rcsaddles Report post Posted February 3, 2009 I was talking to the local saddlemaker here yesterday about his heavy Duty machine form Ferdco. It "locked up" on him and he could not get it going. Ended up calling Ron and after the standard trouble shooting was told that the main shaft was turned slightly and was not getting oil. He stated he oils the crap out of it. Ron said to get some Slick 50 and use it. Roger, the local guy, said he used SFR on it and was again told Slick 50. Roger got some Slick 50 from O'Rielly's and within about two minutes of working the flywheel by hand the machine was running smoother than it had since he got it eight years ago. I think I will get some to use on my machines. Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art Report post Posted February 3, 2009 Hi Joe, Sounds like a bent shaft or a bad drilling (in the case). I don't understand the main shaft being "turned slightly". In any case, I'm surprised it was sold to him that way, and even further surprised that he put up with it for eight years. For High tech lubricants, I use Mil-Comm products which work on sewing machines, but I have seldom needed much more than a good mineral based machine oil like light industrial machine oil, Lily Stitching Oil, any Stainless machine oil you can get at Jo-Ann's, Hydraulic Oil, or any mix of the above if you want to be creative. High Tech oils should not be used to solve mechanical problems as eventually the problem will endure and exceed the technology of the oil, and then may cost a lot more to fix. Leather sewing machines enjoy the luxury of running slower than Industrial fabric type machines although the bearings and bushings experience considerably heavier loads but are usually sized for that. This just means that if not properly manufactured or improperly oiled, the machine will experience a problem, albeit a little further down the road (like eight years in the above example). If used three shifts a day, 5 days a week, the problems get there a lot faster. Art I was talking to the local saddlemaker here yesterday about his heavy Duty machine form Ferdco. It "locked up" on him and he could not get it going. Ended up calling Ron and after the standard trouble shooting was told that the main shaft was turned slightly and was not getting oil. He stated he oils the crap out of it. Ron said to get some Slick 50 and use it. Roger, the local guy, said he used SFR on it and was again told Slick 50. Roger got some Slick 50 from O'Rielly's and within about two minutes of working the flywheel by hand the machine was running smoother than it had since he got it eight years ago.I think I will get some to use on my machines. Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites