32 replies to this topic

[hboswell]

"I also have some pink stuff that my dad had"

 

Man, that brings back a memory. In the early/mid 60s flat-top haircuts were a thing, and when I was 10 or so I had one. You would use this pink stuff called Butch Wax to I guess make your hair stand up. At some point after I got my first telescope, a Sears 60mm, my dad made what he called an equatorial mount for it - I don't know why he did this, or whether it worked. But he used an old jar of Butch Wax to grease to moving parts. Maybe that's what your dad had!

 

Harry

[Garyth64]

   I'm pretty sure my dad didn't put this stuff on his hair.

 

 

It is some kind of grease, and doesn't dry up when exposed to the air.  I've had it for about 20 years and just use it once in a while.  It still looks the same.  The label fell off many years ago.  

 

And I have no need of it.  My avatar looks like me.

Edited by Garyth64, 08 March 2025 - 09:08 PM.

[hboswell]

You guys have been very helpful and patient thus far. So I'm going to stretch that a little further with a stupid question - what parts/where do I put the new grease, and how much grease do I need to use?

 

Harry

[deSitter]

You guys have been very helpful and patient thus far. So I'm going to stretch that a little further with a stupid question - what parts/where do I put the new grease, and how much grease do I need to use?

 

Harry

Forget about that for now. Absolutely forget about it.

 

-drl

[deSitter]

You guys have been very helpful and patient thus far. So I'm going to stretch that a little further with a stupid question - what parts/where do I put the new grease, and how much grease do I need to use?

 

Harry

When you get the brass drum and stuck brake ring out of the RA housing, they are going to need a bath of some solvent. That is something to discuss. I think I would start with mineral spirits.

 

-drl

[deSitter]

You guys have been very helpful and patient thus far. So I'm going to stretch that a little further with a stupid question - what parts/where do I put the new grease, and how much grease do I need to use?

 

Harry

Once the brake ring is free from the brass drum gear, then it is important to remember that the ring doesn't want to be pushing on something with grease. But the brass drum it pushes on, is also a key component of the RA motion, because it rotates around the altitude housing of the mount. So parts of that drum need to have grease, and the topmost part where the brake ring pushes, needs to be more or less dry. That means you have to use a lubricant that doesn't wander.

 

-drl

[hboswell]

Once the brake ring is free from the brass drum gear, then it is important to remember that the ring doesn't want to be pushing on something with grease. But the brass drum it pushes on, is also a key component of the RA motion, because it rotates around the altitude housing of the mount. So parts of that drum need to have grease, and the topmost part where the brake ring pushes, needs to be more or less dry. That means you have to use a lubricant that doesn't wander.

 

-drl

I have a tube of Super Lube Multipurpose, will that work?

 

Harry

[deSitter]

I have a tube of Super Lube Multipurpose, will that work?

 

Harry

The white stuff? Yes it's fine. The main RA bearing is brass on aluminum. Under no circumstances use machine oil.

 

-drl