Screw maintenance?

[Rice_Guy]

This is an heirloom which I have been trying to get operational. When last posted on WMT I had fabricated a new basket/ collection basket and discovered that it sheds dust/ greasy stuff when pressing, ,,, (so the obvious is clean that off outside since the wife doesn’t like solvent in the house)
I now have a fairly clean and somewhat wobbly screw. What is good long term maintenance & storage?

 

[Rice_Guy]

* I really don’t care if food contact grade material is above the level where the liquid goes, as such I could see using a laminate/ glue on upper blocks. I could see carbon fiber on upper blocks, or black locust, or red oak, etc > strength, , titanium if you find it!
* do you have access to old pallets? about 10% are oak, look on Craigslist
* do you have access to blocks/ chocks used in shipping, there are a variety of sizes as 1.5 x 1.5 by length, 3 x 3 by length etc. most of these are oak, some will be 18” long and some are 10’.
* my traditional press (old) has a screw through a top casting (can take a solid round). The original plates were not all oak
* photos/ ideas ? if you look through old posts lots of us have put up pictures
* photo? ,,, heres the old collection tray (new is stainless, plywood, 3x3 oak, plastic)
View attachment 91215
and some new press parts (I am industry so don’t like wood food contact)

Tried out new parts for an old press.
View attachment 94518
I like stainless and plastic for cleanability, the old collection tray was wood showing rot, basket and press plates were OK but why not go all the way with SS,

View attachment 94519
the screw needs to get cleaned, it was dropping dirt/ greasy flakes, and the stand ought to be strengthened, ,,,,, stuff one doesn’t realize till trying it.

 

[balatonwine]

I now have a fairly clean and somewhat wobbly screw. What is good long term maintenance & storage?

Remove the screw. Get a good wire brush for an angle grinder. Clean up the screw to remove rust.

Get a small wire brush and clean out the screw holder on the press.

Blast both with a lot of air if you have an air compressor. Else, and if not, do all the above on a hot summer day, and use a rag to remove a much dust and water as possible from the metal surface.

When dry, get some mineral oil and a paint brush. liberally spread the oil on the metal on both parts. Let sit a day or so.

Re-assemble.

Add mineral oil as needed to keep the screw rust free.

I have been doing this for years. My screws are not rusty.

 

[ratflinger]

I agree with balatonwine except that I'd use food grade grease. It's readily available on Amazon.

 

[balatonwine]

I'd use food grade grease.

Each to their own plans. Food grade mineral oil is what I would use of course.

And thus, to my own experience I find grease too thick for this application. Better used on high stress bearings and chains where constant and continual friction is going to impact and degrade metal surfaces in the absence of a thick grease.

I apply food grade mineral oil on a press screw mainly to prevent rust. IMHO one does need to really lube the screw at press time. It is not a high stress bearing surface that needs grease. And cleaning up grease as it ages off the screw is a real pain. The prior owner of one of my presses used grease and it was a disaster to remove off the screw threads (necessary to do, as I especially suspected it was not food grade).

Hope this helps.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Due to the wobble I had pulled out molybdenum grease. Good that I haven’t gotten that far.
The new presses at the store look like mineral oil would work.

 

[Jim Welch]

I also use food grade grease, using a small disposable paint brush to apply it, then run the screw all the way through and wipe off any excess grease that has been scraped along with the follower.
With that said I would not hesitate to use food grade, I.e. USP grade, mineral oil, they’re both essentially the same just different viscosity.
Edit: spelling

 

[ratflinger]

I also use food grade grease, using a small disposable paint brush to apply it, then run the screen all the way through and wipe off any excess grease that has been scraped along with the follower.
With that said I would not hesitate to use food grade, I.e. USP grade, mineral oil, they’re both essentially the same just different viscosity.

You are, of course, both correct.

 

[BigDaveK]

I use food grade grease because that's what I have. My Kitchenaid mixer is heavily used and it needs to be redone every few years. Never thought of mineral oil. I understand the logic and will keep it in mind for sure.