Moly Grease

Does anyone know of a place to get some "moly grease"? I hear it's the best

thing to use to re-lubricate those tough old focusing helicals. While we're on

the matter, is this true: do people out there really prefer moly grease to,

say, a bit of petroleum jelly ("Vaseline") or silicone lubricant? If so, is

moly grease easy to work with? Affordable? B&H doesn't seem to carry any...

Thanks.

Moly grease (MOS2 grease) should be available at any car supplies shop.

 

Anyhow, the MOS2 grease I know is a mineral-oil based grease with MOS2 added. I would not recommend any mineral-oil based grease for helicoids since it may develop vapours causing haze on lenses and usually get almost liquid when hot.

 

The MOS2 particles have a similar effect as graphite, they have a greasing capability even if the grease itself is gone. It is used for long-time (or life-time) greasing of car bearings. The particles are pressed on the metal surface and provide "dry lubrication".

 

I usually use silicon grease for helicoids and add a bit of graphite particles if focussing is still too stiff.

You can find an entire range of lublicants including molybdenum disulfide for metal/metal lubrication. It's also used for musical instruments and can be found in shops that sell servicing and repair supplies (see https://ssl.sheetmusic1.com/smssl/lubricants.html). Try dry molybdenum disulfide (moly) for closely machined surfaces. Some greases have "moly" and are typically used on motorcycles and transmission gears for example. Some optical companies who were not noted for having very finely machines focusing mechanisms used moly-containing grease because it made the focus feel smooth but after a few years the bulk lubricant dried out and had to be replaced. My Nikon microscopes typically used the bulk moly-containing lubricant to give the focusing the feel of the Leitz microscope by minimizing the wobble in less finely machined parts.

 

So, whether you use dry moly lubricant versus a moly-containing "grease" depends on the job. In some cases where the machined surfaces are very fine the use of the grease may make the movement very tight and a dry molybdenum disulfide should be used.

 

David

You can also try http://www.micro-tools.com/Merchant2/e_lubricants.htm. They are an excellent source of supplies and tools.

 

David

I used to be a bike nut and had a lifetime supply of Campagnolo bearing lube and it worked well for years on my lenses. I am now too long in the tooth so I gave it away when I left bikes so now I get the proper stuff from Micro Tools. It ain't cheap, but a little bit goes a long way so why not get the best?

White Lithium Grease

Actually, the addition of Lithium compounds to oils was originally intended to provide better control of viscosity over a wider range of temperatures. It raises the viscosity of low viscosity oils. It is very nice for repacking wheel bearings on bikes and older cars. I just did a Wollensak on my Clarus that has the double helicoids and I used white lithium grease simply because it works fine and I have enough left over from my bike days to last several life times of camera lubrication.

 

David

I dated a girl named Molly Grease in 1966.

Slick Chick Gene?

Gene, I notice the past-tense in your reference... she must have been hard to hold onto.

(Shudder)

Oh my! :)

Thanks, all. Usually, I smack on a bit of silicone lubricant or petroleum jelly/"Vaseline" to deal with this problem, but, sometimes, that leaves the focusing still too tough. I suppose I'll invest in a little moly grease for this sort of occurrence. Thanks again.

Well, does anyone know what type of lubricant is used in shutter mechanisms? I've seen that micro-tools sells two type of camera/lens lube but have no idea what is specified or used by manufacturers. ... and didn't NASA force a change of lubricants for those space travel cameras? Just curious if any of our the engineering types or camera repair guys have some information

Shutters usually need NO lubrication.

 

I have a Prontor service manual which says just to wash the escapement and self timer gears with a suitable solvent in case they are gummed up. Concerning the shutter blades they recommend to wipe them with solvent if necessary.

 

The Compur shutter manual mentions some special lubricants available from the manufacturer. They recommend to use them on the shutter cams and on the flanges of the bayonet mount (in case of interchangeable lenses).

 

From my experience, shutter blades need no lubrication when they are cleaned separately, i.e. after disassembling the shutter. When just wiping the shutter blades a little amount of graphite powder sometimes help. Do not use too much, otherwise it will get on the lens surfaces.

My favorite grease is High "Temperature Wheel Bearing Grease." It is smooth, and holds its shape in the trunk of car in Phoenix.

What about freezing? Cold Ethal and all that...

Winfried, I was under the impression that shutter-mechanisms do need some amount of lubrication; they oughtn't to fire totally dry. At least, I'm pretty sure this is the case with Exaktas, which have cloth curtains.