of a combination of ester oil, synthetic hydrocarbon oil and mineral oil and a barium complex soap. It offers good protection against wear and corrosion and is resistant to water, media and oxidation.""


Does that help? I've used it before in electric motor drives with metal/composite/phenolic and plastic parts. Works good. Made the employer buy a case, which was cheaper than the motor drive.

[Doozer]

Ain't none of that information printed on any tube or 5 gallon bucket of grease I've ever bought. Maybe it should be, I don't know. But few really care about base chemistry or viscosity.

Stop drinking Coors Light and have a Sam Adams Lager.
You might just start reading labels then.

-Doozer

[JRouche]

What does the OEM recommend?

That is what came to my head, what do they prescribe. If the machine is that old and those gears look that nice you might do more Google and less armchair

Do you know what the gears are made from? Are they laminated? If so the glue. All types of stuff.

Im sticking with a high quality Motorcycle chain lube sprayed on and moved around with a nice bush.

They have a decent stress and heat factor and are good for simple bearings. Id spray it into an old pant can lid and let the volitiles escape, dont spray it on yer fibre.

Kidding. Dont use that. JR Orrr...

[Tundra Twin Track]

I picked up some Tymken grease from bearing supplier that he recommended and lathe mechanic said was fine.They both said gears are phenolic and grease will not affect them and is good for ball bearing as well.The chunks of grease that appeared Dryed up were flung from excess in bearing,all bearing still had some grease.I washed all the gear train bearing out and will repack them,there are no seals.I'm thinking the grease that was on gears was excess that flew around from the bearing,there only fiber to steel contact.

Gear and shaft in pic is where motor shaft was seized.

Never heard back from Modig on there grease specs.

Talked to a fellow that seen one of these in pristine condition hauled to scrapyard because one gear was damaged and parts could not be found.

[MattiJ]

This is pic of final drive on Quill,must be tough stuff as no wear to be found and it had a MT 3 to MT 4 adapter so I'm assuming they were using drill bits larger than machine is rated for.This thing appears never had any TLC!

You guys know how to enlarge pic when I upload it?

Haven't seen heavy use if those rivets are still tight.

Arboga (and Strands) use similar fiber gears, these typically seem to last forever. Bearings start to get noisy after 50 years but replacement is relatively easy and bearings are bog standard.
AFAIR Arboga used oil cups on some models.

Brushcutter gear grease would be probably pretty good but I think these work with anything from french cheese to ATF.

[Doozer]

Don't forget... If you need a thin grease and it is able to be contained,
petroleum jelly (brand name Vasoline or other) makes a good machine
lubricant. It is pure petroleum and contains no soap filler as a vehicle.
Good for using somewhere you would use 0 or 00 viscosity grease
and it has superior lubricating properties within be it a more narrow
temperature range. It makes a great draw die lubricant for forming metal.

-Doozer