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Better Lubricant

Zach LaPerriere

Zach LaPerriere

Joined
Apr 1, 2015
Messages
603
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Location
Sitka, Alaska, United States
Website
www.zachlaperriere.com
Recently I upgraded to a Robust rest for my pretty good Taiwanese lathe :) but I was running into troubles with the plate that grips the rest under bed. It just didn't travel smoothly. First I polished the plate all the way to 1000 grit, and still not a huge improvement. I tried all sorts of lubricants and then I hit the holy grail of lathe lubricants: LPS 1. My tailstock is pretty darn happy too. Been using it for a couple months, and I couldn't be more impressed.

I think the bigger issue is that the underside of my bed isn't milled that well. I even power sanded it at high grit, but nothing got things moving like LPS 1.

WD-40 is especially bad for attracting wood dust and in the end it gums up, begging for more WD-40. LPS 1 costs 3-4 times more, but well worth it.

Just thought to pass that on...
 
Interesting formulation. It contains sorbitan trioleate which is something like a synthetic wax and also a surfactant (wetting agent) which is opposite to typical wax properties. It also contains calcium sulfonate which is an additive in making extreme pressure greases and oils. It's becoming increasingly popular in motor oils and other lubricants. It's not intrinsically a lubricant, but in everyday terms you could say helps lubricants stick together and to whatever is being lubricated. I've seen LPS1 in the hardware store, but never thought about trying it.

My favorite product for making sliding parts slide better and protect from moisture is Johnson's Paste Wax. I'll have to see how they stack up against each other.
 
As a former camera repairman, and copier and teller machine repairman, I hate WD-40. It is not a lubricant. I've seen more delicate machinery gummed up by WD-40. LPS-1 or for that matter LPS-2 which is heavier are much better lubricants. That being said I always use WD-40 for my lathe. Why, because for some reason I have about 3 cans of the stuff. My wife uses it for everything against my objections. She used it to lubricate all of our squeaky doors. I used LPS-1 on our bathroom door. The bathroom door still doesn't squeak, the other doors have started again.
 
It used to be called Top Coat, and now I think it is Glide Coat. Spray on, let dry, wipe off, less than a minute. Makes things pretty slick as in don't try to stand on the table saw after spraying. I use it on bandsaw table when cutting up wet blanks to reduce friction. I have had a problem with the nozzle plugging up though.

robo hippy
 
WD 40 is almost entirely dewaxed Kerosene (AKA jet fuel) there is a little bit of mineral oil and a used reprocessed treated petroleum oil in it, but not much lube.

LPS has mineral oil as the principle component ( 60 - 80%). It's a fine mineral oil often used as a food grade penetrating oil. The rest is regular mineral oil. So unlike WD 40 it actually is lubricants.

I use a rag with some cheap straight 30 weight motor oil in so very many places. Even one where the so called experts tell me I'm stupid to do so, but it works great: On my Sliding table saw ways. I wipe them down every once in a while and it keeps things running smoothly.
On my trunnion screws I use Dow Corning 321 moly cote. It's ugly black and messy and the idiots at Dow package it with a wide dispersal spray nozzle that I gotta drill out to accept the little tube so that I can aim it, but it's great stuff if you can get it right where you need it.
 
Steve Arnold said:
I've had good luck with this stuff. It's not cheap but a can lasts a really long time.

https://www.amazon.com/Glidecote-V2...TF8&qid=1489691076&sr=8-1&keywords=glide+coat
Click to expand...

I'd never heard of Glide Cote. Thanks for that. The MSDS for it says it's got two kinds of mineral oil in it both are called Naptha in the MSDS, but don't be put off by the word; Naptha is just an ancient term for petroleum oil. One of them is a light mineral oil and the other is a heavier one.
https://www.richelieu.com/documents/docsPr/00/02/7/00027/1358679.pdf
 
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