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Question about chuck grease

FlatBeltBob

Stainless
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Location
central WI
I am updating my CNC lathe manual and writing a report on my recent chuck maintainence .
My 8" Atlas is prone to chips packing in the scroll , so I have just resigned myself to finding the most efficient way to disassemble , clean , and grease it as a course of PM.
I generally use a mild solvent , like WD-40 and a tooth brush to clean out the gears and scroll plate .
I know enough to put NO grease on the scroll face as this will just attract chips .
But on the back ( gear ) side , I am wondering what kind of grease to use .
I would guess some kind of EP grease , made for heavy shear load .
What kind of off the shelf grease would work ? the black graphite stuff ?
I am always seeing Dillon selling their brand of "chuck grease "
So what magical properties am I looking for ?
The last time , I used Kluber spindle grease , because thats what I had available .
But at $120 a tube , it seems a bit overkill .
Keep in mind that I plan to disassemble / clean on a regular basis , so I'm trying to find a cost effective product .
Thanks
Bob
 
It's just a few of pinion gears, put in whatever you have lying around. Instead of wasting the Kluber, send it to me and I'll send you some crap back to shove in your chuck. It will do exactly the same job and then we can both be happy
 
Use some grease that has moly disulfate in it. I have a can I picked up several year ago, Texaco brand then, don't know about now. It's the only thing I use in all of my 3-Jaw chucks now.
 
We did quite a bit of research on this and switched over to Mobilgrease HTS.

Other greases we looked at were:
Chevron ~ Ultra-Duty EP NLGI-2
Dow Corning ~ Molykote BR-Plus
Klueber ~ Altemp QNB50
Specialty Lubricants ~ Chuck-EEZ
Shunk GMBH ~ LINO Max
ATS Systems ~ K05
Fuchs ~ Gleitmo 805K
JR
 
Wonder what some moly powder would do. The stuff that reloaders use to coat bullets with.

Be like graphite, but maybe better?

Sure wouldn't attract crap like grease.
 
I use Kendall SHP grease, it's very resistant to washout from coolant etc. We grease the scrolls, works OK for us. The Mobilgrease HTS description says it's very resistant to washout also, might be a similar product.
 
Chuck Grease? Wasn't he that short kid in Algebra class?

I think "chuck grease" is just proof that P T Barnum was right :rolleyes5:

"Yes Sir, what you need is this here 'Chuck Grease', fortified with magnetic super-conductor snake oil, and for you Sir, we'll make this 'Chuck Grease' available to you for 5 easy payments of $99.95. but wait Sir ... there's more. If you're one of the first 100 callers you'll also get a free set of steak knives with your 'Chuck Grease'. Hurry though, stocks are running out, and we have another buyer who's interested in buying the whole lot, so you'd better buy right now. Hurry, hurry"
 
I think "chuck grease" is just proof that P T Barnum was right

A lot of other people used to think that here. We did a lot of testing that proved otherwise. Used the same SMW power chuck for all the testing. Taken apart, run thru a parts washer, greased, assembled and put back on the machine. For each grease used, the grip strength was checked after installation and every day for a month. All the data collected and plotted. The best to start was Kluber. The best overall was ATS-K05. There were a few "general purpose" greases tested but most were pulled early because the grip strength fell off so fast. The greases that I listed above were all of the top performers. ULM looked at all of the data we provided and went with the cheapest.
JR
BTW, all new chucks use ATS-K05 for the first year for warrantee.
 
I understood the OP was asking regarding greasing his 8" Atlas chuck. You want to put Kluber in that and convince yourself it will make one iota of difference over any regular general purpose grease, then knock yourself out. Personally I'd rather put that $120 bucks worth of grease towards a night of cheap wine and hookers. Either way the end result will be exactly the same!
 
Thanks for all the replies , very entertaining . I would tend to believe JRIowa has the straight scoop .
I know that another thread made jokes about using some crappy red wheel bearing grease , so thats obviously not the answer . Just as I woudn't put engine oil in my rear differential, I'm trying to reach a logical choice , and reach a balance of economy .
This is a manual 3 jaw , and it gets a real work out . 300 parts today , so I got a real workout too.
Small 1" bar work that gets 1/2" hole drilled , still needs a 10" cheater bar to get tight enough .
Wish I had a quality power chuck , but thats not happening ant time soon .
FBBob
 
Small 1" bar work that gets 1/2" hole drilled , still needs a 10" cheater bar to get tight enough .

WTF? You're using a cheater bar on your lathe chuck for a 1/2" hole in 1" stock, and then worrying about what type of grease to put in it! Mate, do yourself a favour, throw your POS chuck in the trash, and use all the money you were going to waste on special "chuck grease"* and use it instead to replace it with one that isn't worn out.

*Incidentally some of the "special chuck grease" I've seen appears to be nothing more than plain old white lithium grease that's been decanted in to another container and a hand applied label attached to it! What do you think is so special about "chuck grease" in a manual chuck?
 
I'm with Pete F. If you need a cheater bar to tighten the chuck for that job, there's something really wrong with the chuck.

I don't have high-dollar chucks or Olympic wrestler arms, but I can mark the surface of mild steel bar stock in my 10" three-jaw scroll chuck just by using both hands on the standard chuck key. Key has a 6" bar, 3" each side of center.
 
*Incidentally some of the "special chuck grease" I've seen appears to be nothing more than plain old white lithium grease that's been decanted in to another container and a hand applied label attached to it!

Sorry Pete, most of the "good stuff" is black.

KO5 has teflon in it. Most of the others are moly-disulfide plus other stuff. All of them are very hard to wash out. Kitagawa, Rohm US, and a couple of other chuck makers are recommend Chuck-Eez.

I agree, you shouldn't have to use a cheater on the chuck. If you don't want to grease the scroll, at least use some dry film lube on it. I get mine at the green tractor store.
JR
 
Wonder what some moly powder would do. The stuff that reloaders use to coat bullets with.

Be like graphite, but maybe better?

Sure wouldn't attract crap like grease.
.
maybe you do not know but moly powder is toxic. inhaling it as it is flying out of the chuck is not a good thing
 
Thanks for all the replies , very entertaining . I would tend to believe JRIowa has the straight scoop .
I know that another thread made jokes about using some crappy red wheel bearing grease , so thats obviously not the answer . Just as I woudn't put engine oil in my rear differential, I'm trying to reach a logical choice , and reach a balance of economy .
This is a manual 3 jaw , and it gets a real work out . 300 parts today , so I got a real workout too.
Small 1" bar work that gets 1/2" hole drilled , still needs a 10" cheater bar to get tight enough .
Wish I had a quality power chuck , but thats not happening ant time soon .
FBBob
.
if chuck is tight i usually spray a non residue electrical contact spray cleaner at it ( or carburetor cleaner). it washes away the sticky gooey shit causing the binding. i have never had to apply lube to a chuck in 34 years. far from it, normally i am just cleaning the gunk off somebody else applied
........ squirting or soaking in mineral spirits or alcohol would probably do the same thing in cleaning gunk while turning chuck scroll
....... this cleaning works for jacobs drill chucks too. they get hard to turn from tapping and cutting fluid getting in the chuck causing the hard turning
 
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Pulling a typical 3 or 4 jaw chuck apart if hardly rocket science, and all the chucks I have are easily disassembled. I see no reason not to do so from time to time, both to re-lube them and clean out the crap that seems to find its way inside. Still, some people never change the oil in their cars either, hardly a glowing endorsement, but there you go.

JR, I'm not surprised to hear the "good" power chuck greases are black/silver as I'd imagine Moly or Graphite would be a useful additive in that application. As I've maintained right along, not at all relevant to manual lathe chucks such as being asked by the OP, but I can imagine good in your application. The ones I've seen were from here Power Chucks POWER CHUCKS Chuck Grease Pro and white. I seem to recall the Bison "chuck grease" grease was white too, but I don't know if that's so much intended for power chucks.
 








 
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