Grease for PLA sprocket
I am attempting to construct model tank tracks with accompanying wheels and sprockets. All parts will be printed in PLA. The tracks will be driven by electric motors.
What would be a suitable grease for this project to minimize friction without damaging the plastics.
I use cosmetic vaseline - petroleum jelly. Usually it is white to transparent and odorless. It's cheap and available in all drugstores and cosmetics stores.
As suggested by Tom van der Zanden I'm adding additional info about interactions of vaseline and plastics.
I've found many web sites which claim that vaseline can damage plastics but none of them really proved that statement. There is nothing about it neither on producers sites nor wikipedia or any other believable sources I've found. So according to it and my practice I'm pretty sure that vaseline won't damage popular plastics (including common filaments).The only information I've found is that vaseline can damage natural rubber but I cannot confirm that on my own.
Of course it might not be true for some materials so be careful and check the interactions first on invisible side or on refuses.
This answer could benefit from some additional motivation, especially concerning the possibility of vaseline damaging plastics and whether it minimizes friction (compared to other lubricants).
@TomvanderZanden you are right, I'll add such information soon.
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Content dated before 7/24/2021 11:53 AM
darth pixel 6 years ago
I've also found this link on reprap wiki http://reprap.org/wiki/Lubrication it covers all aspects of lubricating stuff (not only plastics)