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Slant 3D’s new Oil Stick is a simple tool every 3D printer operator should use.
The situation: your 3D printer angrily displays a message saying “It’s time to lubricate the Y-Axis”.
Your response: “Where did I put that little tube of lubricant that came with the machine?”
Eventually, you may find that lubricant, and then you’ll apply it to the Y-axis. However, if you’ve ever had to do this — and I suspect every 3D printer operator has — you found it a messy and inaccurate process.
The tiny tube of lubricant drips intermittently as you draw it along the Y-axis, dropping lubricant occasionally. If you squeeze the tube harder to make sure you cover everything, you always end up squirting out too much, and it drips onto the machine. As Slant 3D explains, these have only two settings: “Nothing” or “Too much”.
Frustrating, yes. Necessary? Also, yes.
But there could be a better way to do that annoying lubrication: Slant 3D’s new Oil Stick.
This is a brilliant idea, and I don’t know why anyone didn’t think of it earlier. Basically, the Oil Stick is a pen-like tube of lubricant with a brush applicator.
To use the Oil Stick, you simply remove the cap and gently brush the machine’s metal axes. The correct amount of PTFE-infused lubricant is deposited, without any drips. No waste, no inconsistency, done in seconds.
The Oil Stick works easily on more than just those shiny rods; it also can lubricate rails, bearings, and lead screws, all of which require periodic lubrication to keep the printer running reliably. Slant 3D explains:
“OilStick uses a brush-tip applicator and twist mechanism to deliver a controlled amount of oil directly where it is needed. The compact applicator helps users maintain printer rails, lead screws, gears, bearings, and other moving components without dripping oil onto print beds or over-applying lubricant. A single OilStick contains enough oil to keep most home 3D printers maintained for more than a year.”
Somehow I am not surprised this was developed by Slant 3D, who operate one of the largest 3D print farms in the world, comprising thousands of machines. Imagine trying to keep them all properly lubricated: that’s why they must have invented this device. It just saves time.
The sticks are sold in either three- or nine-packs and are reasonably priced at US$20 or US$40.
If you operate a 3D printer, or especially if you operate several, then the Oil Stick should be an accessory in your toolkit.
Via Oil Stick
