Lubricant for lens thread

[LabRat]

For many applications of dressing threads, Super Lube that comes in a grey tube (from a good hardware store) is a silicone/teflon grease that works well...

Take a pinhead sized dab on the end of a toothpick, put some in the threads, and screw/unscrew together several times, then take a q tip and polish down the very slight excess...

Figure out if it's the lens threads or maybe the filter or adapter is out of round or clogged... Clean the threads beforehand with a q tip very slightly moistened with alcohol or lighter fluid, then lube...

If still binding, there is another trick involving toothpaste, but we will save that until needed...

Steve K

[Duolab123]

I also use a little beeswax mixed with olive oil. But first I make sure to clean both the male and female parts' threads with lighter fluid.

That sounds like a great concoction. Beeswax is wonderful stuff. Graphite applied with a toothpick. It will get all over if you're not careful.

[Pere Casals]

Super Lube that comes in a grey tube (from a good hardware store) is a silicone/teflon grease that works well...

Steve, it may work well, but grease is sticky and it may take dirt. Instead Dry Teflon is anti-adherent. Also grease may experiment changes over time so it has to be later cleaned and replaced, while teflon is chemically stable and very permanent.

The most suitable lubrication for common photographic gear today consists of dry high tech teflon of micro/polarized praticles type:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBXoFp6qXBM

This includes threads, guides, balls, aperture rings of view cameras, enlargers and lenses... Even some shutters (not all) can be perfectly lubricated with only this modern product. Dry teflon substitutes with clear advantage many old lubrication products, single problem can be cost for applications where we require industrial amounts.

Be careful ! a lot of teflon lubricants, even some expensive ones, are not polarized, with way inferior performance !

In some applications an specialized grease can be better, it is the case when damping is required, an specialized product is Damping Grease that it provocates a high friction for higher speed and a low friction for low speed movement, a classical usage is in microscopes.

...but for general lubrication exposed to air/wheather today Dry Teflon (Micro Polarized type) is considered the clear superior choice: Very permanent, penetrating, highly hydrofuge, atoxic, inert, very low friction, and it always expels dirt from contact surfaces, so in many cases it does not require cleaning or disassembling. The included light solvent ensures penetration and cleaning, you move the mecanism and the solvent cleans the inner contact surfaces, while it transports the teflon to the very inaccessible places, then the polarized particles form a consistent layer. Then solvent evaporates and you have what you want. It is important to make the mechanism work while solvent still has not evaporated as this removes the ancient lubricants with the dirt. Also dry teflon works in an ample range of temperatures with no changes, from freezing to frying pans, while greases have creative behaviours in those ample ranges.


I don't say that from theory, but from having faced very challenging lubrication situations in industrial enviroments and having asked specialized consultants.

[Kevin Crisp]

A friend of mine who is a long-retired machinist swears by putting just a little lanolin on the threads. I've tried it and it works very well.

[LabRat]

Steve, it may work well, but grease is sticky and it may take dirt. Instead Dry Teflon is anti-adherent. Also grease may experiment changes over time so it has to be later cleaned and replaced, while teflon is chemically stable and very permanent.

The most suitable lubrication for common photographic gear today consists of dry high tech teflon of micro/polarized praticles type:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBXoFp6qXBM

This includes threads, guides, balls, aperture rings of view cameras, enlargers and lenses... Even some shutters (not all) can be perfectly lubricated with only this modern product. Dry teflon substitutes with clear advantage many old lubrication products, single problem can be cost for applications where we require industrial amounts.

Be careful ! a lot of teflon lubricants, even some expensive ones, are not polarized, with way inferior performance !

In some applications an specialized grease can be better, it is the case when damping is required, an specialized product is Damping Grease that it provocates a high friction for higher speed and a low friction for low speed movement, a classical usage is in microscopes.

...but for general lubrication exposed to air/wheather today Dry Teflon (Micro Polarized type) is considered the clear superior choice: Very permanent, penetrating, highly hydrofuge, atoxic, inert, very low friction, and it always expels dirt from contact surfaces, so in many cases it does not require cleaning or disassembling. The included light solvent ensures penetration and cleaning, you move the mecanism and the solvent cleans the inner contact surfaces, while it transports the teflon to the very inaccessible places, then the polarized particles form a consistent layer. Then solvent evaporates and you have what you want. It is important to make the mechanism work while solvent still has not evaporated as this removes the ancient lubricants with the dirt. Also dry teflon works in an ample range of temperatures with no changes, from freezing to frying pans, while greases have creative behaviours in those ample ranges.


I don't say that from theory, but from having faced very challenging lubrication situations in industrial enviroments and having asked specialized consultants.

Like an almost microscopic film that is non greasy to the touch is going to cause trouble!?!!!

Come back to the real world, or I'll throw a rope down...

Steve K

[BrianShaw]

That’s a valuable education, Pere... thanks!

[Dan Fromm]

Like an almost microscopic film that is non greasy to the touch is going to cause trouble!?!!!

Come back to the real world, or I'll throw a rope down...

Steve K

Outgassing.

[LabRat]

Outgassing.

Silicone/teflon does not outgas... But petroleum based lubes in your lenses or shutters now might... Or might not by now...

Maybe filter threads will be OK???

Steve K

[Pere Casals]

Silicone/teflon ..... petroleum based lubes

Silicone grease and petroleum jelly will perform similar in that application. You may use it for filter threads, of course, but best choice is dry teflon, let me reiterate.

I've been using quite a lot of silicone/teflon greases for demanding applications, it is an amazing product, but let me explain for what it is very good: Extreme Pressure work with high speed, sealing O-Rings (a grease that does not disolve any kind of rubber), sealing electric contacts...


Silicone grease is non curing silicone oil that is thickened with pyrogenic silica (Aerosil product name, for example). The aerosil is "thixotropic", this is it becomes thinner with speed, helping in many applications where we have speed.

Silicone grease also has a very stable viscosity, it can be applied from -40 to 200ºC.

For our common photography gear Dry Teflon (Polarized type, specially) has many advantages because it's highly penetrating, reaching very well inner surfaces that are cleaned (solvent) and lubricated, so it may save disassembling to service the parts.

A grease would not penetrate, it would not clean the surfaces and it would take dirt in the future if exposed, while dry teflon is anti-adherent. We don't need the grease Extreme Pressure capability for photographic gear nor for filter threads, so dry teflon is better. If we have dry teflon in sprays then we should spray a bit in a cup and then taking a drop from there.

See how easy this Norma finds Zero points with a Symmar 360 (almost 2Kg) installed, and how the shift works with those 2 kg. It was lubricated with dry teflon 2 or 3 years ago with no disassembly:


https://www.flickr.com/photos/125592...5/47092537484/

[Pere Casals]

I'd add that while industrial lubrication is a very complex arena with a high economic impact (see this catalog about greases) https://brugarolas.com/en/products/i...-of-thickener/ it happens that photogear has a very suitable general solution: Dry Teflon, polarized, but a good product, not all expesive products are good. (Like wine)