[R-390] To lube or not to lube gears?

[Tom Frobase]

Interesting, thank you for sharing! ... tom, N3LLL

On Fri, Sep 13, 2024 at 1:59 PM Tisha Hayes <tisha.hayes at gmail.com> wrote:

> I was an early advocate of the tungsten disulphide and ethyl alcohol
> technique; The post from (+15 years ago) might of been on a thread that I
> had an active part or even initiated.
>
> I can say that the original one pound container of powder I purchased I
> still have at least half of it left.
>
> I use it for quite a few things; Lubricating firearms, hinges and even
> additive in my Mercedes that now has 250,000 miles on the engine. For
> automotive use I add about a tablespoon full of powder to a liter of oil
> (in the bottle) and shake it up. It is one of the bottles that I add to the
> engine (every-other) oil change. Putting a borescope in the upper camshaft
> gallery and things are still shiny without a wear pattern.
>
> The only place it has gotten 'annoying' is on external parts of something
> like a firearm. You need to let it dry and then burnish the metal with an
> old towel. It takes on a metallic look, like an insect shell. If you don't
> wipe the stuff off it gets on your skin and that is difficult to remove.
> Normally I just keep it on sliding parts (like the slide of a semi-auto
> pistol.)
>
> Also remember that it is a nanopowder so if you try to work with it dry is
> can be a potential inhalation hazard.
> ---
> There is just something 'different' with how anhydrous ethyl alcohol
> behaves when compared to isopropyl. I stopped using methyl alcohol (liquid
> HEET) because of its toxicity. I had found the anhydrous ethyl alcohol at a
> laboratory supply company. I can understand why it would be
> banned/regulated as it is the drinkable type of alcohol and the ATF would
> want a tax stamp on it. Everclear might be a more available choice; That
> is, unless your US state is ran by an Alcohol Control Board that refuses to
> put hard liquor on their list and it is considered a prohibited substance.
>
> To apply it use a very tiny amount of powder inside of something like an
> old two liter bottlecap and a spritz of alcohol. I apply it with a cotton
> swab (Q-tip). It does not need to be goopy and just the barest of smears on
> something like the slides on the RF deck or a touch on a few teeth of a
> gear is enough. I guess you could use it to 'dust' something like the slugs
> on the deck if they are sticking. Fortunately I found that by just cleaning
> up the bores of the RF deck takes care of that sticky slug issue.
> ---
> I had also purchased the tungsten disulphide grease. It is blacker than sin
> and has one behavior that is a negative; If you put it in something like a
> glass bottle with a cork, the cork or plastic plug will not stay in the
> bottle. Just the increased air pressure from pushing down the plug will
> refuse to say down due to the high lubricity of that grease. I did that for
> a while where I was giving away little sample bottles of grease (wasn't
> selling them) to some other restorers.
>
> As far as doing any more restorations; The two 390A's and the R-392 are in
> perfect shape as they are. Unless something breaks or burns out I am
> leaving them alone.
>
> *Ms. Tisha Hayes*
>
> *AA4HA*
> ______________________________________________________________
> R-390 mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-390
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:R-390 at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>