Which grease for gears and trunnions?

[cpw]

I am tearing down my 18" Jet bandsaw to move it, and it seems like a good time to clean and lube. The trunnions aren't that dirty, but the table has always been a bit "noisy" to tilt and when I removed it I was surprised by how little lube there was.

The more I search the more confusing it gets.

So, especially from the guys who rebuilt OWWM, what's your go-to grease for gears and trunnions?

 

[Mike Davis]

I use white lithium grease.

 

[Raymond]

+1 for the white lithium grease

 

[bbrown]

Where do you get WLG?

 

[Gotcha6]

Tractor Supply, Harbor Freight, Agri Supply, Lowe's, Home Depot, Auto Zone, Advance Auto, O'reilly's Auto Parts, Genuine Parts, Ace Hardware. Usually comes in tubes for cartridge grease guns.

 

[wndopdlr]

Where do you get WLG?

NAPA has a 2# tub that will last a lifetime.

 

[gmakra]

I use a dry lube such as graphite so nothing sticks to it.
NAPA sells cans of it cheap.

 

[Jim M.]

I've used White Lithium grease since as long as I can remember and works well.

 

[chris_goris]

See if you can find the manual for the machine. Many older machines specify a couple drops of oil or no lubrication at all , grease and sawdust dont play well together.

 

[Woodman2k]

I agree with George and Chris, grease is not the best choice around sawdust. A drylube like boelube,pastewax,glidecote are a few choices. A blast of air in a month and a respray and your good for another days. I have the grizzly vertical post 12" table saw and with all that weight hanging with Glidecote I have no chatter or noise and it's silky smooth.

 

[Mike Davis]

The OP asked about trunnions in a band saw, much different than the gears in a table saw.
For my table saw I use dry lube. Clean and coat once a month.

My band saw does not get that much saw dust under the table and the trunnions take more than a few minutes to take apart, clean, and re-lube.
So, in that particular instance I want something that will last several years without worry.

 

[Dee2]

I've used WLG and dry moly on table saws. The moly can make a mess.

 

[Charles Lent]

I've been using Johnson's Paste Wax for the gears and ways of my table saw and band saw, applied thick using an old tooth brush. The surface of it dries, so it doesn't attract a saw dust build-up, and it stays in place quite well. Both my Unisaw and my band saw have been using it for 15 or more years without any problems at all. Before switching to it, I was frequently needing to dis-assemble and clean grease laden saw dust out of the gears, trunnions, and ways in order to apply fresh grease. Now, I just brush off the loose grease and apply more. No significant amount of saw dust builds up there any more.

Charley

 

[mpeele]

I've been using Johnson's Past Wax 45 years. I just place a gob on trunnion teeth in a couple of places and run it up and down a couple of times and and let it distribute itself.