Paper Cutter Maintenance and Lubrication Tips

bry

New member
Hi folks, just curious if anyone has any general tips for paper cutter maintenance, cleaning and lubrication. In particular, I'm wondering if there are recommended oil and grease types for the various lubrication points on these machines.

In an MBM video for How to Grease Triumph 5260 & 6660 cutters, it looks like they're using just some Valvoline general purpose (lithium?) grease for all parts, including the lead screw. However, I've heard that only oil should be used on lead screws. (See this post from Obsolete Cutter Parts as well as this excellent video from Just A Printer.) What's a good oil for lead screws?

As for general tips, I recommend giving knife bolts and threads a quick cleaning or blast with compressed air when swapping in a fresh blade. I once had a stressful situation where someone changed the knife on a machine and cross-threaded the knife bolts, I believe due to an excess of paper dust in the threads. There was resistance when first screwing in the hardware but they decided to force it anyway. Threads on the bolts and the knife itself were pretty messed up but fortunately we were able to get the knife re-tapped and overnight some replacement bolts, which I also gather need to be high-strength grade (they were not cheap).
 
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I don't have a local dealer tech, but we had a generalist hydraulic tech help with our Challenge 200 a few times. A huge win from him was when the plastic break away coupling between the motor and impeller failed. The manufacturer lists both as a "hydraulic power unit" SKU and the cost was something like $6000. He investigated and found that the replacement cost for the breakaway coupling was $5 and now we have some spares on hand.
 
over the years we have found its not the type of lube but how often. Little dribble of oil and 1 pump of a grease gun works wonders every 6 months. Had a customer FILL the inside cavity of the cutter arch because they pumped 10/12 pumps every day into the grease fittings. And yes for oil only on a lead screw. grease attracts grit and will wear out the parts.
 
   
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