3 jaw chuck grease

[tools]

Hi guys,

Got the old Cushman apart, cleaned up and ready to go back together tonight. It's got a zerk, what kind of grease? Regular old wheel bearing grease?

Thanks,

Tools

 

[jack d]

I dunno Tools, Im a firm beleiver in a light oil for the scroll, the grease you will regret with the chips and all IMHO.
jack

 

[carla]

I would concur with Jack.....use a good medium oil, never grease......

The zerk fittings are confusing, in that context, but remember the older Bridgeports which had zerk fittings on the saddle?....the idea was to have a grease gun filled with "waylube", and give the machine a shot of waylube in each of the fittings at the beginning of each shift....that was actually a very good, simple, cost-effective system, as it took only a minute to oil the machine thereby......but many Bridgeport mills came to greif cos careless workers wouldn't read the manual, and thought a zerk fitting meant "use grease".....

cheers

Carla

 

[jack d]

Learn something new every day, thanks Carla
jack

 

[tools]

Ya'll come through again and not a moment too soon. Must admit, the old zerk really makes me want to put grease in there!! And someone did in the past, and It's quite regrettable.

Thanks!

Tools

 

[John Mulhern]

Dunno how applicable or relevant this is to an old manual chuck...but Kitagawa CNC lathe chuck's have regular grease maintenance schedule's. We used to do our Haas lathe's on a weekly basis.

 

[TheMetalDoctor]

I always disassemble and use wheel bearing grease on everything as it does not "throw" out with centrifical force like oil does. But, if you don't mind the stripe of oil up the front of your shirt and safety glasses, guess oil is ok. With oil you are cerntainly going to have to do it more often.

TMD

 

[JOURNEYMAN]

Every time I've seen a manul chuck someone had put grease in it was not long before it became unuseable from chips that won't come out until its degreased . A little oil works for me.
Good point about the zerks Carla.

 

[Michael Moore]

Vactra #2?

I've got to take both chucks for my lathe apart. They've got what looks like baked-on Neverseize encrusted on them. I'm tempted to just put them in a bucket of solvent for a few days to try and loosen that stuff up.

I suppose I might put some moly assy lube on the moving bits as they go back together. If the Vactra #2 works I'd have that on hand for the lathe and mill, and I might actually get around to lubing the chucks now and then.

cheers,
Michael

 

[jim rozen]

Zerk fittings on the old b'ports?

Yep.

That was me.

In my defense, a) I was trying to make
the machine better, not worse, and b) the
shop had a filled grease gun on the shelf
*right* behind that machine.

Sure wish Carla had been there to give
me the wave-off on that....

Jim

 

[Mike C.]

Metal working machines use oil unless grease is specified (and it rarely will be on part that is subject to eating chips). The 100yr old radial drill I am working on is a classic example of grease being a bad idea. Somebody got the brilliant idea many years ago that it would be better to install grease fitings instead of oiling the bearings. The carefully cut oil grooves are now totally useless as they are packed with what resembles black wax.

Grease in a chuck (unless specified by the manufacturer) is only going to ensure that all chips stick. Same for grease on the headstock gears of a lathe. You should see the crap coming out of my old L&S.

 

[Michael Moore]

Solvent doesn't even start to budge that stuff on my chucks - it has to be scraped, sanded and wire brushed off.

Is it a huge deal to take a three jaw chuck completely apart? I'm afraid that if the outside looks like this there's going to be crap in the inside that should be cleaned out.

cheers,
Michael

 

[Mike C.]

Go for it Michael. The only trick to a three-jaw is making sure the jaws go back into the proper places. They will be stamped and usually the chuck will be too, so that's a no-brainer. Like most things with working on machine tools, I think you will find it far simpler than you feared once you get in there. Just keep the parts in order and try as much as possible to put them back in the same locations (ie screws to the same screw holes, shims, same orientation on the chuck halves, etc...).

 

[ray french]

Michael,if I had to use a 1-10 scale as degree of difficulty it would be a 1 for a three jaw chuck.So like Mike C. says "Go for it".Soak it in kerocene or mineral spirits and if they won't loosen up the grung then soak it in gasoline.Just be safe about it.

 

[itsmeBernie]

Wow, ten years later! I have a really nice 6 inch Cushman Chuck with a Zerk fitting on top. I have heard of "chuck grease", and assumed that is what I needed.

My chuck is apart now, and I am still confused- do I leave my chuck apart and order this Bison Chuck Grease from New England Brass, or just use a little anti-seize in the gears and Way Oil the thing? And use Way Oil in a grease gun in the Zerk fitting? I don't have an instruction manual to know what Cushman wanted

Bernie

 

[itsmeBernie]

Upon further grilling of a some knowledgable people I know, this is NOT a Zerk fitting for grease, but a pressure OIL fitting. I should have a gun similar to a grease gun, but filed with oil, and push it in there. Makes sense, as this would tend to push debris out of the chuck over time.

I will be looking for an oil gun like this, with a Zerk looking fitting at the end.


Bernie

 

[sticks]

Years ago I bought a grease gun, liked the low price and that it came filled. Well, when empty I went to change the cartridge and there was none. Oops, bulk-fill only, & the rubber piston won't fit into a cartridge. Finally glad I hung onto it. Guess it'll be way oil, then.

Do I have even ONE pressure-oil fitting?? Dunno, BUT ... I'd bet I can switch Zerks for the line fittings till I rebuild or replace the one-shot on my big mill. THANKS for teaching an old dog a new trick!

 

[steve-l]

Never, Never use grease on a chuck. The zerks are for oil. Now trying to find a pressure oil gun, that can be difficult. I couldn't find one that didn't leak, so I made my own.

 

[itsmeBernie]

Never, Never use grease on a chuck. The zerks are for oil. Now trying to find a pressure oil gun, that can be difficult. I couldn't find one that didn't leak, so I made my own.

Steve- are you the guy who put the grommet at the end of an oil gun?

Bernie

 

[sbh10]

Not knowing what I know now, I put grease in my Bridgeport Mill. Now my automatic quill down feed won't work. What can I do to rectify this and do you think the grease was the culprit?