Replies

1. 
   JDorn | Oct 30, 2003 08:57pm | #1

   good question, I'd like to hear some suggestions too.  I also recently picked up a used Unisaw that had been sitting idle for 5 yrs or so.  When I first got it home i sprayed it all down with WD40 and cleaned everything out, and that seemed to help, but now a few months later its squeaking again. 

   I'll admit I don't use the saw more than 2-4 hrs a week, so perhaps inactivity is the culprit, but I'd love to get rid of those squeaks.

2. 
   forestgirl | Oct 30, 2003 10:48pm | #2

   I use lithium grease, but lots of folks here prefer a dry lubricants.  Search the archives -- there should be some posts within the last 6 months.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   Steinmetz | Nov 03, 2003 11:10am | #8

   Sorry to butt in, Madam Mimosa, but I can recall a bad experience using lithium grease.

   My work used to be repairing garage doors . Once when I had a job repairing a whole bank of them (replacing guide rollers, coil springs,etc, I liberally lubricated (say that three times)everything that moved with that white Lithium grease.

   All eight doors worked effortlessly and quietly and I enjoyed that feeling of accomplishment that only few of us attain.  Two or three months later,  got a callback (Means more work no pay). the $%$#%$# grease oxidized and took on the resemblance of dried lime deposits on a plumbing fixture.

   Two days of chipping scraping and cussing, I just oiled everything with motor oil, and chalked it up to experience. Stein.

1. 
   forestgirl | Nov 03, 2003 09:19pm | #10

   Stein, that is weird -- very, very weird!  I'll have to go take a look at my TS ways, LOL.

   Hmmmmmm, "Madam Mimosa" -- I like it! forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

3. 
   hammer1 | Oct 31, 2003 05:07am | #3

   I've been using a product that is for high tech bicycle chains. It is a combination of teflon and parafin. No grease or mess and dirt and dust won't stick. You get it at bicycle shops. Kritech by Finishline. This stuff is expensive but a couple of drops is all you need, very awesome for acme type screws. Rust proofs.

4. 
   RANGERP75R | Oct 31, 2003 06:19am | #4

   woodman

      You can clean it with WD-40. I would dry it throughly after the cleaning and apply dry graphite powder. Graphite has to be applied pretty often. But you can squeeze some on the threads and crank them. It will disperse itself.

   sarge..jt

5. 
   SparrowHawk | Oct 31, 2003 01:02pm | #5

   I have had good luck using paste wax on moving parts. I find I need to renew it every couple months or so but it seems to work fine and I don't need to worry about damaging finishes later on.

   Be safe,
   Ken

6. 
   JohnWW | Oct 31, 2003 07:34pm | #6

   Woodman,

   The squeaking is most likely coming from the drive shafts of the lift and tilt mechanisms where they go through the cast iron trunnion assemblies.  None of the Unisaw type machines seem to have proper bushings or grease fittings on the shafts, so its just steel rubbing on the cast iron. 

   Some machines at least have hard to reach oil holes drilled in from the top side of the castings but many don't.  In any case, a drop of oil or two on the shaft, on either end where it enters and exits the casting, will stop the squeaking.  You have to use oil for this because it needs to be drawn in around the shaft.

   Hope this helps,

   John W.

7. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Nov 01, 2003 01:53am | #7

   I've used a Unisaw for about 25 years now.   Every few months the handwheels get cranky.  They get hard to move, and in the extreme case they make noise.   I crawl underneath and use an old toothbrush to brush the sawdust out of the worm gear and pinion gear.  I use the same toothbrush to put a little Johnsons paste wax on the gears where they meet.   After this treatment, the handwheels just glide.

8. 
   IMERC | Nov 03, 2003 02:54pm | #9

   I use Tri-Flow with Teflon. I dries to a non-sticky coating. Good for high pressure applications. Relubeing becomes an infrequent thing. Some times years.

   Works well on all kinds of gears, shafts, chains, bushings, cables, hinges, nuts, bolts, metal parts and firearms,

   The temperature extremes are phemonomial. Fights rust and corrosion. Personal experience is -45*F.

   Safe for wood and plastic. Seems to have more uses than WD-40 and does a much better job. A little, little bit goes a very long ways. It has some kind of cleaning / foaming / penetrating action. Works as a rust buster too.

   It's made by Sherwin Williams

    

   Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....