My Trials and Tribulations and Fun!

Be careful on what's called Silicon these days. Some of it eats plastic, and is meant for metal. I use 3-1 in my sewing machines and have no problem with dust, or the oil getting nasty. I do keep the machines covered when not in use though.

Gandolf, if you could put on an exact brand that you can recommend, that would be helpful for many people, myself included. ;)
 
There are many brands ..just depends on the best price...3M 08897 Silicon Lubricant is good and about 10$ a can
Blaster Silicon Lube is 4$ a can...but includes stuff like mentioned below
It's not the silicon that is the problem... it is the propellant used to spray it... there are tons of nasty stuff like an acetone cleaner to prevent cracking, Isobutane (CAS#(75-28-50); Isoparaffinic Hydrocarbon Solvent (CAS#64742-48-9); Poly(dimethylsiloxane), (CAS# 63148-62-9); Heptane (CAS#142-82-5)...

An old test was to spray a bit in a styrofoam cup and see if it disintegrated... but some will pass this test ( the 3m brand does) but is still highly flammable till dry.
CRC makes several types that are waterbased and some are food grade silicone but hard to find as well as finding the compressed air version that used to be sold.

read the labels and if it has acetone or mentions petroleum distillates ...get another brand... as these will eat up plastic parts!!
 
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I sprayed what was supposed to be 100% Silicone on my son's car for the Pinewood Derby many years ago. Needless to see, as the wheels became to fall apart, I had to buy another kit. We still won though, 3 years in a row, we were not liked much by that local Boy Scout chapter when it came to Pine Wood Derby race day. :)
 
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Found the Blaster can ( thanks Gandolf50), butI did not think about the solvents, thank you for pointing that out, but, my method of application is to spray a shop towel, first and then rub on the rails. Seems to work, and I will check out the solvents. Hate to see the printer melt away. ;-) Made some 608 bearings, using Airsoft BBs, just see how they worked, not bad, wouldn't use them for something stressful, but fun anyhow.IMG-2026.JPG They came from Thingiverse, but I am not sure exactly which one I printed, there are many. Look for Airsoft, Bearing, 608 in the search.

Scott ;-)
 
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nice job on printing the bearing, even though it's use would be limited, it might be O.K. for a Gyro copter hub, if small enough. ;)
 
Yeah...I think sprayed on a towel first is the way to go...as the "Bad Stuff" is usually in the propellant anyway! Nice bearing!
 
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Gandolf50 said:
Yeah...I think sprayed on a towel first is the way to go...as the "Bad Stuff" is usually in the propellant anyway! Nice bearing!
Click to expand...
l

Bad stuff, like the leak from a vase printed in PLA, but worse if the solvent eats the printer!
 
Yup, that really happened! Printed a lovely vase for my wife, she put a rose in it and in 3 days, we had water all over the counter.... ;-(

Scott ;-)
 
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