Success with lubrication

[d.elliott]

I have just received a nice Aeola to work on, but every riveted pivot is not far off sold, I know that wet lubricants seem attract and definitely retains dust and 'gunge' I know that concertinas filter through an awful lot of air. What I normally do is use graphite powder, but sometimes it needs a carrier medium that will vap-off, eg meths. Some silicon 'foodsafe' lubricants also work well, but they tend to be aerosols. I spray some into the cap and use a clock makers dipper to lubricate from the liquid in the cap. It penetrates well and does not run as the carrier is quite volatile. That is what I shall use on this concertina. Wiping off any excess as I go, naturally.

[Steve_freereeder]

On 4/5/2009 at 5:26 PM, Mike Pierceall said:

You might end up with graphite contaminated with abrasive.

 

Replying to an old thread which seems to have resurfaced...

 

Abrasive contamination is certainly a risk if you use graphite obtained from pencils. The pencil graphite 'lead' is mixed with clay as a binder and is mildly abrasive. The harder the pencil, the greater the proportion of clay. Even soft pencils,  e.g. 2B, 4B, etc., contain some clay.

 

As advocated by some earlier in this thread, the best source of graphite is locksmith's graphite which is the pure form. No clay.

[dabbler]

Adding to an old thread to note a recent success.  A couple of pivots on my Beaumont started seizing after much playing.  Applying "Dupont Teflon Non-Stick Dry-Film Lubricant" with a fine brush appears to have fixed the problem.  I use the bottle (non-aerosol) version of the product.

-George

[Richard Mellish]

Any thoughts about this https://wd40.co.uk/specialist/anti-friction-dry-ptfe-lubricant/ ?

Edited August 12, 2020 by Richard Mellish
Tried a link in a form that didn't work

[Theo]

I’ve tried that product and the one I tried was not dry!  

[Dana Johnson]

There are “dry film” lubricants (Even for bicycle chains) which are more suitable than oils of any kind.  I use molybdenum disulfide powder suspended in alcohol which has the same structure as graphite, but has an affinity for metal.  Metal rubbing against metal can be problematic, because often on a molecular level they are attracted to each other. (Nickel can be seen reaching out atomic tendrils towards adjacent metals )  Lubricants help keep the surfaces from touching each other at the sub microscopic level where this matters.  
Dana

[Richard Mellish]

That has set me off investigating where to get MoS2. Mostly it seems to come combined with a resin to help it stick to surfaces, which might not be what we would want.

This website https://www.brad-chem.co.uk/knowledge-base/knowledge-base-molybdenum-disulphide/ provides an interesting piece of information:
"Unlike graphite, molybdenum disulphide is an intrinsic solid lubricant. In dry coating applications, graphite will not lubricate without adsorbed water molecules between its graphene sheets. By contrast, molybdenum disulphide has a larger spacing between its planar sheets, allowing them to slide past each other. Consequently, it is a solid boundary lubricant powder that works even at high altitude or in the vacuum of space."

That page doesn't say anything about price or availability, but it looks as if one could order it from https://www.lewvac.co.uk/product/molybdenum-disulphide-dry-lubricant/

 

[Theo]

12 hours ago, Richard Mellish said:

"Unlike graphite, molybdenum disulphide is an intrinsic solid lubricant. In dry coating applications, graphite will not lubricate without adsorbed water molecules between its graphene sheets. "

 

 

 

I don't think you should worry about that.  The writer is just trying to sell molybdenum disulphide.  Anyone with a passing familiarity with graphite will confirm that it does reduce friction, though most of us will know nothing about the adsorbed water molecules.  Powdered graphite is readily available as a lock lubricant and you can mix it with alcohol to make it easier to handle and place.   You can also get it ready mixed with alcohol from piano repair suppliers in a product called Winslip.