Here is what our resident materials guy had to say about the brass/steel issue. "Can't believe that no lube is less wear than with lube. There are a few reasons for using brass against steel. If the steel part is difficult to replace, then the brass is the "sacrificial" part and is the easier to replace; e.g. the steel gear is a single part of a motor drive, like a worm gear is the threaded end of a motor shaft. Also, with different materials, there is essentially no chance of "galling" (sticking) of the materials in the event that the lube disappears. However, when the lube is gone, I bet that the brass gear will soon disappear. Also, with different materials, the larger part is made of the softer material, and the smaller part of the harder material; this tends to wear both parts at nearly the same rate." Ron L -----Original Message----- From: phono-l-bounces at oldcrank.org [mailto:phono-l-bounces at oldcrank.org] On Behalf Of Rich Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 1:22 PM To: Antique Phonograph List Subject: RE: [Phono-L] Re: Noisy Home Try this then. Why do you suppose that The Edison Co. went to all of the trouble to build motors where there was a brass gear meshed with a steel gear? It is not an accident. Look at any Edison motor. This dissimilar metal mesh cost a lot of money to manufacture. Rich On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 12:21:09 -0500, Ron L wrote: >I can agree with the possibility of dirt getting in grease and causing wear >but I'm not sure about the "self lubricating" aspect of this post. Anyone >else want to weigh in on this? >Ron L >-----Original Message----- >From: phono-l-bounces at oldcrank.org [mailto:phono-l-bounces at oldcrank.org] On >Behalf Of Rich >Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 12:00 PM >To: Antique Phonograph List >Subject: RE: [Phono-L] Re: Noisy Home >Brass gears meshed with steel gears should never be greased or heavily >lubricated. They are self >lubricating. Any extra lube will hold dirt which will imbed into the brass >which will result in excessive >wear on the harder (steel) gear. If you van see of feel the lubricant then >there is way too much. >Rich >On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 10:46:15 -0500, Ron L wrote: >>How are the rubber mounts between bedplate and motor, and between upper >>works and bedplate? Are the gears lightly greased or just oiled? Have >the >>conical bearings on the mandrel shaft ever been disturbed, especially >turned >>and/or moved in or out? >_______________________________________________ >Phono-L mailing list >http://phono-l.oldcrank.org >_______________________________________________ >Phono-L mailing list >http://phono-l.oldcrank.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org