I was given a Sears & Roebuck Model 112.23490 12" planer a few years ago. Now that I have cleaned up my garage I am looking forward to doing some wood working this fall and winter. My question is about the lubrication used in the gear box. The manual advise to use 1/2 to 1 Pounds of Soft Pressure Gun Grease . I would assume that it's Wheel Bearing Grease. The old lube in the gear box was very thin, so I drained it out and clean the gears and the interior of the box. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I think wheel bearing grease is a lot thicker than that.

Brett

Hello N2LXM,
well you want to use a lighter oil then wheel bearing grease
like the stuff for my skill wormdrive saw

I would probably use 90 wt. gear oil.

I think what you need is corn head grease
https://www.greenpartstore.com/John-Dee ... 02562.html

DM

That's the famous Parks 12" planer. It's what I have. Very well made. Got it ten years ago for $100 after seeing them sell for as high as $400.

Wheel bearing grease is probably classified as high pressure. The "pressure" refers to the stresses on the contacting surfaces. High pressure grease is also "usually" rated for higher temperature operation. It's designed to stay in contact with the surfaces, two gears in your case, under heavy loading for example.

I would think that a general purpose grease would suffice. Is the gearbox sealed, with seals around the shafts that enter and exit the box? I don't believe you'd want a liquid lube in there, such as gear oil for instance, especially since you removed non-liquid grease that the factory put in there.

My guess is that today's version of "soft pressure gun grease" is the general purpose stuff you'd use for lubricating your lawn tractor steering and wheel bearings, automotive ball joints etc. It's likely to be quite a bit thinner than the stuff classified as "high pressure" and WAY thinner than wheel bearing grease.

The issue with using a too-heavy grease is that it is going to take considerable power from the system just to move the grease around. Too thin a grease, and it's going to leak out of places, and possibly be too thin to protect the moving surfaces. I'm guessing it is being called on to lubricate both the gear surfaces, and the bearings on the shafts in the gearbox. Use what the factory suggests.

NAPA might have more insight on this as well.

The grease in my above post is "soft pressure gun grease" it is not thick as wheel bearing or multi-purpose chassis grease.

DM

Edit: I rescind my earlier comments, from the context of some other forums I was reading it sounds like the intention of the manual was grease dispensed from a grease gun, not that used on firearms.

From another forum:

"In the early 1950's the manual stated- "The gear box should be lubricated with 1/2 to 1 lb. of soft pressure-gun grease obtainable at automobile service stations."

A few years late the manual advised- "The gear box should be lubricated with 1/2 to 1 pound of transmission
grease. Anyone of the following is suitable : Standard Oil Indiana Superla No. 39, Texaco Star grease No. 00, or Shell Unedo cup grease No.1. "

The 1980 manual states- "The gear box should be lubricated with 1 lb. of soft grease. We suggest Exxon Lidok EP 1 or equivalent."

My understanding from the OWWM forum was that the closest we could come to this grease specification easily today was the Mobligrease CM-L spec NLG1 grease, which is what I purchased for this task from Grainger."

Also, the manual: http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/222/605.pdf

He said "The old lube in the gear box was very thin, so I drained it out" so I assume it was somewhat liquid to start with.

That doesn't make much sense. What the heck is soft pressure gun grease? And to use weight as a measure is weird. Usually it is volume.

Why wouldn't soft pressure gun grease be what comes out of a hand pumped grease gun? Refills are sold by weight.

Perhaps the manufacturer has a 1-800 number customer service number you can call even if it's competing manufacturer who makes a similar product.

The hand pumped grease guns can create pressures up to 10,000 psi. I guess "soft" is relative. One way to keep the pressure low is to pump very slowly. If the lubricant is sold by weight, then it would be a grease, but the OP stated that the lubricant that was drained was very thin, indicating that it was an oil rather than a grease, though the grease could have broken down with age. I have never seen a grease application that had a drain plug either. If there are no zerk fittings, chances are that it is an oil rather than grease.

This is a good rebuild article with suggestions for what and what not to use:

http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/Restoring%20a%20Parks%20Planer.ashx

John

Old grease can get runny with age. I've rebuilt a number of Hobart mixer planetary transmissions because the grease had separated. In open air, most grease will get stiffer. In a closed gear box, it can break down - especially if there's friction/heat involved.

Dan

You need a real dust collector for this. I can fill a 16 CF bag in a few hours. I have a 6 inch PVC trunk line to my newer bench top planer.

You also need ear protection. Older machines are relatively quiet compared to the newer style, but they are still around 95 dB. The newer style are around 110 dB.

John

Wow, this explains it in great detail. Also, the following current thread explains the nomenclature of "soft" grease (NGLI 1):

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=367104

I was able to locate some grease for my planer. After running around to mower shops, Old School Hardware stores and such. I when to a NAPA Truck supply house. Found OMNI Lube, with a NLGI rating of 1.5. Close enough. So over the weekend, I will lube up the gear box, make new gasket. And be ready to rock & Roll. Thank You all who gave suggestions and advise.