[Geof]

....To end with similar rhetoric. You aren't honestly suggesting greasing Bridgeport ways with vaseline or otherwise ignore their recommendations are you?

Sorry, but IMHO and years of experience that is mis-information and I sincerely think you've been around long enough to know that too!

DC

Try reading what I posted very early on; it is technically correct. Vaseline would work perfectly well as a lubricant on machine ways. I just find it quite amusing that people put so much store in way lube. What is the difference between it and regular machine oil. Also what is the intent behind a manufacturers recommendation? Why would grease be used in place of way oil and vice versa? Do they provide equal lubricating capacity? The ballscrews and linear guides are the same manufacture on machines that use way oil so it is not something that is specific to the equipment.

[mxtras]

Do you use toilet bowl cleaner to wash your dishes? They are both detergents, right?

[Geof]

Do you use toilet bowl cleaner to wash your dishes? They are both detergents, right?

Like several other posts you have degenerated into silliness.

[One of Many]

I did read that, with no warm and fuzzy desire to change course and substitute vaseline or grease or oil for anything.

Per your previous post you also state BALL SCEWS and LINEAR WAYS. Aren't those ball bearing ways? If so, that is not an apples to apples comparison as I see it, to an older Bridgeport with dovetail ways and an acme screw. At least as I made the presumption in reference to "used Bridgeport".

If not LINEAR ways, then for the sake of an argument, your main objective is to be "technically correct" to those that "appear" to oppose that opinion with indirect contradiction..... relying moreso on the topic OEM as a legitimate authority. Yet we may still not be discussing the same breed of animal. Why you label people as being anti-grease or whether you should ignore the OEM is also amusing. Troll like amusing!

I can stand by the claim that way oil flushes debree with a suffucient metal to metal sliding barrier. While grease or jell attracts it, holds it, turns it into lapping paste and rarely gets flushed out of SLIDING members. Most linear ways and ball screws are protected in mulitple fashions to prevent foriegn objects infiltration.

If we are not discussing the same application, then grease could be appropriate for some rolling members. Although some CNC machines do have lube systems that use way oil on all rolling members or a combination of both sliding/rolling and/or grease/oil lubrication systems. I do not tend to question their reasoning, I just follow the book and schedule PM's accordingly.

Before a hap-hazard use, I would want to know what EP#, ISO, SUS or SAE vaseline would be equivalent to in the machine load bearing world. That would be the tell-tale difference to stake its true cross reference grade and application on. On those terms I would say it IS SPECIFIC to the equipment and loads/clearances placed therein. But I am sure there is room for some overlap here and there.

Would that make tanning butter and crisco technically correct too. They too contain oils......LOL!


DC

[Geof]

...Would that make tanning butter and crisco technically correct too. They too contain oils......LOL!DC

Apart from the fact that you are going even further into silliness than one of your earlier posts you are wrong. Vaseline is a petroleum product. It is composed of long chain hydrocarbon molecules; longer than kerosene or light mineral oils and shorter than paraffin wax. Tanning butter and crisco are vegetable oils with a much more complex chemical make up.

[One of Many]

Nah....it's called sarcasm to a somewhat silly endorsement, giving the illusion anything slippery of a "petroleum base" can make a technically correct substitute, unbecoming of a consummate professional.

DC

[Geof]

Nah....it's called sarcasm to a somewhat silly endorsement, giving the illusion anything slippery of a "petroleum base" can make a technically correct substitute, unbecoming of a consummate professional.

DC

My 'technically correct' referred to my statement that "Vaseline is not any different to high viscosity pure mineral oil, it works perfectly well as a lubricant for applications that are low speed, low load and low temperature."

You have not told me why way lube is superior; what is in it in addition to the mineral oil base?

[One of Many]

Good Lord, Geof.


Spread some vaseline against the wall. Next to it squirt some way oil. Now throw grit, chips and spray water on them. In the same spots respectively apply more layers of each lubricant, grit etc.

For the intention of making this experiment justifiable, which one flushes the grit away with better flow rather than adhesion to grit or trapping moisture.

In a side by side test, the way oil fits the application of topic for sliding members and there is a gazillion tons of 30-50 year old machine tools out there to support that.

Comparatively, in linear ways or rolling bearing applications oil won't stay around long term. Therefore recirculating greases fit this application or it needs oiled more often.

Superiority is not made between either without an application to which can be proven suitable, be that load bearing, flushing or otherwise.

Do we really need more rocket science than that or are you seeking greater affirmation to your vaseline=way oil theory by chemical composition? You can make a believer out of others when you use it on your machines and let us know in 10-30 years how it worked out.

I believe it is foolish to pass it off as an acceptable alternative in all applications where way oil is used. I, for one am not buying into it for the machines I am responsible for, let alone the ones I own.

DC

[JagSys]

Nonsense.

??!!

Vaseline is reputedly a derivation of German for water and Greek for oil, and as a 100% Petroleum "Jelly" there is no mention of any corrosion inhibiters or any add pack of any kind, but it does…

“Removes make-up with less irritation than soap and water
Use regularly to reduce the appearance of fine lines
Helps prevent diaper rash and heal dry skin
Protects skin from wind burn and chapping
Offers soothing protection for minor burns
Provides visible relief of dry skin when used regularly”

I have never seen this product mentioned on any machine tool maintenance schedule I have ever had, but then we are probably in a different areas of engineering.

[Geof]

??!!

Vaseline is reputedly a derivation of German for water and Greek for oil, and as a 100% Petroleum "Jelly" there is no mention of any corrosion inhibiters or any add pack of any kind, but it does…

“Removes make-up with less irritation than soap and water
Use regularly to reduce the appearance of fine lines
Helps prevent diaper rash and heal dry skin
Protects skin from wind burn and chapping
Offers soothing protection for minor burns
Provides visible relief of dry skin when used regularly”

I have never seen this product mentioned on any machine tool maintenance schedule I have ever had, but then we are probably in a different areas of engineering.

The 'nonsense' referred to the claim that vaseline contains water; it doesn't.
Here is the history of vaseline:
Where did the idea for Vaseline Petroleum Jelly come from?

Robert Augustus Cheesebrough.

In 1859 when oil was first found in Pennsylvania, Cheesebrough was a 22 year old chemist in Brooklyn who had become an expert at extracting kerosene from cannel oil.

He realized that petroleum products would be the fuel source of the future so he headed to Pennsylvania to get his piece of the action.

He noticed that a colorless film called "rod wax" collected around the pump rods on the oil wells, gumming up the works until it was removed. He also observed oil workers who would slap the stuff on a cut, instead of a bandage. Not only did it stay on the skin and stop the bleeding, but it seemed to help cure the wound.

Cheesebrough returned to Brooklyn with some rod-wax and spent months creating a clean form of rod-wax which he called "petroleum jelly". He began making so much of this stuff that every beaker in his laboratory was full, so he threw out his wife's flowers and filled the vases with his creation.

After awhile, he added the popular medical term "line" to the word "vase" and he called the product "Vaseline Petroleum Jelly."

It is quite correct that vaseline does not contain corrosion inhibitors; it is simply a high melting point oil, or you could call it a low melting point wax. The question was whether it would serve as an adequate lubricant for machine ways, it will.

[llamalarity]

While vaseline is probably not the best choice for this application, I must side with those who insist it is in fact a good lubricant. I have seen it used in the rubber industry on hot presses. Comes in drums labled "white petrolatum" but looks, feels, and smells, exactly like Vaseline.

[Geof]

While vaseline is probably not the best choice for this application, I must side with those who insist it is in fact a good lubricant. I have seen it used in the rubber industry on hot presses. Comes in drums labled "white petrolatum" but looks, feels, and smells, exactly like Vaseline.

Vaseline is simply white petrolatum purified to a pharmaceutical grade.

[merl]

?Vasiline,? Ky,? ...country flower,? Oh you are a fickle bunch!
Way lube is called way lube for a reason. It's what is used to lubricate ways!
If you don't like getting dirty you're probably in the wrong business.
No sympathy from me pal...