FWIW, the company who made Compur shutters recommended
running them dry where they are exposed to very cold
temperatures. If clean the shutter will work well but may wear
faster than if its lubricated. The repair manual for Compur
specifies about three or four lubricants, all listed by German
trade names and very difficult to track down the specs. I suspect
the grease is just light synthetic grease and oil can be light
machine oil although a synthetic like Labelle oil may be better.
I have even found a small dose of Caig labs Deoxit contact
cleaner will fix slow gear trains. I apply oil with a small
artist's brush like the ones used for retouching. If you want
genuine clock and watch oil you can get it from the William Nye
company but its not readily available and quite expensive. I
think they offer both synthetic whale oil and very highly refined
petroleum oil. The advantage of the whale or porpoise jaw oil is
that it does not harden up and does not creep. They synthetic is
just as good.
Labelle oil (may have misspelled it) is silicone oil which
comes in different weights. They also offer a light grease. They
are sold mostly for model railroaders and are available at hobby
shops. I also have Kano Oil which is highly refined SAE 20
machine oil. Not sure its really any better than the Blue can 3
in one.
The oil in WD-40 is a waxy oil and the wax is what causes
problems. Its most a mixture of this oil and Kerosene. However,
from the odor there is some other solvent in it. Makes my skin
itch. Kerosene itself is a light lubricant but will gum up after
a while. Kerosene and WD-40 are good for removing old labels.
Pure naphtha leaves no residue. I used the stuff from the
hardware/paint store. Ronsonol seems to be pretty pure naphtha
but is expensive. I don't know what is in Coleman lantern and
stove fuel. Its a good solvent but I think it leaves a residue.
Pure acetone used to be a standard optical cleaning solvent.
Useful for individual elements but can attack some kinds of
cements. Isopropyl alcohol is a good solvent. If pure it leaves
no residue but it absorbs moisture and will leave the moisture
behind when it evaporates. Very dry alcohol is available labeled
99+% but it will begin to absorb water from the air immediately
on exposure and continue to absorb it until it reaches 91% which
is its equilibrium point. That is too much for some purposes.
This is why 91% is about the purest that can be obtained off the
shelf. 99+% is available at computer stores and some other places.
Solvents are of two types, polar and non-polar, and a bunch
in be tween. Polar solvents are soluble in water, non-polar are
not. The polar characteristic determines what they will dissolve.
On 4/11/2019 11:51 AM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
On 4/11/19 4:58 AM, Laurence Cuffe (Redacted sender cuffe for DMARC) wrote:
It took a while. I then lubricated it with wd 40,
Never use WD-40 as a lubricant for fine, complex machinery. WD was designed
to be "Water Displacing" - it leaves a residue behind to keep water away and
that residue attracts dust and grime.
The most important thing it to first thoroughly clean the moving surfaces.
For metal I used naptha OR alcohol. Once everything is degreased/clean,
I use a *minimal* amount of fine machine oil rubbed onto the surfaces with
a lint free cotton cloth. Oh, and shutters NEVER get oiled except maybe by
an person expert in CLA.
