Hi,
I have a slightly off topic question but I think the expertise I need is in this group. I am wondering whether to use oil or grease for a certain problem. I have a tube of metal (with a square crossection with 1 1/2 inch sides) that slides into another slightly larger tube and they need to come apart easily. In general, what types situations should be lubricated with oil and which with grease? The oil I have available would be 3in1 and the grease would be vasiline.
Thanks,
Neither.
Antiseize is the proper stuff.
If they are 'moving' parts, then grease them.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile... Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06
What kind of metal is this?
The real solution might be to select metals that don't bind in the first place.
How often are they moving? If you have something that you want to stay static most of the time and only occasionally be removed, you want an anti-seize compound. If you have something that needs to move slowly with wide clearances, you will want a grease. if you have something that needs to move fast, you probably want an oil but you need to keep the oil film in place.
3-In-1 oil turns to varnish and crud after a fairly short amount of time. Vaseline isn't too stable over the long term either. If those are your two choices, pick metals appropriately rather than using any lubricant.--scott
Okay, I'll use anti-seize.
This is for a weight bench where some of the attachments for different exercises get changed a few times a week. The type of metal is steel.
Will anything that is a suitable anti-seize lubricant say "anti-seize" on the packge, or are there any brand names I should look for? What about WD 40 (which I already have)?
Thanks,
If it is getting wet and rusting, then I guess a Water Displacement fluid like WD40 might be useful. ;-)
Any generic antiseize will do, but it is 'messy' stuff. Very messy. So is grease and oil, but they are clean compared to antiseize.
The WD40 might even be the best for that application come to think about it.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile... Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06
A delrin sleeve would be a good long-term solution.
Steel doesn't deform and stick so much, the way aluminum does. What you want for steel is mostly to keep it from rusting, because the rust will make it stick. And you're using it in a humid environment, where that is going to be a problem. I'd put a very thin layer of automatic transmission fluid on the end of the attachments. It will not take much at all.
--scott
Why did I know that was the intended application? :-)
Anti-seize is called anti-seize. Permatex makes a small jar of it with brush-in-cap. You may be able to get little squeeze packets at an auto parts store, I don't know.
Be aware that it is very sticky and very easily gets on everything. You may want to get dedicated towels for use when changing equipment over.
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Apply some anti-seize to a pipe cleaner. (the kind of pipe cleaners some people use for cleaning their smoking pipes, tobacco) If the pipe cleaner isn't long enough, you can twist the ends of them together and make it as long as you want. cuhulin
For something like that, I'd consider a "dry" lubricant, either Teflon based (can come as a liquid that you spray on, then the fluid evaporates leaving a coating of PTFE) or one of the molybdenum disulfide powder lubricants (often mis-labelled as "graphite") that are sold to lubricate locks.
Anything like anti-seize, grease, or oil will attract dust and turn into a sticky abrasive mess over time.
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