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Machine maintenance

5/8/21       
Jeff

What products are you using for machine surfaces (tops) , for threads and guide shafts with bushings that move on them. What products do you use for cleaning the outside of your equipment?

I have been using wd40 with the rust remover for my tops, then buffing them good with a cloth and some paste wax.
For my threaded rods and shafts , like for raising and lowering a saw blade or shaper spindle, I have been using a silicone spray. for the exterior of my machines I use a little bit of mineral spirits of some sort on a cloth to wipe them down.

I like to keep my equipment in pristine shape, however I am fairly old school and was thinking after reading the finishing forum about some new cleaners for guns and hoses, that maybe I am not up to speed on current better products.

Thank you.

5/8/21       #2: Machine maintenance ...
Leo G Member

Silicone is poison to the finishing process. Nothing with silicone gets into the shop.

Pretty much use paste wax for lubrication. When it dries it won't hold dust. Oil or grease will cake up with dust and make things worse in the end. Dry lube such as graphite spray works for gears, just don't turn anything until it flashes off. Blow it off good before applying any type of a spray.

Haven't cleaned the outsides of my machines in over a decade. What's to get dirty? It's dusty at worst.

Tops are treated with paste wax. If you get some rust I use a Scotch Brite pad to scrub it off and then rewax. I don't worry about the superficial scratches it leaves in the top.

5/9/21       #3: Machine maintenance ...
nicko

I use Boeshield T9. There is a lubricant that i spray on my tops and then buff off. And a rust remover that i spray on where needed and scrub with a 3 m pad. On my gears i use a dry spray lubricant

5/9/21       #4: Machine maintenance ...
Mark B

We are in the Leo camp. Zero silicone in the shop period. I know tons of people who have used WD40 for years with no issue but thats a no go for me as well. No rust issue here in the shop but wax (no silicone) is the primary for slick surfaces for us. Saws, planer beds, router bases, shaper tables, you name it. We've recently moved to non-silicone dry sprays for screws and gears (raise lower/tilt etc) from wax just because it doesnt build up as much and is easier to apply. Also in the Leo camp with externals. We may vac/wipe down the externals once a year or so or during maintenance but usually other than the leaf blower blow down every couple weeks I dont wash and wax my tools, but then I dont even wash and wax my cars. Seems pointless.

5/9/21       #5: Machine maintenance ...
Jeff

Good info so far, I remember years ago a finish supplier said silicone causes fish eyes, but I didn't even think about the possibility of it being transferred from a machine adjustment screw on a saw to a cabinet part that needs to be finished later.

The leaf blower is a good idea as well.

Mark, which dry spray with out silicone do you recommend?

5/9/21       #6: Machine maintenance ...
Adam

Jeff,

You are spraying a lubricant on metal threads/gears/shafts adjacent to metal tables that you are sliding milled wood across. It’s possible to mist it on the machine, your hand or other surfaces. Silicone sprays are excellent lubricants and never seem to disappear. Hence the problem.

The worst thing ever would be handing a can of silicone spray to some novice employee.

Like most people we rely on paste wax. I follow the manufacturer’s recommendation for the rest.

5/9/21       #7: Machine maintenance ...
FORSUN CNC Member

CNC routers may last up to 20 years if they get proper maintenance according to the CNC router manufacturer’s maintenance protocols. The lack of proper maintenance may significantly reduce their potential lifespan.
This is a maintenance checklist about CNC router machines: CNC Router Maintenance Checklist.

https://forsuncnc.com/cnc-router-maintenance-checklist/

5/10/21       #8: Machine maintenance ...
Adam

Jeff,

You are spraying a lubricant on metal threads/gears/shafts adjacent to metal tables that you are sliding milled wood across. It’s possible to mist it on the machine, your hand or other surfaces. Silicone sprays are excellent lubricants and never seem to disappear. Hence the problem.

The worst thing ever would be handing a can of silicone spray to some novice employee.

Like most people we rely on paste wax. I follow the manufacturer’s recommendation for the rest.

5/10/21       #9: Machine maintenance ...
Mark B

Jeff,
No particular recommendation on non-silicone dry lubes. Ive taken a fancy to a can of "super slick stuff" that I found as it has a nice citrus smell lol not that that has anything to do with its quality. We probably have a half dozen cans of various dry lubes around the shop for various uses.

To add to Adams deal about inadvertently getting lube on a surface that comes in contact with your work or your hands, the bigger issue for me in the shop is that these things are aeresolized so technically you could spray some silicone spray on one end of the shop and depending on air movement it could wind up many feet away. Ive never personally had a problem with any of it but I still keep it all out of the shop as this is a hard enough life as it is.

A long while back we had a finish rep in the shop and had been doing some maintenance and rolled a mechanics tool box in from out end bay where all the metal working/welding happens and there were some spray bombs of various lube in the top of the box and he about went bananas telling us that having that stuff in the shop area (or even in that end bay) was asking for disaster. I chuckled a bit to myself but took his sage wisdom to heart.

5/10/21       #10: Machine maintenance ...
Leo G Member

A decade ago a detailer moved into the bay next to me. Did real nice work. When it came to the tires he was using a product that had a lot of silicone in it.

Spraying one day and the fisheyes just started to develop out of nowhere. Finally tracked it down to his tire product. He was in a separate bay (same building) with doors closed. My doors were closed along with the sprayroom. Didn't matter.

Any time he was spraying that I had to wait about 12 hours before I could spray again. Thank goodness he moved out.

5/10/21       #11: Machine maintenance ...
Scott

I had a finish rep tell me that they had a shop who was having issues with their finish, getting fish eyes and contamination. They searched and searched for the cause of the problem, and couldn’t find anything , they checked for external causes in the shop, and the air system, but no luck. In a last attempt to solve the promlem they changed out the air nozzles for blowing off sawdust and sanding residue, it turned out that a batch of these air nozzles had some kind of a product in them with silicone, probably used to keep any rust from forming. Kind of a nightmare.

5/11/21       #12: Machine maintenance ...
Mark B

I had heard of a similar one a ways away from here where a shop fought and fought with it and it turned out their HVAC repair tech using a silicone spray.

5/16/21       #13: Machine maintenance ...
cabinetmaker

Topcoat and Home Depot has “Dry Lube” not PB. But a silicone free. We clean the machines and spray liberally. Good slip for fence edges too

Yes stay away from harbor freight blow guns


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