Sticky grease for temporarily holding steel balls in place ?

Milacron · Jul 8, 2014

Need to assemble something where the balls in a ball bearing tend to fall out unless something holds them a little better than standard grease. I suppose if nothing else I could clean a small spot on the race for each bearing (16 of them) and put a dot of superglue...but maybe there is a better way.

Atomkinder · Jul 8, 2014

How heavy can the grease be? I haven't done any machine rebuilding, but Phil Wood makes great grease for bearings used in hubs and bottom brackets for bicycles. Similar to marine grease IIRC.

SteveF · Jul 8, 2014

Try some Lucas Red N Tacky grease. Designed for open grease points on machinery (construction equip and tractors). If a grease can get the job done, that one can.

Likely found in your local auto supply store.

Steve

lionelt · Jul 8, 2014

I had four Smart & Brown capstan lathes and if you started them in reverse on a fast speed without locking the collet onto the work, it would unwind the closing mechanism and balls would come out of a captive race as it came too far apart.

Always used Castol LM wheel bearing grease to hold them in place, when rebuilding the collet closer.

just a thought, why not put the tin of grease the freezer for a while, to see if the grease hardens?

Archer120x · Jul 8, 2014

I can't remember the source, but somebody was using the wax from toilet seals to hold balls for internal thread measurement. I suggest new and not used toilet wax!
-Tony

DMF_TomB · Jul 8, 2014

grease

Milacron said:
Need to assemble something where the balls in a ball bearing tend to fall out unless something holds them a little better than standard grease. I suppose if nothing else I could clean a small spot on the race for each bearing (16 of them) and put a dot of superglue...but maybe there is a better way.

.
grease comes in different thicknesses. usually a chain or gear grease is sticker so it does not fly off the chain or gears when running. but different types of chain grease some is thin like almost oil for chain saws.
.
nlgi grades
NLGI consistency number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
nlgi grade 3 or higher is thicker or harder
.
dampening or damping grease grease is grease i used in different thicknesses for optical instruments. a optical lens uses it so the focus stays put if instrument tilted down. too thick and the lens is hard to adjust. too little and the lens feels not smooth or rough. i often had to clean the old grease out with alcohol or mineral spirits and reapply different grades til i found one just right.
........ the nye damping grease kit has a small selection of each type.
.
wax or tar or pitch, thick patch type roof tar is sticky and pitch or a mix of stuff is often warmed up or heated to stick a lens to a mounting block for grinding then either heat or solvent unsticks it. not sure if soaking bearing in mineral spirits would dissolve tar. you might want to test it on some non critical items first

bruto · Jul 8, 2014

This is a very common problem for the loose ball bearings on bicycles. My favorite for that purpose was always Sta-Lube boat trailer bearing grease, which is sticky and also waterproof without being too heavy. It's a distinctive color of blue. Bicycle folks often recommend this, as being very similar in consistency to Phil Wood bottom bracket grease, without the gold plated price.

Tony Quiring · Jul 8, 2014

CAt crawler grease for the tracks.

Stays put and holds on.

DMF_TomB · Jul 8, 2014

coupling grease is thick and sticky too. used in couplings that connect a motor to a pump. designed to not sling out going 1800 rpm for years.
.
when i applied by hand it definitely feels extremely sticky

Mud · Jul 8, 2014

bruto said:
This is a very common problem for the loose ball bearings on bicycles. My favorite for that purpose was always Sta-Lube boat trailer bearing grease, which is sticky and also waterproof without being too heavy. It's a distinctive color of blue. Bicycle folks often recommend this, as being very similar in consistency to Phil Wood bottom bracket grease, without the gold plated price.

I used some of that blue marine waterproof grease, I thought I'd got involved with Br'er Rabbit and the tar baby, wow was it sticky.
Superlube works well, thick and sticky but being water white it doesn't make a terrible mess.

Eric M · Jul 8, 2014

When doing measurement over wires on large parts, we like using Lano-Lube to help hold the wires in place. That may work for you too, and you won't have to worry about removing it later.

omrc7771 · Jul 8, 2014

Milacron said:
Need to assemble something where the balls in a ball bearing tend to fall out unless something holds them a little better than standard grease. I suppose if nothing else I could clean a small spot on the race for each bearing (16 of them) and put a dot of superglue...but maybe there is a better way.

Peanut butter....extra chunky

jdavi581 · Jul 8, 2014

assembly grease for manual transmission rebuilding-very thick and sticky. Any decent Tranny shop that does older cars/trucks will have it.
Joe

JohnEvans · Jul 8, 2014

Over the years I have assembled lots and lots of loose ball and needle bearings. Two things make it easier have both the surface and the bearings totally oil free so the grease will stick good and I like the old Texico Marfac long fiber wheel bearing grease. The red JT grease also works well. Ya want fun try putting a pre 70s Spicer big truck trans together ,all the loose gears on the mainshaft have well over 100 loose needle rollers.

Milacron · Jul 8, 2014

Update- Lucas Red 'n Tacky did the trick...actually not as sticky as I hoped but it was sticky enough for this project.

Philabuster · Jul 8, 2014

High vacuum grease is what we use all the time to hold stuff in place.

This is a silicone grease that feels and looks exactly like 100% silicone sealer, but it does not smell and does not cure.

Metalcutter · Jul 8, 2014

Milacron...

If the bearing is going into high RPM, you may need to flush out the thick lube and apply the called for lubrication.

Just saying..

Stan-

Milacron · Jul 8, 2014

Metalcutter said:
Milacron...

If the bearing is going into high RPM, you may need to flush out the thick lube and apply the called for lubrication.

Just saying..

Stan-

not really a bearing in the usual sense....disks of the rotating turret on a CNC drill tap machine.

Milacron · Jul 9, 2014

FWIW, a photo of the ball reinstall in process.... Note the turret mechanism tilts forward about twenty degrees so those heavy balls had quite a bit of incentive to fall out. You probably can't tell in the photo but besides the obvious oblong slots, there is a shallow groove each ball sits in and that is where it is important they stay, until the outer turret plate is assembled to hold all in place.

bruto · Jul 9, 2014

I wonder how they put it together initially. Upside down?

Sticky grease for temporarily holding steel balls in place ?

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