Lubrication

Hi!
I've been looking for a proper lubricant for the fisher for quite a while now. Is there a product I can use for the linear bearings as well as for the metal-on-plastic joints? So far, I've considered medical grade lubricant based on paraffin wax, PTFE spray or maybe some RC-car product. The medical grade lubricant lists explicitly which Plastics it's compatible with and which not, but it seems quite expensive. PTFE based lubricant seems like a good choice and is also mentioned on the RepRap wiki page on lubrication, but any additional solvents or oils are not usually disclosed, so it's probably only save for plastics when it has dried.
I would like to avoid grease of any kind to keep the mess from attracted dust down to a minimum.

As always:
Thanks for your time!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 05:39AM by La_doc.

I have looked at food grade silicone and food grade white grease. Both are suitable for the balls, I think the silicone is nicer. However, I don't think either is good for the linear bearings. I am afraid I don't have a good solution for that.

I've been using simple 3-in-1 oil for the linear bearings because this has been working quite nicely on my Ormerod as well - I figure silicone spray would work too, but don't use WD40. I don't know if you actually need to lubricate the metal-on-plastic joints, but if you do, I'd probably try some grease on those spots.

You shall normally not use the same lubricant for arms and for bearings.

Acrylic is sensitive to solvent and you shall be cautious.

'Food grade' does not mean it is not a solvent! I use cooking oil to wash my hands after use of solvent based paint (to avoid ordinary solvent toxicity). There are reasons why cooking oil is often sold in glass bottle. Looks also old cooking oil plastic bottle.

Lubricant based on polyolefins ONLY (e.g. silicon or other plastic) shall be immune to plastic.
Practically, as I told in another topic here [forums.reprap.org], I used garden train lubricant for the original acrylic arms.

For the printed arms in PETG, any lubricant is ok, as PETG is chemically very neutral, but printed parts absorb oil. I used 'Steam oil' because it is thick.

For the bearing you have more choice as there is nearly no contact with plastic.
For low cost, you could use automotive oil as it does have 'extreme pressure' capabilities, needed by ball bearings .
Practically, spray for bike chain is also useful.
I used 3-in-1 spray of lithium white grease.

DO NOT use WD40 or equivalent, which are not lubricant, but powerful solvents.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 03:58PM by PRZ.

He does have a handle that includes the word 'doc' and he wants medical grade lubricant, so there is a bit of a hint there.

Yes, I have considered food grade silicone grease for the balls and food grade white grease for the rods, but I haven't tried it yet.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 05:40PM by Theolodian.

I only considered the medical grade Oil, because it's the only one I have seen yet that actually lists which plastics it's compatible with and which not.
I can't provide a link right now, but I'm talking about Weicon bio-fluid.

Edit:
That's the one: [www.weicon.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2015 03:08AM by La_doc.

The linear bearings are encapsulated and do not require re-lubrication during their lifetime.
For the balls I'm using white lithium grease. Perfect for fine bearings, doesn't react with the acrylics and smells delicious as well.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2015 06:48AM by floppah.

What specific product do you use?
I found a few products, but all contain natural oil and most even explicitly stated not being compatible with Plastics in general.

3-in-one "White Lithium Grease"
[www.amazon.co.uk]

Thanks!
This is the closest thing I found in the german amazon.
[www.amazon.de]

Ja, das sollte es tun.

I have found clock oil very suitable. I use a new inkjet refil syringe and just draw a little into the needle as you only need 2 drops of oil on each linear bearings, apply one drop on left and one on right when you have finished the bed aligment and they are in a low position. When the printer is thurned off, just one drop of oil on top of each ball joint as this will work its way around all the surface.
This oil is expensive but it does not clog up nor does it dry up. You only need to do this rarely and will last a long time.