NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Cleaning and protecting my Freiberger
From: Jared Sherman
Date: 2004 Aug 30, 16:01 -0400
From: Jared Sherman
Date: 2004 Aug 30, 16:01 -0400
Renee- I wouldn't recommend SailKote as the first choice. It consists of a pinch of Krytox, diluted in white paraffin (wax) because undiluted Krytox is simply damned expensive. Maybe $10 for a tube half the size of your little finger. The idea of diluting in in wax is because white wax is non-staining, cheap, and inert. A great way to "extend" Krytox when you have to, and will be putting it someplace where you want to let it wear away and be replaced. But no, it is not the best choice for "permanent" application. Lanacote is organic and will break down/migrate, as most organics will. The Freiberger I had, had old congealed brown grease presumably from the factory. And that stuff can and will stain, even stain on enameled parts. Krytox, pure or diluted, will never stain. I'd splurge and spend the ten bucks for the tiny tube.But for screws that you plan to assemble and want to stay put--like the handle/frame--use Loctite. The green "removable" kind is sufficient. Just clean the screws and sockets with a little mineral spirit or alcohol first, Loctite works best on clean surfaces. On the things that need to be lubricated...the advantage of Krytox is that it never will migrate or stain, and it will work with the same viscosity from -60F to 600F, which is generally a wider range than most lubricants or sextants want to be found in. On a winter day in hell, it won't freeze over. Regular grease often gets real firm on any icy winter day, even down around 30F. I'm sure there are plenty of other good choices, I just ordered a sample of Krytox when I first heard of it, and decided to stick with it for things I only want to access and lube once. Comes as grease and oil, your choice, but you won't find it at the local WalMart.