Favorite cleaners and lubes

On 1/1/2008 8:48 AM Anthony Fremont spake thus:

Yes, naphtha is very good. But you can get it cheaper: just buy charcoal lighter fluid. Same stuff. Also not very dangerous, compared to other solvents.

What you're using seems fine. No need to search for "plastic-compatible" lube if that's what you're thinking (assuming you're not working on a

60-year old loco that was made before modern plastics). These are not exactly precision instruments, just simple ones that need adequate lubrication.

For wheels, first I use Goo Gone on the blue industrial paper towels, laid on a piece of powered test track, and then 90%+ isopropyl on a different paper towel to get rid of the GooGone left overs. Roco blocks (if you can find them) for track. We've been using the super fine 3M sanding blocks with some success.

Good luck. Hope you use it in a very well ventilated area.

You are probably coating the wheels with a bit of shellac (or varnish or what ever it is in WD40) it's slippery.

Paul

On 1/1/2008 1:12 PM Paul Newhouse spake thus:

It's one of the safer and less offensive solvents available; far less noxious than, say, gasoline, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, etc., etc.

Where do you get shellac or varnish? Neither one of these is in WD-40. It's got other stuff that's maybe not so good for cleaning wheels and such, but no sticky stuff like you suppose.

"... or what ever it is in WD-40"

It's NOT sticky that's why the OP notices a loss of traction.

Paul

NEVER use WD40 on anything to do with model railroading.

It is NOT plastic compatable and isn't a lubricant.

To clean wheels use a cloth or paper towel dampened with Isopropyl Alcohol I always use the 90+%, whatever that is. To clean loco wheels, lay the towel/cloth on the track and run the loco onto the cloth and spin its wheels. Then move the cloth to the other end of the loco, change directions, run the loco onto the cloth/towel and spin the wheels again. Use this same Isopropyl Alcohol to clean the railhead using a soft, lint free cloth. I coat my track with "Rail-Zip" and rarely need to clean my wheels or track.

For lubricants, use the various Labelle oils and greases made for model railroad use as they are plastic compatable. Remember, just ONE drop of lubricant is all you need. Don't go flooding any moving part with oil.

Once again, do NOT use WD40 and don't let it anywhere near a model railroad.

-- Happy New Year

Roger T. Home of the Great Eastern Railway at:-

48° 25' North Longitude: 123° 21' West

"Roger T." wrote

You're correct, but there are an *amazing* number of WD40 myths running around out there, and no matter how you try you'll probably never convince people not to use the stuff except as it was originally intended to be used.

For instance: I'm a luthier (I build and repair high-quality fretted instruments such as guitars, mandolins, banjos, Etc.) and one of my long-time customers has been oiling the fingerboard of his -very expensive- Gibson mandolin with WD40 for years, despite my repeated warnings that it was a very bad idea.

He kept replying "Ain't nothin' gone wrong with it yet." up until last month when he brought it in with all the frets lifting out of their slots.

The WD40 eventually worked it's way into the fingerboard, and since the frets are held in only by friction they've all started to work their way out, and hammering them back down has no effect: they just pop right back up again.

Looks like I'm gonna have to replace the entire oil-soaked fingerboard, the frets, and the binding around the edges as well; probably a $750 job by the time I get done.

Sheesh!

Pete

On 1/1/2008 3:40 PM Roger T. spake thus:

Sorry, have to dispute that. DISCLAIMER: I'm not suggesting WD-40 is a great lubricant for locomotives, etc. But this whole stupid "not plastic compatable" business has to be refuted.

THERE ARE NO LUBRICANTS IN USE TODAY THAT WILL HARM THE PLASTIC OF YOUR LOCOMOTIVE DRIVE. Notice I said "locomotive *drive*". I'm not talking about dripping oil on the styrene shell of a model, which probably won't do it any good. But no oil will harm any plastic IN USE TODAY.

There may have been plastics made at the dawn of the age (back in the

1940s and 50s) that could be harmed by certain types of oil, but they aren't in use any more.

WD-40 IS TOO a lubricant. Whether it's a good one or not is debatable. I use it all the time on my bicycle chain, for example, and it's perfect for that.

But please, let's not agonize over whether the oils we use are going to "destroy" or "dissolve" or otherwise harm our Delrin/nylon/etc., trucks, gears and other mechanical parts. They won't.

I probably wouldn't use WD-40 here either, simply because it does "gunk up" over time. But it doesn't physically harm any plastic; it just leaves a deposit behind that gets sticky over time. It would do the same thing to metal parts.

Isopropyl alcohol, or methyl alcohol ("methylated spirits", shellac thinnner, etc.) is also good stuff. Evaporates without leaving any residue behind. However, it's not as good a grease cutter as, say, naphtha. But if you used naphtha, it would be good to follow it up with alcohol to make sure all the gunk is gone.

This is good advice no matter what you use to lube.

We will have to agree to disagree.

-- Happy New Year

Roger T. Home of the Great Eastern Railway at:-

48° 25' North Longitude: 123° 21' West

On 1/1/2008 5:55 PM Roger T. spake thus:

So what evidence do you have that "non-plastic compatible" oil can harm plastics?

">>>> NEVER use WD40 on anything to do with model railroading.

Any model railroading magazine, for example.

WD40 is way too heavy for model railway use as well as not being suitable for plastics.

Besides, I'm not going to be drawn into a long winded battle over WD40 or anything else. This newsgroup is far too combative anyway and I'm not going to be drawn into another fight.

If you think it's OK to use, you go right ahead and use it.

Bye.

-- Happy New Year

Roger T. Home of the Great Eastern Railway at:-

48° 25' North Longitude: 123° 21' West

C'mon, guys, is it that hard to just go right to the source and find out for yourselves?

Stevert

On 1/1/2008 7:49 PM Stevert spake thus regarding the magic elixir (WD-40):

Interesting. Basically kind of a promotional puff piece, as you might imagine. However, it does have this to say about what it's safe to use on:

What surfaces or materials are OK to use WD-40 on?

WD-40 can be used on just about everything. It is safe for metal, rubber, wood and plastic. WD-40 can be applied to painted metal surfaces without harming the paint. Polycarbonate and clear polystyrene plastic are among the few surfaces on which to avoid using a petroleum-based product like WD-40.

So, as I had pointed out earlier, it's probably not a good idea to get it (or any oil for that matter) on a styrene model.

"David Nebenzahl" wrote

Problem here is, we *know* they're either lying about the "safe for wood" part or they're so badly misinformed as to not know what they're talking about, which comes down to the same thing: untrustworthy information.

In over 40 years as a luthier/instrument repairman I've personally seen WD40 ruin quite a bit of wood -mahogany in particular. The most common problem I've seen is musicians using WD40 to lube their guitar tuners. The oil then penetrates around the screws that hold the tuners in position, and migrates down into the screw holes. It eventually penetrates right into the wood's grain, causing the wood to swell, discolor, and eventually lose much of it's strength.

About rubbers and plastics I have no opinion, never having seen WD40 cause problems there. But about wood I can speak as something of an authority on the subject, and WD40 is very definitely *not* safe on unfinished wood!

On 1/1/2008 10:16 PM P. Roehling spake thus:

Well, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt here; after all, they said "safe for wood", not "OK to spray on the fingerboard of your expensive guitar/mandolin/bass/charango, etc.". Having worked quite a bit on guitars myself in a previous lifetime, I know from whereof you speak. Really any petroleum product isn't going to do your nice mahogany, rosewood, bubinga or maple any good. But I don't think the WD-40 folks are giving people a green light to slather their musical instruments in the stuff.

We used to use a touch of Vaseline on the exposed gears of tuning machines. (As Roger pointed out earlier, as little as possible is sometime almost too much.) Of course was always nice when the customer was rich enough to spring for a new set of Grovers or Schallers, obviating any need for lubrication.

"David Nebenzahl" wrote

Weeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllll....that's stretching a point. From my viewpoint bad info is bad info, and if they didn't want to make an incorrect blanket statement they didn't have to. After all: getting much WD40 on just about

*any* unfinished wood is gonna screw it up pretty good...

Very cool! Here's some of my stuff:

I also used to do repair, vintage instrument, and instrument review articles for "Banjo Newletter","Pickin'", and "Frets" magazines, and published some tabs in each as well.

What sort of stuff do you play?

The factory lubricants eventually evaporate (or harden) in even the best tuners, and when I take 'em apart to clean and relube 'em I use -wait for it- LaBella's #106 Lubricating Grease! It works at least as well and lasts at least as long (circa 20 years) as the other greases I've used, and unlike them it's available in small easy-to-apply quantities!

Of course the LaBella stuff *does* say "Plastic Compatible" on the tube, which might be where this whole question came from...

Pete

Taking no position on the WD-40 issue, allow me to put forward paraffin wax as a superior chain lube. Clean chain (brush in solvent or turps, or use soap or citrus cleaner, then spray with WD-40 for its water displacement effect). Melt wax, immerse cleaned chain in wax; agitate moving links around to ensure max penetration. Remove and hang to cool. Flex chain back and forth to drop excess wax; reinstall.

The wax lubes just fine (and a lot more than the minuscule amounts of oils in WD-40 does) and does not tend to pick up dust and grime as much as oily or greasy chain lubes do. Some folks mix teflon into the wax.

On 1/1/2008 11:02 PM P. Roehling spake thus:

Hmm; very nice m.o.p. inlay there. I never did anything as fancy as that.

Nothing anymore. Last played with an Eastern European/Balkan band here in the Bay Area (bass, violin, tambura). Before that, played in orchestras (violin, in community symphony & chamber groups); got to play lots of times at Stanford's MemChu with choral groups.

Also played old-timey, bluegrass and Irish in a previous lifetime. (I especially liked the Round Peak style--you know, Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Fuzzy Mountain String Band and those folks).

Are fingerboards unfinished wood?

the best way is for someone to place their prized plastic engine shell in WD-40 for months an report back to us later...