Took me 3 years to figure out I was greasing the rails wrong

Had an older guy stop by my job in Cleveland last month and point out I was putting too much grease on the guide rails. He told me to look at the buildup on the shoes and I felt like an idiot. Anyone else have a basic setup habit they just never questioned?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret_gonzalez254d ago

Hold on, I see it different actually. I work on a few old machines in my shop and I stripped the grease fittings on one last winter from packing too much in there. The buildup on the shoes really does mess with the sliding action after a while, it can actually grab and cause more drag than it helps. A thin layer that stays clean beats a thick crust every time in my book.

ray8014d ago

Nah man, I gotta disagree on this one. A little extra grease keeps things sliding smooth in my experience, especially in colder weather where everything wants to seize up.

graceblack4h ago

My buddy over in Akron had a similar wakeup call last winter, @ray801. He was on the same page as you about extra grease for the cold, but his machine started chattering on the tracks and he couldn't figure out why. Turns out the excess was freezing up overnight, turning into little ice ridges that actually stopped the slide dead in its tracks. He had to scrape it all off with a putty knife and start from scratch. Now he only puts on a thin wipe and checks it more often. That cold weather argument makes sense until you see ice buildup turn your smooth machine into a jerky mess.