moly dee as way oil?

Been wondering on this- have any of you tried using molybdenum disulphide as a way lube? (moly Dee. or any other moly bearing oil)

Specifically as a vertical way lube on mills- the mill has a hand crank lift, and must have several hundred pounds of weight to move, maybe more with vise and part. This results in a small slip-stick effect if the gib is adjusted for minimum slop. Any reduction in friction on the ways and gib would be welcomed, especially as the machine has no quill.
I am using vactra 2 now. Thanks!

Keep using the Vactra.
JR

Motion seconded and passed.

There was a good thread a few years ago about the reformulation of Vactra, where some of the additives that work on stick slip were taken out. Something to do with the newspaper printing industry and their machines. The old formulation is still available as Mobile Vacuoline 1409.

Vactra 4?

(The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.) Done

Screwmachine,
Vactra along with most other way lubes were changed in the mid 80s. Peritak was removed because it turns to Peri-glue when it come in contact with many of the synthetic or semi-synthetic coolants.

Seafarmer,
Other that what the Mobil site says, I've never seen #4 used on a machine tool.
JR

Folks, with due respect, the question was "have you tried using moly"?

The vactra 2 ( blessed be it's name) is not solving the problem.(sticky ways) Suggestions to keep using it, with no supporting reason, are not helpful..

Stone,
The reasons have been covered so many times before this, it's not even funny anymore. There have been lots of alternatives suggested and Vactra #2 is still the best that's out there now. You're perfectly welcome to use whatever you want to in your machine.

Now, if you want a specific reason not to use it, how's this: MolyDee contains molybdenum disulfide (trust me on that). Sulfide compounds and chlorinated esters are usually EP additives that don't work well with red metal parts. Since the feed nut and bushings on most machine tools are brass, bronze or some other copper alloy, anything with an EP additive is usually frowned upon.
JR

Cincinnati recommends #4 in some spots on my cinturn, I believe on the turret for one. It's worth a try, might not squeeze out under static load.

I've used an oil additive like problend mixed with oils for situations like that and it has worked. I'm not recommending it, 'cause I don't want flamed, just passing along what I've done.

People constantly spout about the vacuoline/vactra thing. I called Mobil myself and spoke to a lubricant engineer and specifically asked about the vactra/vacuoline thing; he said vactra is the correct oil for machine tool way use.

If you are having trouble, you can always the good old chain saw bar oil.
I hear it is real tacky, should work good.

JR, that is exactly what I wanted - a reason. There is no bronze- brass- copper or anything besides cast iron on the vertical ways, so I will try the moly and see if it helps. If it does, I will pass it along.

I had no intention of being rude at all- sorry if I gave that impression.

Mud, your name is Mud- how can you be flamed any worse? Thanks for the tip!

I can see why someone would think that moly or for that matter teflon particles would be good in an application like way lube. I guess they (lube makers) have their reasons for not doing it.

Jeff

eKretz said:

People constantly spout about the vacuoline/vactra thing. I called Mobil myself and spoke to a lubricant engineer and specifically asked about the vactra/vacuoline thing; he said vactra is the correct oil for machine tool way use.

Click to expand...

I tried asking that a few weeks ago when I called the dealer here but the guy said he doesn't answer those questions, and clearly had no intention to find someone who would... so I never got an answer as to what the vactra formulation is now.

I can tell you that the Vacuoline 1409 has a lot of tackifiers in it. Anyone with a few drops of each should be able to tell the difference in seconds if there is one. I never bought vactra, was gonna give it a shot but that call changed my mind pretty quick.

Right now I use the Vac 1409 on the manual machines until that pail runs out, and got 3 pails of Castrol MagnaGlide D68 for the cnc, its got less tackifiers than the 1409 but looks real good. Price was good too, so time will tell if I keep liking that one, I was hoping to get conoco hydroclear but no luck in my area.

A thicker oil on a manual machine shouldn't cause any problem. Not all 68 oils are rated for vertical ways, some are much too runny even if they're a 68(tonna comes to mind...)

my 2 cents

From a bearing way point of view. You might want to check your ways. It might be that the oil galleys are blocked, or the lube scraping is not working well. Which would mean that moly dee or any other lubricant won't get to where it needs to be. I don't know what machine these ways are on, but I know from my own experience, that the # 2 oils are for precision machines with high bearing point count. the #4 oils are for lower bearing point counts. My old cincinnati # 3mill used #4 lube suppossedly becuase of load/low bearing point count. On that machine they had sacrificed no. of bearing points for facilitating lubrication of the machine. The machines I have now, 2 cincinnati's, and and a Gorton tracer mill both use # 2 lubes. The have high precision ways especially the Gorton.

I scrape my own ways, and I am about to scrape the knee on My # 2 mill. The reason for this is wear leading to sticky / hard to move saddle. the ways have worn to the point where the automatic lube is not getting oil to the way effectively. To be short about it, make sure your lub. is actually getting to your way (avoiding metal to metal contact causing stick)

I'm being over simplified here, but something to think about. I know there are plenty of guys on here that can elaborate on this subject. Besides I have a personal aversion to Moly Dee. Spilled a can of that stuff years ago, and that nasty smell is till around!!!
Another point. Do you want your machine, Shop reeking of that stuff?! I know I'm going to catch hell for this , but I walk gracefully to the slaughter.........

PS why is the knee stick a problem. are you trying to bore, by elevating the knee? That's usually a procedure for the quill. Hope this helps a little.

I'm an Idiot!

Just read your post again. No quill. sorry.

3t3d said:

If you are having trouble, you can always the good old chain saw bar oil.
I hear it is real tacky, should work good.

Click to expand...

I wholeheartily agree with this post.
and stabilint is amazing!

I would use chain bar oil


*runs*

How about ASTROGLIDE? ALthough I'd be afraid the tailstock would slide right off a manual lathe.

I do not have quantifiable experience with solid lubricant additives, but I have read a lot about them over the years, and I am a fan of MoS2.

Climax Molybdenum has a lot of literature, probably available on-line, about it It is not a. "EP" additive, which are actually mildly corrosive forms of chlorine or sulphur compounds, and work by minutely corroding asperities under high P and T to prevent microwelding.

Acheson Colloids markets MoS2 additives

I put it in all my vehicle transmissions and rear ends.

Brand-name "Moly-Dee" smells (to me) like it has the active/corrosive type EP additives in it, and animal fats, in addition to MoS2.

Some years ago I believe Chevron was marketing a line of borate additives (Oloa 9750?) which supposedly produced sacrificial self-regenerating films on bearing surfaces.

And PTFE is supposedly famous for having a lower static coefficient of friction than its dynamic coefficient..just the thing to eliminate stick-slip.

It is easier to imagine solid lube particles actually getting into the load zone in a hydrodynamic bearing, or in a gear mesh, than under bearing points in ways that never separate.. but bearing points do swap out as the surfaces move , and under a micrtoscope there are lots of spaces opening and closing.

As long as I took care that solid sludge did not build up and prevent access of oil to the surfaces, I would definitely try it.