[How do I?] Diamond Horizontal milling machine

coinseeker

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I just picked up a old Diamond HM, It has been sitting for the last 30 years. The spindle shaft has zerk fittings to grease the bearings. Im not sure what grease they were using and would like to clean out the old grease and replace it. Is there anyway to do this without tearing down the head? The shaft turns okay. Diamond said to use Gargoyle grease BRB #3. Does anyone know of a replacement for this?

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Hi coinseeker,
unfortunately there isn't an effective way of removing all the old grease without disassembly
if you do end up disassembling the head, you can clean the bearings and use a lithium complex grease, or even better, use a grease containing molybdenum disulfide for longevity.

i use stay lube synthetic red grease in just about everything that takes grease, but do do that unless you have cleaned all traces of old grease out- synthetic greases don't always play well with other greases and cause near instant bearing failure in some cases-
i repair machines that fail when greases get mixed and i get paid to put them straight again, after the greases get mixed up
 
Yes sir I have been reading everything I can find on this subject. The compatibility of grease was the reason for the question. Any hints on how to go about removing the bearings and cleaning?
 
I believe you remove the 3 screws on the front and rear bearing retainers, loosen the setscrew on the pulley, You might need to press it out though if it's been together for an ice age or two-
Frankly if it spins smoothly I would just regrease it and leave it be
Mark
 
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Yeah that was my first idea. But I don't know what type of grease they used and there could be a problem with the compatibility of the grease. have you had yours apart? anyone know what kind of bearings they used? I got the motor off and the wiring out might as well pull the bearings and power wash it down and do a complete rebuild and paint job. Any hints on doing this would be much appreciated. Thanks for all the help.
Joey
 
It's near certain that it's NOT synthetic if it's been sitting for 30 years, if that helps you at all. I'd stick with good old dino jelly LOL
Mark
 
I spoke to the tech department a Mobil Oil co. that said closest to the Gargoyle BRB #3 would be Mobil's ITH-SHC 100. He also recommended to clean all the old grease out before using the new stuff.
 
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