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The maintenance section of the 5000 includes this comment:
DO NOT USE OIL ON ANY PART OF THE MACHINE
Except glass cutting oil on the glass cutting wheel only
Yet the glass cutting section makes no reference to using any such oil. Can anybody interpret this please?
Thanks.
Oh yes; what do you use for cutting mountboard: a 'stanley' blade in the bottom carriage, or the twin-wheel cutter in the top carriage? And is the answer different if using 3500 rather than c.1500 mountboard?
For best performance and longevity of a glass cutting wheel, always use oil on the cutting wheel axle. I have used 50% light machine oil (AKA 3 in one oil) and 50% kerosene for over 30 years.
I also oil all pivot axles and slides where metal to metal friction is present. I also wipe off all excess and gunk with paper towels.
Not sure about cutting 3500 mount board but for 1500 mount board it's the Stanley type blade, the twin wheel cutter is for mdf. Personally I never use any oil on for cutting glass but others may differ.
All glass cutters all cut a bit better with a lubricant. I tend to dab on a bit of white spirit.
I wouldn't use the twin-wheel cutter for mountboard. It will struggle with 3mm+ mb anyway.... Also churn up the edge. I never cut mountboard on the Excalibur, but if I had to cut thick stuff I would make a few scores first without locking the blade fully down .
But for the simple of mind or those that don't want to think about it, this is what it means.
The bearings are Teflon, oil makes Teflon swell and knackers it right up, silicon is fine on the Teflon bearings, and makes a properly adjusted machine a pleasure to use, knife through butter territory.
As Jfig rightly said thin oil will prolong the life of the wheel, only a tiny amount is needed, most people tend to put to much on, this could potentially get into the runners and damage the machine, the glass cutting wheels on the Excalibur don't need the oil so rather than risk damage to the Teflon they don't make a big deal about putting it on the wheel, what you should not do is put silicon on it, this would not be good for cutting..
So as the user all you need to know is no oil on the machine except for the glass cutter, which is optional, pretty much what's written in the instructions.
Oil is pretty useless on the Excalibur glass wheel, it's gone after a few revolutions and if you put it on more than a few minutes before you use it, it's gone before you use it!
There's no oil reservoir, it's not that type of cutter, I wish it was, my hand held glass cutter is oil-filled and I've changed the wheel once in 21 years and maybe I wouldn't have had to change it at all if I hadn't neglected to keep it topped up!
I have used oil on my Excalibur glass wheel (3 in one - absolutely tiny drop) on the tiny axle when it's started skipping but each time I've had to do that it's been a new wheel shortly after, think I've bought three in 15 years.
As for the boards, the Stanley type blade will cut all thicknesses of mount board - even two, three or more 4 ply boards at the same time, well, with a few passes for three or more, using the ratchet advance, but two in one pass, easy.
With the blade extended a bit I can (but rarely do) cut 5mm foam board (which is my default backing) and two 4 ply boards at the same time in one pass.
My twin wheel cutter is redundant because I don't use MDF and I buggered it up on thick pegboard anyway.
The oil is really to lubricate the wheels axle, rather than to aid the cut, which is more to do with electrons and other strange magic than an actual cut.
The wheels on the Excalibur are really a consumable, we get through about 6 per year, they are quite cheap though.
IFGL, as I agree with you, I think you missed the point that my second paragraph was in response to IFGL's second paragraph (sorry if that was unclear):
JFeig wrote:I also oil all pivot axles and slides where metal to metal friction is present. I also wipe off all excess and gunk with paper towels.
where, as I say - as you say, (at least if I'm imagining the machine correctly) the instructions say you should only use silicone lubricant.
IFGL wrote:The bearings are Teflon, oil makes Teflon swell and knackers it right up,
I think the instructions were written by an attorney who writes instruction for the least knowledgeable customer of a product. Note that these instructions defer to asking the company for further information.
I think you had better read the instructions again, but a little more carefully.
