Handibot Maintenance

Hi hi,

How does one best maintain his Handibot after lots of work in rather harsh conditions? What's the best grease to put on the rails and on the screw ball? The machine is working good but I start to hear some squeaking noise and the machine doesn't slide as smoothly as before when moved manually (power off). Shall I stop using it until I grease the whole machine?

FYI: I'm using my Handibot in West-Africa to teach people about CNCs and carve lots of good red wood. The weather is hot, dry, sandy / humide and warmer during the rainy season coming soon. The red wood dust is very sticky. I always air blast the machine at the end of the day and vacuum the dust but. I try to not let the machine under the sun.

Thierry,

The lead screws on the handibot have a teflon coating and should not be greased. If this coating were to wear off, the silver color of the screws would start to show through the black teflon coating. However, even on the old tools that we have running constantly here in the shop, the teflon coating is still effective.
The rails can take a light oil (like 3-in-One oil). You'll just want to apply oil to the rails and move the tool back and forth. Any thicker grease will mix with your sawdust and start to make a paste that might cause more problems for the bearings. Keeping the tool clean is the best way to maintain those bearings.

Brian

Brian,

Thanks for the information. I can see a slight bit of silver on the top of the leading screw but nothing that would cause problems in my opinion. I found it only after a long inspection. Perfectly cleaning the rail is however not alway easy. There is quite a bit of sawdust that sticks to the rail during the work (even with the vacuum on) so that at the end of the day I feel some already went in the bearings. In the long run, do you think oiling the rails every weeks would be enough? Shall I upgrade for a much stronger vaccuum system?

Thierry