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What do you use to lube boring machine

Started by addicted, September 18, 2013, 08:16:46 AM

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addicted

Those of you who use boring machines. What do you recommend for lubricating the shafts and gears? How often?
I've been breaking shear pins routinely on white pine with a two inch auger. Maybe I'm using the wrong lube.
Rusty

Dave Shepard

I use light machine oil. There are no shear pins on a boring machine, at least not intentionally. I would investigate the sharpness of your bit. If the vertical "wings" have been sharpened on the outside, the bit will bind, usually stopping the bit. This is when pins and handles break.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Jim_Rogers

I broke the pin on my boring machine once. And I think I replaced it with a common nail so that it would be softer then the gears so that I would more or less act as a shear pin.

I asked my partner, in the tool business, to clarify this "shear pin" question.

This is his response:

Technically they are not shear pins, but they are pins that anchor the gear(s) to the shaft. They may or not shear before the gear teeth or casting breaks. Many times someone will use a nail as a replacement for the original pin, these will shear quit easily. More readily than the original pins installed.

Still waiting to hear from him which oil to use.

Personally I used bluecreeper.
See this:

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,68501.0.html

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

addicted

Thanks guys
I used a 8d nail as well and it was sliced in two within a couple of rotations. I inspected the bit, which came from Jim with a very good edge on it, and it does not have the outside of the wings sharpened. I also looked for a knot in the mortise. No knot.
  However the unit does seem to require quite a bit of force to crank it even without the bit engaged in the mortise. Maybe a good cleaning and fresh lube will do.
Rusty

Roger Nair

I have several old boring machines that I picked up years back that have extensive problems due to wear in the bores and gear teeth.  There is a tendency for the gears to thrust apart under load if the shaft or bores deform to much, the gears spread and load is applied more tangent to the rim of the gear, progressively your gears wear and progressively you lose mechanical advantage to the point of jamming.  My backyard solution was to cut open and form copper pipe into bore shims.  I admit this is an ongoing issue that proper bushings would help out considerably.

I use gear oil as lube.
An optimist believes this is the best of all possible worlds, the pessimist fears that the optimist is correct.--James Branch Cabell

Brad_bb

BlueCreeper

Which pin are you referring to?  The pin that holds the chuck gear to the chuck shaft (to keep it from rotating relative to it's shaft) is a straight pin.  If memory serves it's 1/4" dia X 3/8"L.  You can find replacement pins at McMaster-Carr online.

If we are talking about the handle shaft gear pin or the pins that hold the handle brackets onto the same shaft, those are tapered pins.  They are also available from McMaster-Carr online.  In some cases, it may be advisable to also buy the corresponding tapered pin reamer to clean and true the hole for a new pin.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
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Jim_Rogers

Tom said:

"I use 3 in 1 oil for the bearing surfaces but none on the gears. except a bit of WD 40."

I never lube my gears only the bearing points where the shafts go through the frame.

All surfaces of the bits that cut would should have been sharp when you got the bit from us. I recently posted three links/videos of two different guys showing how to sharpen the bits. The methods they use are the methods we use, except that we never touch the outside of the wings.

Boring machines that have removal-able bear caps usually have a small hole in the middle of the cap. That hole is for oiling with the 3 in 1 oil.
My machine didn't have removal-able bearing caps so I leaned the machine over and put a few drops of bluecreeper on the side and let it soak in. And then rolled it over and did the other side for the handles shaft. The chuck shaft I just put a few drops on the top and let it flow down by gravity.

Personally I like the idea of the pin shearing off before the teeth on the gears break. I'd rather buy more pins then try to find a replacement gear.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

addicted

Lesson learned
About two weeks ago I put a small amount of white lithium grease on the gears only. After using it for two through mortises and four brace pockets the gears seemed to have gummed up. I have never lubed the shafts. Just to clarify, it's a Boss Boring Machine. Well....... I was out of wd 40 and liquid wrench, but I did have some GM valve lube. Applied to the shafts and gears. WOW!!! What a difference. The wind can turn the handles now. It's so easy to turn I had the wife bore a few holes.
Thanks for everyones help.
I have to go check on the wife
Rusty

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