Which oil to lube paper shredder?
Alan
special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home office?
Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
It seems some shredder oils are the consistency of a light machine oil
which is heavier than I would have predicted.
I wonder if some of the newer lubes (graphite sprays, PTFE, etc) would do
a good job? I guess the main requirements are probably
(1) to avoid the oil dripping off the blades soon
(2) to have enough lubricant powert os top wear
(3) to avoid holding paper dust such that over time it becomes congealed.
========================
Advice pages on the internet seem confused:
<http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060830093845AA7venA>
(1) mineral oil.......food grade
(2) Mineral oil or sewing machine oil.
(3) We use 5W30 motor oil ours and it has been working fine for a year
and a half.
(4) use mineral oil. if you use any type of pertroleum based oil it will
get on the paper you are shredding, and in turn get into the land fill. i
know you are saying it is such a small amount, but how many shreders are
out there??? imagine if everyone used regular oil in their shreders....
imagine the amount of oil that would go into the land fill, and then into
the water table.
(5) They are all lubricants. Any oil is fine, WD-40 or whatever you have.
(6) A very light weight oil. sewing machine oil should do it.
[AFAIK mineral oil is a petroleoum oil]
================
I have tended to use a silicone spray lubricant or a silicon + PTFE spray
like these. However but they do not seem to provide enough lube to
prevent cuttings staying on the shredder blade (and I am not applying so
much lube thatthe cuttings stick to the blade).
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Silicone_Grease_with_PTFE.search
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Multi_Purpose_Silicone_Grease.search
tadchem
> What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an additional
> special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home office?
>
> Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
WD40 is not a general purpose lubricant. It is a penetrating oil.
Its designed purpose is to ooze into cracks between pieces of metal
that have been frozen together by rust/pressure/etc. and provide
enough lubrication to allow them to be separated. The secret of WD40
is in the *volatile* components, which give it a low surface energy
(google "angle of repose") so that it spreads out on the metal surface
and displaces absorbed water (which leads to oxidation of the metal -
rust).
You want a lubricant that is non-volatile, even at operating
temperatures. As a GP lubricant my lab used motor oil (SAE 50 or
less) for most applications. In sensitive applications where
microliter amounts were needed, but excess would cause contamination
problems, we applied it with an insulin syringe.
> It seems some shredder oils are the consistency of a light machine oil
> which is heavier than I would have predicted.
The heat of normal operation will reduce the viscosity of the oil
somewhat.
> I wonder if some of the newer lubes (graphite sprays, PTFE, etc) would do
> a good job? I guess the main requirements are probably
>
> (1) to avoid the oil dripping off the blades soon
> (2) to have enough lubricant powert os top wear
> (3) to avoid holding paper dust such that over time it becomes congealed.
Dry lubricants can be very useful. We used Dow-Corning's Moly-Kote
(molybdenum disulfide base) for anything requiring high temperature
stability, low vapor pressure, or where servicing down-time is
expensive. Downside is that the aerosol cans are messy to use: if
delicate application was required we sprayed a small amount into a
small container and then painted/daubed the Moly-Kote where needed.
> ========================
>
> Advice pages on the internet seem confused:
>
> <http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060830093845AA7venA>
> (1) mineral oil.......food grade
> (2) Mineral oil or sewing machine oil.
> (3) We use 5W30 motor oil ours and it has been working fine for a year
> and a half.
> (4) use mineral oil. if you use any type of pertroleum based oil it will
> get on the paper you are shredding, and in turn get into the land fill. i
> know you are saying it is such a small amount, but how many shreders are
> out there??? imagine if everyone used regular oil in their shreders....
> imagine the amount of oil that would go into the land fill, and then into
> the water table.
> (5) They are all lubricants. Any oil is fine, WD-40 or whatever you have.
> (6) A very light weight oil. sewing machine oil should do it.
>
> [AFAIK mineral oil is a petroleoum oil]
Correct. Petroleum oil is simply an unspecified mixture of
hydrocarbons with a known boiling range:
As a rough guide:
http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/u4735/projections/pitman/pet.fractions.html
http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/1organic/coal.html
> I have tended to use a silicone spray lubricant or a silicon + PTFE spray
> like these. However but they do not seem to provide enough lube to
> prevent cuttings staying on the shredder blade (and I am not applying so
> much lube thatthe cuttings stick to the blade).http://www.maplin.co.uk/Silicone_Grease_with_PTFE.searchhttp://www.maplin.co.uk/Multi_Purpose_Silicone_Grease.search
Your problem may be static electricity. The cuttings from a paper
shredder are ideal for the old static electricity experiment of
running a plastic comb through someone's hair and holding it over the
shredded paper.
Look to electrically grounding the moving parts.
Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA
jmfbahciv
Or run the shredder in the bathroom. I don't think I'd use mineral
oil; after a while it would become gunk and have to be cleaned.
/BAH
Spaceman
> What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an
> additional special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my
> home office?
Here is the real trick,
Buy a sub at your local sub shop and tell them extra olive oil.
(Ham and Cheese and all your fave other toppings.)
but with extra olive oil.
The sub shop usually uses a slightly waxed paper and the oil actually
soaks into it a bit.
Before you shread anything that day, eat the sub and get rid
of all the food and any "massive drippings of the oil".
Then shred the paper sub wrapping, and start
shredding your other stuff.
I never used any other oil ever and usually only got an extra
olive oil sub every third day or so.
The wax and oil will keep those blades like day one for many
shreds.
:)
--
James M Driscoll Jr
Creator of the Clock Malfunction Theory
Spaceman
Derek Geldard
But your guts will end up like the black hole of Calcutta. 8-((
Derek
Spaceman
But olive oil is good for you,
It oils your insides!
:)
But if you don't wish to eat all that, you can always buy
some wax paper and a bottle of olive oil. (not cheap but lasts
a long time if you are only putting a few drops on a piece
of paper every week or so.
:)
I will admit though..
I don't know if it was the wax paper or the olive oil that
did the trick for that shredder.
I think it liked both though.
The Medway Handyman
> On Aug 3, 7:23 am, Alan <non...@nomail.com> wrote:
>> What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an
>> additional
>> special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home
>> office?
>>
>> Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
>
> WD40 is not a general purpose lubricant.
Why do the makers describe it as "The world's number one multi-purpose
lubricant" then?
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
Kevin
> tadchem wrote:
>> On Aug 3, 7:23 am, Alan <non...@nomail.com> wrote:
>>> What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an
>>> additional
>>> special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home
>>> office?
>>>
>>> Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
>> WD40 is not a general purpose lubricant.
>
> Why do the makers describe it as "The world's number one multi-purpose
> lubricant" then?
>
>
problems than it fixed, and it became a disciplinary offence if you were
caught using it, and we were then issued with a normal oil can,
I did read on the web under certain conditions it will corrode
metal(which might be a myth)
--
Kevin R
Reply address works
Bob Eager
<davi...@nospamblueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> tadchem wrote:
> > On Aug 3, 7:23 am, Alan <non...@nomail.com> wrote:
> >> What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an
> >> additional
> >> special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home
> >> office?
> >>
> >> Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
> >
> > WD40 is not a general purpose lubricant.
>
> Why do the makers describe it as "The world's number one multi-purpose
> lubricant" then?
Marketing.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com
Androcles
"The Medway Handyman" <davi...@nospamblueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Vljlk.37007$E41....@text.news.virginmedia.com...
| tadchem wrote:
| > On Aug 3, 7:23 am, Alan <non...@nomail.com> wrote:
| >> What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an
| >> additional
| >> special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home
| >> office?
| >>
| >> Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
| >
| > WD40 is not a general purpose lubricant.
|
| Why do the makers describe it as "The world's number one multi-purpose
| lubricant" then?
If that were true it would be used on condoms, the number one multi-purpose
buy me and stop one contraceptive.
Mark Thorson
>
> (1) to avoid the oil dripping off the blades soon
> (2) to have enough lubricant powert os top wear
> (3) to avoid holding paper dust such that over time it becomes congealed.
Number 3 is pretty important. The combination of
lubricant and paper dust is very abrasive to
machinery. This was a big problem during the
days of punched cards.
Note the difference between grease and oil.
Generally speaking, places that need grease
should never be oiled and places that need
oil should never be greased. Grease acts
like a solvent for oil.
Rather than trying to re-engineer the lubrication
system, I'd stick as closely to the manufacturer's
design as possible, because there might have been
engineering considerations you're not aware of.
For example, what if the machine catches fire?
A PTFE-based lubricant would emit toxic gases.
A silicone oil might spread into the motor or
switch contact points, causing an open circuit.
If a light machine oil is the closest substitute,
that seems like a safe bet. My mom uses 3-in-1
oil on her sewing machine. I don't know if that
brand is available in the UK, but from your
description of the problem, that seems like
a good fit.
Uncle Al
>
> What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an additional
> special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home office?
>
> Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
>
> It seems some shredder oils are the consistency of a light machine oil
> which is heavier than I would have predicted.
>
> I wonder if some of the newer lubes (graphite sprays, PTFE, etc) would do
> a good job? I guess the main requirements are probably
>
> (1) to avoid the oil dripping off the blades soon
> (2) to have enough lubricant powert os top wear
> (3) to avoid holding paper dust such that over time it becomes congealed.
1) Clean it out, hit it with a teflon spray lube, Run empty for a
few seconds, let dry. Or,
1a) Take out the cutter, ion plate with titanium nitride,
reinstall. Or,
1c) Take out the cutter, microwave CVD with titanium diboride,
reinstall.
That last will shred scrap iron.
--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/lajos.htm#a2
Bob Eager
> Alan wrote:
> >
> > (1) to avoid the oil dripping off the blades soon
> > (2) to have enough lubricant powert os top wear
> > (3) to avoid holding paper dust such that over time it becomes congealed.
>
> Number 3 is pretty important. The combination of
> lubricant and paper dust is very abrasive to
> machinery. This was a big problem during the
> days of punched cards.
I just use the real shredder oil - it's much cheaper than a new
shredder.
I did find that congealed paper dust caused a problem once, after about
3-4 years' use. It caused the paper sensor on the input slot to jam so
that the motor ran all the time. A strip down and clean took just a few
minutes.
Benj
> > >> Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
>
> > > WD40 is not a general purpose lubricant.
>
> > Why do the makers describe it as "The world's number one multi-purpose
> > lubricant" then?
>
> Marketing.
Absolutely. As someone noted above, WD40 is NOT a "lubricant". It is a
penetrating substance designed to loosen rusted fasteners and the
like. They market it as something you can spray on to "protect" metal
objects, but that is just hype. Truth is that the stories about WD40
rusting metal are NOT myth! IT DOES do that! And anyone using it on
a shredder to "protect" the metal from corrosion needs to be paying
the office fines! WD40 is good stuff for what it does. If you are
taking an old muffler off a car it can't be beat. But beware the
"metal protection" nonsense. It has the OPPOSITE effect!
As for oiling a shredder or any other thing you might be temped to use
WD40 on, I'd recommend good old 10W-30 Motor oil it usually does a
great job both protecting metal from rust and lubricating. Wax is OK,
(from wax paper) but tends to be thick and not get into all the right
places. However it does have an advantage that the wax lubricates
without getting all sticky and having dirt and abrasive paper powder
mix with it. Olive oil, I'd suspect is not the best lubricant. I'd say
if you think motor oil is too heavy then the next choice would be
sewing machine oil.
...or you could just feed the whole sub into the shredder paper and
all...
Dave Liquorice
> WD40 is good stuff for what it does. If you are taking an old muffler
> off a car it can't be beat.
Plusgas is a much better penetrating, nut/bolt freeing product. Remember
what the the WD stands for "water displacer", it's good at that but for
lubrication or nut freeing there are much better products about.
> ...or you could just feed the whole sub into the shredder paper and
> all...
Thats probably the best thing to do, save you having to eat the ghastly
thing.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Spaceman
> On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 12:06:56 -0700 (PDT), Benj wrote:
>
>> WD40 is good stuff for what it does. If you are taking an old muffler
>> off a car it can't be beat.
>
> Plusgas is a much better penetrating, nut/bolt freeing product.
> Remember what the the WD stands for "water displacer", it's good at
> that but for lubrication or nut freeing there are much better
> products about.
The best stuff around for penetrating used to be Zep 45 but I think it was
renamed
to Zep Twister.
They also have a soy based stuff but I never used it.
They really know chemicals.
www.zep.com
somebody
writes
>What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an additional
>special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home office?
3 in 1.
I've got a Fellowes cross cut under the desk in front of me. It is the
only one I've ever bothered to lube and it seems to have surpassed the 2
other (never lubed) ones before it.
Certainly hasn't broken it anyway.
Hth
Someone
David Bostwick
>What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an additional
>special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home office?
>
>Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
>
WD40 will appear to work well for a minute or two, until the cutters get hot
and cause a fireball. I speak from stupid experience, and my eyebrows,
mustache, and hair add their support.
Buy the sheets from an office supply place. They're cheap and neat.
Borked Pseudo Mailed
> an additional special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder
> used in my home office?
Fellowes cross-cut, eh? Check out the MSDS for Fellowes
35250 Powershred Lubricant at
http://www.fellowes.com/Fellowes/materials/documents/MSDS_35250.PDF
It contains up to 100% CAS No. 8001-22-7 = EINECS No. 232-274-4.
Quoting further:
First Aid Measures:
Inhalation: Move to fresh air
Eyes: Flush with water
Skin: Wash with soap and water
Ingestion: Do not induce vomiting. SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION.
In case of accidental release, notify authorities. Wow.
This stuff looks dangerous. I'd go with the olive oil from
that other guy's sub. (In case of anchovies on the sub,
notify the authorities.)
But wait ... googling "MSDS shredder lubricant" turns up
some alternatives:
http://www.officeworld.com/msds/UNV38036.pdf
http://www.instawares.com/msds/UNV38036.pdf both seem to be
mineral oil.
tadchem
wrote:
> > What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying
> > an additional special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder
> > used in my home office?
>
> Fellowes cross-cut, eh? Check out the MSDS for Fellowes
>
> It contains up to 100% CAS No. 8001-22-7 = EINECS No. 232-274-4.
It's soybean oil:
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC34456
>
> Quoting further:
>
> First Aid Measures:
> Inhalation: Move to fresh air
> Eyes: Flush with water
> Skin: Wash with soap and water
> Ingestion: Do not induce vomiting. SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION.
>
> In case of accidental release, notify authorities. Wow.
> This stuff looks dangerous. I'd go with the olive oil from
> that other guy's sub. (In case of anchovies on the sub,
> notify the authorities.)
>
> But wait ... googling "MSDS shredder lubricant" turns up
> some alternatives:
>
> http://www.officeworld.com/msds/UNV38036.pdfhttp://www.instawares.com/msds/UNV38036.pdfboth seem to be
> mineral oil.
Mark Thorson
>
> On Aug 4, 7:30 pm, Borked Pseudo Mailed <nob...@pseudo.borked.net>
> wrote:
> >
> > It contains up to 100% CAS No. 8001-22-7 = EINECS No. 232-274-4.
>
> It's soybean oil:
> http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC34456
Oh, for crying out loud. What a crappy lubricant!
Soy oil undergoes a free-radical polymerization reaction.
A light mineral oil would be a much better choice.
jmor...@idirect.com
Am I the only person in this thread that sees a problem with combining
paper dust, random types of oil, friction and sparks from shredded
staples, all in one spot?
John
<jmor...@idirect.com> wrote in message
news:502b7fe6-1238-4f0e...@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
I used to lubricate our office shredder. Since retiring 4 years ago no-one
has bothered - it is still working. (in a busy HR Dept)
George Orwell
> > > additional
> > > special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home
> > > office?
> > >
> > > Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.
>
> Why do the makers describe it as "The world's number one multi-purpose
> lubricant" then?
Multi-purpose is not the same thing as All-purpose, Every-purpose
or even General-purpose.
Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real
reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an
di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system
Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it
Uncle Al
[snip]
> Am I the only person in this thread that sees a problem with combining
> paper dust, random types of oil, friction and sparks from shredded
> staples, all in one spot?
If it needs any lube at all a Teflon dry lube spray is good enough.
One could dampen a sheet of paper with Mobil 1 and run that through
the shredder. Adding wet lube to a dusty environment is overall
unclever.
tadchem
Think of it as engineered obsolescence from a renewable resource...
Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA
Norm
I watched a vid that changed a sheet of printer paper into tracing paper by
using baby oil. I don't know what baby oil is made of, but could you then run
that baby oil infused tracing paper through the shredder to lubricate it?
--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy/which-oil-to-lube-paper-shredder-498155-.htm
Gaby
How can you own someone else's comments? BS, no, I don't want to copy this
thread, just saying
Handyman
WD40 is NOT an oil! It is a solvent. It is used to clean surfaces and as
such nicely cleans off oil and other materials leaving metal nice and smooth.
But do not use it as a general lubricant.