Getting a Okuma Catalina reel sent to me. Never did one so when I looked it up it said it has a self lubricating main gear. Can anyone explain that?
Thanks
Larry
I think it means it has sintered brass, so the metal actually retains oil slightly.
Looked up sintering and came across this. Thanks for the info. Interesting
Powdered bronze is poured into dies and subjected to 30 to 50 tons of pressure to form the shape and size of the desired part/material. Parts can be made to tight tolerances using dies in size sequence. The material is then heated (or sintered) in a furnace until the particles fuse - leaving the material with approximately 20 percent porosity. Hot oil is then forced into the interconnected voids.
At Dura-Bar Metal Services we offer SAE841 Sintered Bronze. It is one of the finest powder metal bearings on the market. By using a proprietary blending and sintering process this gives us a uniform grain structure and spheroidized porosity which results in superior strength, lower coefficient of friction and a uniform oil coating of the mating shaft. During operation, oil impregnated bronzes have a proven record of excellent wear resistance and long life where normal lubrication is difficult or impossible to provide.
Quote from: Lunker Larry on June 26, 2019, 03:06:09 AM
Looked up sintering and came across this. Thanks for the info. Interesting
Powdered bronze is poured into dies and subjected to 30 to 50 tons of pressure to form the shape and size of the desired part/material. Parts can be made to tight tolerances using dies in size sequence. The material is then heated (or sintered) in a furnace until the particles fuse - leaving the material with approximately 20 percent porosity. Hot oil is then forced into the interconnected voids.
At Dura-Bar Metal Services we offer SAE841 Sintered Bronze. It is one of the finest powder metal bearings on the market. By using a proprietary blending and sintering process this gives us a uniform grain structure and spheroidized porosity which results in superior strength, lower coefficient of friction and a uniform oil coating of the mating shaft. During operation, oil impregnated bronzes have a proven record of excellent wear resistance and long life where normal lubrication is difficult or impossible to provide.
Originally called, and still referred to as,
Oilite and developed by Chrysler in 1930. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oilite) It's been used successfully in spinning reel, and other reel bearings, bushings and pinion gear supports for well over 60 years. Looks like Okuma decided to use it in a gear.
Bronze also creates less friction then steel.
Interesting.
I guess sintered stainless is not possible or at least practicle in its application to lubricated reel parts (such as gears)?