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press fit lube

I was asked today what would be a good lube to use on a press fit. The only thing I could think of is Moly based grease. I think that in the "old" days lead compounds were used such as white lead. I have a feeling that since the people concerned are in the marine field erection business they are looking for something to limit corrosion and an expectation that the unit could be pressed apart at a later date. Any good alternatives to just pressing dry? Randy

Reply to
R. Zimmerman
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When I press a workpiece onto a tapered arbor (mandrel), I use a dab of "High Pressure Grease" that is sold by many of the industrial suppliers. I also use it when turning using a dead center.

HTH.

Gary

Reply to
grice

This is actually a interesting question. If you talk to the folks who do a lot of this sort of thing (for example, those who rebuild vintage crankshafts that are press-fit together) you will find them referring back to an interesting article that describes some experiments done, pressing railroad wheels onto axles, using various different kinds of lubricants - and the amount of force required to press the same wheels off, and then back on again.

The short answer is, you don't really want to use an EP grease like with MoS2 because it will reduce the retention force for a given fitup.

The conclusion in the (admittedly rather elderly) paper was to use tallow. The folks I know use pure venison tallow.

You could also post this question at the following forum under "general."

and see what discussion happens. There are quite a few smart folks there.

Jim

Reply to
jim rozen

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