Posted by David Sherman on Sunday, April 21, 2002 at 2:39PM :
I hope it's okay to ask here, but has anybody had any experience with using modern grease on old babbitted machine bearings that were made to be oil-lubricated via a waste-packed oil cup on the upper bearing cap? I don't mean the kind where there's a reservoir below the journal and an oil ring, like on old electric motors, but the kind where the oil just slowly soaks through the cotton waste, lubes the bearing more or less, and leaks out the ends. I've rebuilt an old 1880s lumber planer and have put zerks on all the slow-speed bearings in the feed mechanism, which are mostly steel journals running on cast iron, but am not sure if this would be a safe expedient on the cutter head itself, which runs at about 2600 rpm. It would be convenient not to mess with waste packing and oil and oil leaking out and getting on the boards, but I wonder if grease will lubricate adequately at high speeds. Also, if I go with grease, would it better NOT to use a moly grease for high speeds on a babbitt bearing? Thanks.
Follow Ups: