What grease to use for helical focusing lubrication?

[AgX]

What is "adhesive oil"?

 

[paul ron]

lubricating greases reduce friction. damping grease controls friction and comes in a variety of viscosities. its not the same as lubricating grease.

https://www.amazon.com/Nye-Lubricants-Synthetic-Damping-Grease/dp/B00BFWLUOC

better price....

https://www.amazon.com/MicroLubrol-...rd_wg=7qVlk&psc=1&refRID=BZCHS7GZTBP88G0YADCH

 

[David Lyga]

If this will help at this late date: For years I have been taking apart lenses for issues regarding stiff focus or oil on the aperture blades. It is my assessment that manufacturers overwhelmingly put too much grease on these helicoids. (Nikon seems to be the only one who does not overload with grease.) There are two issues here: the basic helicoid which has rather wide thread-spacings, and the narrow thread which the helicoid fits into. In other words, there are two sets of threads to deal with.

First, with a soft brush and lighter fluid, I thoroughly clean both sets of threads until all grease is eliminated. Then dry thoroughly. I then put, with my finger, a tiny bit of Vaseline (works beautifully, never a problem) onto the threads, making certain not to put too much on those NARROW threads (the cause of stiffness). I put only enough on both thread sets to allow free movement; not enough to migrate to other lens areas and cause trouble. - David Lyga

 

[Europan]

What is "adhesive oil"?

Well, in lack of the adequate english term I translated from Haftöl.

 

[Dali]

If this will help at this late date: For years I have been taking apart lenses for issues regarding stiff focus or oil on the aperture blades. It is my assessment that manufacturers overwhelmingly put too much grease on these helicoids. (Nikon seems to be the only one who does not overload with grease.) There are two issues here: the basic helicoid which has rather wide thread-spacings, and the narrow thread which the helicoid fits into. In other words, there are two sets of threads to deal with.

First, with a soft brush and lighter fluid, I thoroughly clean both sets of threads until all grease is eliminated. Then dry thoroughly. I then put, with my finger, a tiny bit of Vaseline (works beautifully, never a problem) onto the threads, making certain not to put too much on those NARROW threads (the cause of stiffness). I put only enough on both thread sets to allow free movement; not enough to migrate to other lens areas and cause trouble. - David Lyga

Yes David, we did the same observations: Too much grease from the manufacturer and to be on the 'light" side when re-lubing.

Side comment: I am always amazed by my Zuiko lenses which softly focus when other lenses of the same age (no name here, just think eastern Europe...) turned awful.

 

[richardHaw]

going to repeat and emphasize this:

do not use anything that is not marketed or commonly used for these things as the properties may not be to your liking. if it smells, dont use it. if its not synthetic, dont use it and finally, always clean before you apply the new grease and never mix them. apply only what you need.

i started my blog to prevent people from improvising too much and end up giving the impression that it is OK to do so. never compromise with grease.

 

[Leigh B]

What is "adhesive oil"?

I've never heard that term in English.
It may be a computerized translation.

However, there is a type of oil that includes a tackifier, which makes the oil sticky.
It's used for industrial machinery where vertical surfaces must be lubricated.

Google gets over 200,000 hits for "oil tackifier" here in the US.
https://www.google.com/search?q=oil+tackifier&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Here's discussion on Practical Machinist on this subject.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/way-oil-tackifiers-171180/
You may need to register on the site to access that thread.
I don't know. I'm one of the moderators on that site, so I have no problem.

BTW: "way oil" is used on the ways of a lathe.
Ways are the precision horizontal load bearing surfaces that support movable tools.

- Leigh

 

[Europan]

Not a computer translation, I did it from Haftöl.

Thanks, Leigh, you name it, it’s nothing else than way oil.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

No, not axle grease! That's for axles. I said wheel bearing grease. Not the cheap stuff either (which smells).

It's funny, I'm in the auto repair business and lubricants are a very big deal. I occasionally speak with petroleum engineers and the tech in modern lubrication is mind blowing. If I were to service a lens helicoid I would spend a little time getting the material made for the job. The Jupiter 8 might be an exception though, axle grease may have been the factory fill! (Great optics tho....)

The Soviets used what seems to be a soap-based grease, i.e. the sort that separates. Synthetics weren't available until probably the 50s or ealy 60s.
I bought a Jupiter 9 that was actually oozing oil, the grease had separated into a medium viscosity oil and a pretty stiff paste. Leave it on a table overnight, there'd be a ring of oil in the morning. It was made at Lytkarino in 1970.
Nye grease made my screwmount j8 as smooth as anyone could wish; I use Nye (I bought an assortment late in the previous millennium) on everything, and the cost is immaterial as a little goes a very long way. Start by applying about 1/8 of what you think you'll need, add grease until it is smooth and has uniform damping over the entire travel. Put on a tiny bit more and reassemble. You'll be surprised how little it really takes.

 

[AgX]

"synthetic" only refers to the oil component. It is neither destilled nor cracked, originating from mineral oil, but synthesized.

However a grease being synthetic does not neccessarily mean that is bleeds out less.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

"synthetic" only refers to the oil component. It is neither destilled nor cracked, originating from mineral oil, but synthesized.

However a grease being synthetic does not neccessarily mean that is bleeds out less.

Correct and correct.
I believe some of the first processes of synthesising lubricants (from butane?) were developed by Germany and "liberated" after WWII.