HOW MUCH grease in a power chuck?

[dkmc]

I know, molly grease or the special stuff made for wedge or lever chucks......but....how much do you put in?
I have a 12" cushman with 3 zerks on the front face. I had it apart and cleaned it, pumped the grease gun 3 shots on each fitting.
Is that enough or do I keep going till it throws out visibly when I run it up to 800 or so?
No sign of stripes inside the machine yet.......

dk

 

[ARB]

I don't know if it's right or not but I give it 3 squirts too.
I hit it once every week or two.

 

[Dave K]

I had a boss tell me once, you cannot put in too much, ever. Because as soon as you turn on the spindle, centrifugal force is working to throw the grease back out of it.
I know, didn't make sense to me either, but he signed my paycheck.

These days, I give a good 5 squirts per jaw if I just got done completely cleaning the chuck. If it's just my weekly greasing, 2-3 squirts per jaw seems fine.
I think the main thing is just so the masters have a good coating, and never gets dry enough to start seizing or binding.

 

[jdj]

I have a 12" cushman with 3 zerks on the front face. I had it apart and cleaned it,

dk

I have one that sounds very similar. How much room appeared to be in there for grease? I know that is kind of hard to approximate, but I guess that I would go by that. I hit mine about 4-5 shots per fitting, every three weeks, but it doesn't always see a WHOLE lot of use. If It was getting used everyday, all day, I would probably hit it 4-5 times (each fitting) once a week. This chuck has been around a long time and has (years ago) seen a LOT of use. The son of a gun is STILL quite accurate!

Jeff

 

[Captdave]

After a tear down I would be more inclined to filler up till it start showing evidence its starting to sling out, then 2-3 squirts a week.

 

[bryan_machine]

the folks in the kitagawa booth at imts told me:

a. molly grease
b. pump it in until it starts to ooze out

(so apparently, there cannot be "too much")

 

[stroker]

the folks in the kitagawa booth at imts told me:

a. molly grease
b. pump it in until it starts to ooze out

(so apparently, there cannot be "too much")

I agree with bryan-machine. We had a bank of 4 pneumatic wedge chucks operating 400 cycles every day, 6 days a week for 10 years. Although they didn't rotate (part of a VMC set up), we greased them once a week 'til it oozed out of the slides and they never let us down.
Regards
Mike

 

[dkmc]

It may sound odd, but I guess I'll give 'er a few more strokes till she oozes a bit......

When I put it back together I sprayed the inner parts down with spray Dow Corning Molykote.

thanks

dk

 

[cnctoolcat]

US Shop Tools sells "Chuck-Ez" or some such grease, specifically made for cnc power chucks. $$$ though....

I use Mobil synthetic grease from MSC. About $10 per tube. The white stuff...as I prefer the insides of the machines to be splattered with white. Versus red or black.

Definitely want to pump enough in till you see the grease oozing out. And Kitagawa actually recommends greasing every 8 hours of operation!

Greg

 

[Edster]

I've heard grease the chuck once a shift.

 

[Dave K]

And Kitagawa actually recommends greasing every 8 hours of operation!

Uh oh, I need to buy more grease.

 

[Philabuster]

US Shop Tools sells "Chuck-Ez" or some such grease, specifically made for cnc power chucks. $$$ though....

I use Mobil synthetic grease from MSC. About $10 per tube. The white stuff...as I prefer the insides of the machines to be splattered with white. Versus red or black.

Definitely want to pump enough in till you see the grease oozing out. And Kitagawa actually recommends greasing every 8 hours of operation!

Greg

CHUCK-EEZ is good stuff.

A while back, we used some type of white grease, but over time, the stuff got hard like cement and plugged up the internal passages of the chucks. The chucks started galling due to lack of lubrication--even though there was white grease oozing out of the top of the master jaws when you pumped it in.

Maintenance said shitcan the white grease and go back to the high moly type of grease. Moly is dirty, but our chucks like it better. Pratt Burnard grease was extremely high in moly, but we have not stocked it for a few years. PRATT BURNERD CHUCK LUBRICANT

 

[cnctoolcat]

I have never had a problem with the white synthetic Mobil grease getting hard inside the chucks. It is pricey grease, about $15 per tube if not on sale at MSC. Called Mobil SH-something 460.

I could see your standard, white petroleum based grease getting the liquid slung out of it by the centrifugal force of the spinning chuck. Leaving behind a hard packed mess.

But, IMO, a quality, high-dollar synthetic grease won't separate and harden like dino-based greases.

 

[david n]

I'll have to double check, but this is the stuff I use. KO5
SMW AUTOBLOK -- PRODUCTS DETAIL
Kinda spendy though. I think it's over $20 a tube. Never gets hard and pasty and it really klings. I give each jaw 2 pumps as needed. Gotta keep it relativly warm because it doesn't like to flow if the temp in the shop is down around 50°.

 

[gregormarwick]

We just bought some of the chuck-eez stuff. On the pack it says 2 pumps every 8 hours of operation.

 

[dkmc]

I'm going to try some Dow corning G4700

MOLYKOTE® G-4700 EXTREME PRESSURE SYNTHETIC GREASE

I also found this CAT grease ....5% moly
http://www.cat.com/cda/files/1386292/7/NEHP6010-01.pdf

I remember as a kid in the 60's the new GM cars
had grease on the front end fittings that looked silver....like thick aluminum paint.
Must have been really high moly content.
Never been able to find it anywhere.......
Although that Ultra5 kinda looks like it from the pic

BTW If I was selling Chuck-EEZ grease for the price they charge, I'd say "shoot each fitting 5 times every 20 minutes".....

dk

 

[Dave K]

It is pricey grease, about $15 per tube if not on sale at MSC. Called Mobil SH-something 460.

I got a kick out of this statement. Not trying to ridicule at all. It's just kind a funny when I think of the grease that hardinge makes me use on my machining center. It's called Kluber Isoflex, (or something close to that) and it's over 100 bucks a tube. Makes 15 bucks a tube sound like heaven.

 

[jdj]

when I think of the grease that hardinge makes me use on my machining center. It's called Kluber Isoflex, (or something close to that) and it's over 100 bucks a tube. Makes 15 bucks a tube sound like heaven.

I know. You have to wonder about that stuff. Is it REALLY that much better? How different is it than your average high quality greases?

Jeff

 

[Philabuster]

I know. You have to wonder about that stuff. Is it REALLY that much better? How different is it than your average high quality greases?

Jeff

Our maintenance mechanics swore by the kluber grease for prelubing high precision grinding spindle bearings.

 

[SIM]

Kluber Lube ISOFlex 15 "Special Grease"

Yup, 100 bucks with shipping and it looks like a Hotel Size Sample squeeze Tube to boot.

But when I Had my Emco Maier's spindle apart, the factory guy on the phone told me to pack the bearing with "Mit a Pea" size glob of Da Special Grease...and only a Pea Size amount of Da Special Grease or machine go Kaput." So I asked Special Grease? and was told not to do anything till I got Da Special Kluber IsoFlex Grease... he sent it out Red and sure enough when I received... their it was, right on the tube "Special Grease" So you think 100 bucks for Special Grease or 2400 bucks for bearings...I went wit he special grease.


Chuck-EEZ is what we use...three tubes and one in the gun come with each new Haas Lathe purchase. As we mostly use Collets the tubes have lasted till the next purchase, probably cheaper to just buy the grease...