Any recommendations for ballscrew oil?

[FlyingElectron]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can give a recommendation and a place to buy ballscrew oil. The ballscrews are china made from ebay 25mm x 10mm lead and are being turned at 750RPM, the ballscrews are used to move about 30lbs of weight and just used for positioning so no force will be transmitted back against the ballscrews.

I've been using 10W-30 motor oil, but it seems too thin and tends to fly off the ballscrews spraying everything in sight when the ballscrews get up to speed.

Any suggestions on the proper oil to use in this situation would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

FlyingElectron

[Al_The_Man]

I generally use Vactra2 waylube oil.
Al.

[FlyingElectron]

Thanks for the suggestion!

I will go check out the Vactra #2 way lube oil. I had no idea even where to start looking at oils and this looks like a good place to start at.

FlyingElectron

[Glacern]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Man I generally use Vactra2 waylube oil. Al.

As do we. It's the industry standard for automatic oilers in CNC machining centers. Shell Tonna 68 is similar.

However, I don't think changing the oil will help with the oil flying off. The oil should be contained within the ballnuts, the the seals of the nuts should only leave very thin film on the screws.

-Sol
Glacern Machine Tools

[phungi]

I use Vactra No.4 , less fling... more cling

[FlyingElectron]

Just wanted to give an update on the oil.

Picked up a small bottle of the vactra #2 way oil from ebay and tried it out. It's about the consistency of the motor oil I was using, but I'm sure it's better for the ballscrews. It's thin enough that it will leak past the seals on the ballscrew nuts and form a puddle under the nut after I fill the nut, but it seems to coat the screws like it should if i move the axis right after filling the nut.

So... not really a big difference so far from the motor oil I was using in terms of flinging oil everywhere, but at least I know I am using an approved oil at least.

I think for my situation, the next step is to just build a little cover that goes around the ballscrew nut to contain the flinging oil so it doesn't make such a mess.