In the harsh conditions of a woodworking environment, consistent attention to lubrication of linear bearings is essential. Without proper lubrication, damage can be done quickly, which can result in total bearing failure, down time in production, plus the replacement costs of bearings.
What can be done?
- Schedule regular visual inspections of linear bearings and the grease lines that support them. (If you have them) A clogged grease line can quickly cause damage.
- If you see an overload error message or the carriage is hard to push or pull, act immediately.
- If you have linear bearings located in areas with difficult accessibility or do not have grease lines that feed directly to the bearing, consider adding a lube kit to the linear bearing. The oil tank is refillable or new full tanks can be popped on in seconds.
- Purchase additional seals and scrapers to add to the linear bearing block to reduce the amount of dust that can get into linear bearing. If space is available in your application, this is a terrific option.
- Keep the machines clean. Need I say more on that?
- When possible, keep a set of bearings on hand with the double seals and the lube kit assembly attached. This is invaluable if an unfortunate situation occurs in which your linear bearings fail or if the planned maintenance sneaks up on your schedule. The amount of down time will be reduced, and the costs related to shipping Next Day Air will be avoided.
Your mother may have told you: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This is sound advice for life in general but is especially true for linear bearing lubrication.
Michele Griffin