Re: Head guide rails clean & lube - head banging

["Rew, Alan" <arew@gresham-computing.com>]

On Tue, 21 May 2002 01:08:16 -0700,
Powell Hargrave <hargravep@shaw.ca>, wrote:

<snip>
> I'm sure the Epson lubricants are top quality and may be better than, for
> instance, "3in1" oil.  But this isn't quite rocket science.  Any good
clean
> lubricant of about the right viscosity should work fine and definitely be
> better than dirty sticky friction surfaces.
<snip>

I don't know whether the formulation has changed over the years, or differs
between countries, but I remember that '3in1' oil was at one time based,
maybe partially, on vegetable oil rather than mineral oil. As such, it was
more prone to drying over time and producing a sticky residue which could
cause further problems.

Given the choice, I'd use a thin mineral oil, although I don't know of a
specific brand.  It used to be possible to buy so-called 'sewing machine
oil' which I believe was mineral-based and was a low-viscosity product
suitable for fine machinery. 

I'd be interested in any other suggestions for alternatives to a proprietary
Epson lubricant. Has anybody tried WD-40, for example?

Regards,

Alan Rew

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