What exactly is self-lubricating?

[XerxesYoung]

Hi, I've been reading around the forums and started to wonder, what exactly is "Self-Lubricating" ? Some inner barrels seems to have it. But I really don't think that the barrels lubricates itself automatically by producing their own lubricant

So what exactly is it and are they good? or bad?

[MadMax]

There are some materials such as teflon or oil impregnated sintred bronze which are considered self lubricating. Teflon stays slippy by constantly shedding particles. Oilite is a porous bronze which is dropped in oil in a vacuum chamber. The air comes bubbling out and oil pushes in when the vacuum is released.

Oilite bushings sweat oil when a supported shaft is turned. When the turning stops, the oil soaks back in so they don't require lubricant replenishment.

Analogously, biological cartilidge is a matrix of collagen soaked in synovial fluid. When the cartilidge is pressured (say in a knee joint) fluid sweats out and reduces solid to solid contact.

I thought I'd start this off real high brow before all the dirty jokes come out.

[Ronan]

Originally Posted by Droc

Its when you do enough foreplay that she gets....wait, no, nevermind

I was thinking exactly that when i saw the thread topic:innocent:

[CDN_Stalker]

Ya, it means your equipment excretes a liquid that is lubricating in nature, so that you don't have to use man-made substances for lubricat................. aw shit, now I know what he's talking about!!!

[XerxesYoung]

I see.. that explains alot, thanks!

[Ace of Spades©]

Since the Teflon is shedding off particles to keep itself lubricated, wouldn't that mean if you had a high-speed gear box, generating a larger amount of heat compared to normal, it would be bad to have Teflon "self-lubricating" parts in a gearbox geared to high-speed?

Meaning that if said parts were installed into a gearbox that created a large amount of heat, the parts would release particles at a higher rate, causing deterioration at a faster speed then normal?

[MadMax]

In the long run, teflon is not a very good wearing material. It's great for it's inert nature (almost no acids or compounds combine with teflon) and very high heat tolerance (i.e. nonstick pans), but in the long term, it slowly erodes which makes it unsuitable for things like hip replacement sockets. The only application I can think of in a mechbox is as a coating on the cylinder. It's probably ok there as it only contacts a soft oring. Also, it doesn't shed that fast. A good coating would probably outlast your pistons.

Originally Posted by Ace of Spades

Since the Teflon is shedding off particles to keep itself lubricated, wouldn't that mean if you had a high-speed gear box, generating a larger amount of heat compared to normal, it would be bad to have Teflon "self-lubricating" parts in a gearbox geared to high-speed?

Meaning that if said parts were installed into a gearbox that created a large amount of heat, the parts would release particles at a higher rate, causing deterioration at a faster speed then normal?

[vatek]

So in other words I shouldn't need to worry about oiling a teflon-coated APS-2 bolt. Nifty.

[BC_K]

Originally Posted by Droc

Its when you do enough foreplay that she gets....wait, no, nevermind

Hah no fuckin doubt man.