Best lube for wood planer gear train?

[Greg_Lewis]

Hey folks, while the feed rollers for my wood planer are out for new rubber I need to clean out the drive gear train. As you can see below the gears were originally lubed with sticky grease which has attracted a bit of sawdust and created a lovely mess. I've used some Teflon dry wax lube on the table saw swing arbor but that is only hand-cranked and I'm not sure that the dry lube would be right here. OTOH it's an open gear train and the sticky grease will just attract more sawdust, and anything liquid will just run off. Any ideas?

[armscor 1]

Seen this one before, was given planer with similar gearbox, two gears stripped and bushings damaged.
The root cause was the feed roller bushings had seized causing the mess.
Made new gears and bushings.
The design problem with this gearbox is the high input speed driven directly from the cutter head, approx. 8000 RPM.
The only lubricant I found to hold up is motor cycle chain oil and the machine has run faultlessly for years.
Take the side cover off and a few squirts of chain oil every year and you are right to go.
Regular lubrication of the feed rollers is paramount, especially when machining moist acidic wood or they will seize.
Neighbours must hate me when I use it!

[Greg_Lewis]

Thanks, Armscor. The chains were also fouled with gook. Sounds like the chain oil is the perfect solution. I'll get some.

I've thought about changing out the roller bushings. They are steel, hardened I presume, on the steel ends of the rollers. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me. I'd think Oilite bushings would be better; at least there would be some lubricant to the shaft ends. Or perhaps 660 bronze with Gitz capped oil cups if they'll fit in there.

It's costing me almost $200 after the roller service plus postage to get those redone and I'd like to keep this otherwise working planer for the duration. BTW, it's an old Dewalt and replacement outfeed rollers are not available. But overall it's less than replacing the machine.

And yes, I'm sure the folks a half-mile across the back field know when I'm using this thing!

[armscor 1]

Hi Greg,
The feed roller bushings are cast iron, ideal candidate to rust onto the shafts if laid up for extended period of time.
Oilite bushings would be a better choice
The open gearbox is not desirable at that high speed but it does the job.

[Greg_Lewis]

Thanks, Armscor. Here in Central California we only get about ten inches of rain in the three months of our "winter," and the humidity runs around 20 percent the rest of the year so rust isn't that big of a deal. But since the bearings are nothing more than bits of square block, making new ones is a simple matter of boring a hole in a block and pressing in the bronze. That would probably take me all of an hour or two.

[armscor 1]

The Humidity here in the Philippines is almost 100% with approaching Typhoon, the first one of the season.

[liveaboard]

I have a wood planer too; I haven't used it much since I finished the house.
But I can hear one running from a distance quite often. The noise is from a professional shop 2 miles away.
Yeah, they're loud.

[RMinMN]

Wood planers are much quieter if the blades are sharp. As the edge gets worn they hammer into the wood instead of slicing.

[armscor 1]

I use 9% cobalt HSS and keep them sharp until I hit a nail!!

[liveaboard]

Older ones work like sirens as the blades pass the edges of the table.
A buddy of mine in Amsterdam has an old monster 8HP iron machine that weighs a couple of tons. I used it a lot, made doors windows, and a couple of kitchens with it. Thickness is accurate to 0.2mm.
That thing is LOUD.

[Greg_Lewis]

Wood planers are much quieter if the blades are sharp. As the edge gets worn they hammer into the wood instead of slicing.

Yes, new blades are very sharp. Don't push on the edge of one with your finger to slide it into place.