Recently picked up a HF 44991 mill used, complete with a set of broken spindle gears. I ordered up a set of the LMS steel gears to replace them (yeah, yeah, I know...should have went belt drive I just didn't want to invest a bunch of money into this before running it, as I'm not 100% sure this will meet my needs yet).
Anyways, upon disassembly, I found the plastic gears to be nearly devoid of any lubrication, save for a very slight film of something oily between the gears and spacer. The steel gears came packed in some kind of grease in the plastic baggy, though I suspect it's more of a shipping preservative than anything else.
Should I clean the steel gears before installation? Lube with anything else? Add to the existing grease on the gears? Or just slap them in as is and move on? The mechanic in me wants to pack that housing full of grease, but then given that it's completely open on the back, that just sounds like a huge mess in the waiting too, lol.
Anyways, upon disassembly, I found the plastic gears to be nearly devoid of any lubrication, save for a very slight film of something oily between the gears and spacer. The steel gears came packed in some kind of grease in the plastic baggy, though I suspect it's more of a shipping preservative than anything else.
Should I clean the steel gears before installation? Lube with anything else? Add to the existing grease on the gears? Or just slap them in as is and move on? The mechanic in me wants to pack that housing full of grease, but then given that it's completely open on the back, that just sounds like a huge mess in the waiting too, lol.