Lubricant for Aluminum

cityboy

Member
I made a new router sled of of Al.
oEVLUKa.jpg


The plastic base of the router drags, is leaving marks, on the Al. I've used some dry lube. Works well but after 10 or so passes its worn off too.

Ideas appreciated.
Thanks much, Don
 
Could screw a second base onto the
bottom of router. One made out of a
material that won't drag on the
aluminum.
 

Clean the aluminum of oxide and oils, etc.

Buy a roll of UHMW adhesive tape and apply it where the router base slides.
No other messy lube needed of any kind.
 
lithium based lubes work good on aluminum but I don't think you want a residue left behind, and not sure if dry lubes will last. Plastic like hdpe's or delrin, maybe you can make a base or tabs to put on the router base. I did something similar but a different application where an object needed to slide on an aluminum channel. I bought a plastic cutting board and made "skids" for it to slide on the aluminum track, I assume the cutting board was hdpe plastic, maybe delrin
 
You can get the uhmv? plastic in a tape
that works great. I added an aluminum
angle to the end of my table saw and used
it. Been there a good twenty years now.
 
Thanks to all for the ideas.

I tried paste wax, for all intents, wore off as quick as the dry lube.

Need to go shopping.
Thanks again, Don
 

I would try Door Ease I get it from Napa and keep it around for different things. It sure works on wood, back in the day we used it on the lip seals of a automatic transmission clutch pack when asy them.

I use it on all my wood desk to lube the drawers where its wood again wood.
 
That's a neat simple idea. I should make one like it. The base of your router is probably aluminum too? Is there a poly plate that can be bolted to the bottom of the router? Polly should wear for a good many years. I would be careful with lubricants. When I think of Molly I think of a black lubricant and you don't want that black on any wood you want to finish. Maybe there are mollies that dry onto the aluminum like the molly we spray on gravity wagons. It still wears off black on my hands though. Silicone based lubricants can possibly get on the wood and prevent finishes from adhering to the wood.
 
(quoted from post at 06:59:40 01/15/22) Thanks to all for the ideas.

I tried paste wax, for all intents, wore off as quick as the dry lube.

Need to go shopping.
Thanks again, Don

Car wax. You'll have to apply it often, but it doesn't take long. We used to wax the skillsaw tables when we were ripping beams or cutting rafters.
 
I bought this router....
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to flatten chain saw milled trees. Depending on the length of the slab, takes an hour or 2 for each side w/a 3/4" bit.

Initially I put car paste wax on the sled runners. Lasted maybe 5 minutes. I then sprayed PBlaster dry lube on a paper towel, then onto the sled runners to avoid stains on the wood. This also lasted about 5 minutes before it started dragging once again.

I've come to find this router has a non-sealed on/off switch. At times it is difficult to turn it off. A blast of compressed air helps but this fix only lasts until dust gets sucked into the switch once again.

HTH, Don
 

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