Lubrication

[rash_powder]

One of my personal failures is remembering to lubricate the arm bearings on my Hegner either every session or every other session.  I simply forget and literally a week or more later lube them.  Its amazing the difference it makes in the smoothness of operation.  So I began thinking of a better lubricant than light machine oil.  After much thinking on it I decided to get some high percentage moly grease - minimum of 60-70% moly as I have other uses for it as well.  This sort of grease is actually rather expensive when you buy it, but the amount you use to lube anything is so small it will last years and years especially if only used on the scroll saw.  

I know that grease on a saw may seem a bad idea, but if you choose to use this stuff you will see that it isn't enough to cause dust build up issues.

The grease I settled on is Honda M77 assembly lube.  You should be able to find it at any bigger Honda motorcycle dealer.  It is THE recommended grease for the final drive splines on Goldwings.  That final drive takes a beating and is exceedingly expensive to replace so a $25 tube of grease is nothing substantial.  

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is an amazing compound.  It is inert, and super slick.  When the carrier oil burns off or wears away, the dried leftovers are still lubricating to temps far in excess of what our saws will likely ever generate.  

I put some on my saw several weeks ago and have not yet noticed the usual signs of lack of lubrication.  When putting it on I cleared out the old lube/oil muck and smeared a couple tiny dots around the shoulder of the support bolt and spun it while sliding it in and out of the arm.  I did this 2-3 times to be sure it was in and spread around.  You will barely see it but it works super!

I'm not sure the requirements of other saws, but the Hegner is recommended to be lubed daily.  This grease will lessen that need significantly.  

Honda M77 is re-branded Dow-Corning M77.  There are other greases too (such as Molykote G-N paste), just be sure that it is minimum 60% moly.  The stuff at the local auto parts shop likely is not that high a percentage.  

Molykote M77 paste specs

I am not telling you all to disregard manufacturer requirements and invalidate warranties and such.  My Hegner is a 96 and my Craftsman is no longer in warranty.  I do any maintenance on anything I can figure out how to maintain as thats just how I am.  If you are forgetful or don't like to mess with maintenance often, this may be the lube for you.  

 

[kmmcrafts]

I did the same thing with my Hawks.. They suggest a few drops of 3n1 oil every 25 hours use.. I used a high end synthetic grease on it just over a year ago.. after the busy holidays I'll pull it apart and clean it all up and re-grease again..  Hawk also suggest dry graphite lube on the tension cam lever at the front and the wedge at the back of the saw.. I used it but I don't like it.. I can tell a big difference in the PB Blaster brand Garage door dry lube with Teflon.. That stuff is awesome.. and not as messy..  

[Old Joe]

I wish that the Pegas, Dewalt, Excalibur’s etc. all had a grease fitting on them.  I took my DW788 apart last year and greased it with synthetic grease and the difference made was nothing short of incredible. It was never that smooth and quiet even when it was brand new. If I had known how much it would have improved it, I would’ve done it when it was brand new. Why manufacturers don’t use synthetic lube is beyond me. 

[Scrappile]

The only thing I do with my Hegner is what I think I read in my manual.   Periodically put a couple drops of a light oil on the two bushings.  I do it every month or so, depending on how much I have used it.  Maybe I had better get my manual out again.

[OCtoolguy]

14 hours ago, rash_powder said:

One of my personal failures is remembering to lubricate the arm bearings on my Hegner either every session or every other session.  I simply forget and literally a week or more later lube them.  Its amazing the difference it makes in the smoothness of operation.  So I began thinking of a better lubricant than light machine oil.  After much thinking on it I decided to get some high percentage moly grease - minimum of 60-70% moly as I have other uses for it as well.  This sort of grease is actually rather expensive when you buy it, but the amount you use to lube anything is so small it will last years and years especially if only used on the scroll saw.  

I know that grease on a saw may seem a bad idea, but if you choose to use this stuff you will see that it isn't enough to cause dust build up issues.

The grease I settled on is Honda M77 assembly lube.  You should be able to find it at any bigger Honda motorcycle dealer.  It is THE recommended grease for the final drive splines on Goldwings.  That final drive takes a beating and is exceedingly expensive to replace so a $25 tube of grease is nothing substantial.  

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is an amazing compound.  It is inert, and super slick.  When the carrier oil burns off or wears away, the dried leftovers are still lubricating to temps far in excess of what our saws will likely ever generate.  

I put some on my saw several weeks ago and have not yet noticed the usual signs of lack of lubrication.  When putting it on I cleared out the old lube/oil muck and smeared a couple tiny dots around the shoulder of the support bolt and spun it while sliding it in and out of the arm.  I did this 2-3 times to be sure it was in and spread around.  You will barely see it but it works super!

I'm not sure the requirements of other saws, but the Hegner is recommended to be lubed daily.  This grease will lessen that need significantly.  

Honda M77 is re-branded Dow-Corning M77.  There are other greases too (such as Molykote G-N paste), just be sure that it is minimum 60% moly.  The stuff at the local auto parts shop likely is not that high a percentage.  

Molykote M77 paste specs

I am not telling you all to disregard manufacturer requirements and invalidate warranties and such.  My Hegner is a 96 and my Craftsman is no longer in warranty.  I do any maintenance on anything I can figure out how to maintain as thats just how I am.  If you are forgetful or don't like to mess with maintenance often, this may be the lube for you.  

 

Back in 1965 I went through a 9 month course at the GM Training Center in Burbank, Ca. we learned of the chattering problems in posidrive differentials that were solved by squeezing a tube Molylube into the diffs. I hadn't thought about that in a very long time until now. That stuff is amazing. The slipperiest stuff I've ever come across. I agree that a tiny bit goes a very long way.

 

[GrampaJim]

3 hours ago, Scrappile said:

The only thing I do with my Hegner is what I think I read in my manual.   Periodically put a couple drops of a light oil on the two bushings.  I do it every month or so, depending on how much I have used it.  Maybe I had better get my manual out again.

OK, now I am curious too.  The Hegner manual reads:

"Before operation and afterevery ten hours of use, oil each main bearing supporting the upper and lower
reciprocating arms. Use heavy machine oil in the oil ports (#34 on parts diagram)
for Polymax. On Multimax 14, 18, and 22 use light machine oil on both ends of
the bearings (#8 on parts diagram). If you cannot reach the inside ends of the
bearings, drop oil near the edge of the arm above the bearing – it will run to the
proper spot. Wipe off any excess oil." 

I have been doing in every couple of months too.

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, GrampaJim said:

OK, now I am curious too.  The Hegner manual reads:

"Before operation and afterevery ten hours of use, oil each main bearing supporting the upper and lower
reciprocating arms. Use heavy machine oil in the oil ports (#34 on parts diagram)
for Polymax. On Multimax 14, 18, and 22 use light machine oil on both ends of
the bearings (#8 on parts diagram). If you cannot reach the inside ends of the
bearings, drop oil near the edge of the arm above the bearing – it will run to the
proper spot. Wipe off any excess oil." 

I have been doing in every couple of months too.

That's the way I read it too. When I had my Hegner that is.

 

[rash_powder]

10 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I did the same thing with my Hawks.. They suggest a few drops of 3n1 oil every 25 hours use.. I used a high end synthetic grease on it just over a year ago.. after the busy holidays I'll pull it apart and clean it all up and re-grease again..  Hawk also suggest dry graphite lube on the tension cam lever at the front and the wedge at the back of the saw.. I used it but I don't like it.. I can tell a big difference in the PB Blaster brand Garage door dry lube with Teflon.. That stuff is awesome.. and not as messy..  

I'm not really sure what material the Hawk is manufactured from, and I know these aren't 'mission/safety critical' items we use; but please be aware that graphite will cause problems on aluminum.  The graphite is dis-similar enough that it creates a galvanice reaction and can electrically eat away the aluminum.  

A similar thing will happen with Simple Green and aluminum.  We were informed over on the Triumphrat.net forum by an aircraft mechanic that the FAA will shut down a hangar/airport maintenance group for having simple green on the premises.  It apparantly will eat aluminum, and the concern is it will find its way into cracks and such and not get rinsed away.  I no longer use any form of graphite lube or Simple Green on the motorcycles or anything aluminum.  Just an FYI.  

Please watch yourselves!  

[kmmcrafts]

57 minutes ago, rash_powder said:

I'm not really sure what material the Hawk is manufactured from, and I know these aren't 'mission/safety critical' items we use; but please be aware that graphite will cause problems on aluminum.  The graphite is dis-similar enough that it creates a galvanice reaction and can electrically eat away the aluminum.  

A similar thing will happen with Simple Green and aluminum.  We were informed over on the Triumphrat.net forum by an aircraft mechanic that the FAA will shut down a hangar/airport maintenance group for having simple green on the premises.  It apparantly will eat aluminum, and the concern is it will find its way into cracks and such and not get rinsed away.  I no longer use any form of graphite lube or Simple Green on the motorcycles or anything aluminum.  Just an FYI.  

Please watch yourselves!  

Well I stopped using it after the first time.. actually states in my manual to use it but I didn't like it at all.. I now mainly use the dry lube i mentioned above and or the 3n1 oil... the older Hawks mention just 3n1 oil.. I actually like to use it over the graphite..

Thank you for the heads up on it though.. It's nasty stuff that won't clean off anything hardly.. so I might throw it out.. 

[Sycamore67]

The graphite aluminum corrosion is only a problem if you get something like sea water or something with chloride ions in it.  In a dry situation, it should not be a problem.

However, I just prefer other lubricants to graphite.

[OCtoolguy]

Are any of you folks familiar with Howe's Oil? I used to sell it from my tool truck. I ended up with a couple of the sample bottles. 2 oz. or 4 oz. I don't recall. Anyway, the stuff is the best oil I've come across. It will dissolve rust and it's lubrication qualities are fantastic. I have been using it for years and I still have enough left to last me at least another lifetime. If you can find a local source for it, give it a try. 

[kmmcrafts]

57 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

Are any of you folks familiar with Howe's Oil? I used to sell it from my tool truck. I ended up with a couple of the sample bottles. 2 oz. or 4 oz. I don't recall. Anyway, the stuff is the best oil I've come across. It will dissolve rust and it's lubrication qualities are fantastic. I have been using it for years and I still have enough left to last me at least another lifetime. If you can find a local source for it, give it a try. 

doing a quick search.. it looks like they sell a lot of different types of il products from spray can stuff to diesel fuel additive.. so what type of oil is it? By what you describe with the rust and also lubes.. I'm thinking out of the selection I seen without researching much this maybe what you're talking about

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NCBHMP051?cid=paidsearch_shopping_dcoe_google&gclid=CjwKCAiA27LvBRB0EiwAPc8XWehF1BsfyoetD7FJbjxOrjViBxDmedFkuWeK2p7Krq5HLjjv47W0kBoCSY4QAvD_BwE 

[flarud]

I've had my Dewalt for about a year now and haven't done any maintenance on it, except waxing the table.  It stills runs very good with no problems.  I do remember seeing a tutorial here about how to care for the Dewalt's.  Anyone have it handy?  

[OCtoolguy]

15 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

doing a quick search.. it looks like they sell a lot of different types of il products from spray can stuff to diesel fuel additive.. so what type of oil is it? By what you describe with the rust and also lubes.. I'm thinking out of the selection I seen without researching much this maybe what you're talking about

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NCBHMP051?cid=paidsearch_shopping_dcoe_google&gclid=CjwKCAiA27LvBRB0EiwAPc8XWehF1BsfyoetD7FJbjxOrjViBxDmedFkuWeK2p7Krq5HLjjv47W0kBoCSY4QAvD_BwE 

No Kevin. Mine is in a small plastic bottle with a flip spout. It's a clear yellowish oil like 3n1. Not a spray. This is the stuff. A gallon would service this entire forum group. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by octoolguy

[OCtoolguy]

13 hours ago, flarud said:

I've had my Dewalt for about a year now and haven't done any maintenance on it, except waxing the table.  It stills runs very good with no problems.  I do remember seeing a tutorial here about how to care for the Dewalt's.  Anyone have it handy?  

Do a google for Gwinnette Woodworkers. They have a lot of youtube videos. Bob Brokaw did a 4 part series on servicing the bearings. Very good videos.

[flarud]

4 hours ago, octoolguy said:

Do a google for Gwinnette Woodworkers. They have a lot of youtube videos. Bob Brokaw did a 4 part series on servicing the bearings. Very good videos.

Thanks Ray!

[Woodrush]

On 12/8/2019 at 10:28 PM, flarud said:

I've had my Dewalt for about a year now and haven't done any maintenance on it, except waxing the table.  It stills runs very good with no problems.  I do remember seeing a tutorial here about how to care for the Dewalt's.  Anyone have it handy?  

Gwinnett woodworkers. Bob Brokaw has a very good tutorial