Grease applicator - GIF

[ranald]

We've all greased bearings. By gun, thrown hard into a bucket, or fingers of course.
A company [Odetics, Anaheim CA] built ultra high grade reel to reel tape decks for various space programs, US and abroad. Sturdily engineered to withstand G force of rocket launch.
These had several ball bearings, about 1.5 and 4mm bore. These were cleaned of assembly grease 101% and regreased with specialized lube.
Under a microscope.
Clean room of course, in an electronic lab scale.
With a precisely metered air driven syringe and needle.
Each ball [8-10?] got a milli-milli gram right where ball and cage met. 1 pin point dot.

I cant imagine the sterility of that workshop.
Aside=My 24 y.o. son who works for an auto supply co wanted to borrow my small box trailer yesterday. (They get all kinds of training in his job and he is the only one allowed to do fitments.) OK, I said, but we will snig up the wheel bearings on driver's side before you go. No, he had to go and get new bearings as he didn't want it exploding on the hiway. "Ok", I again said, "go ahead" (he had done the last set when he borrowed it a short while back & doubt if it had done 1000Ks). When he went to remove cones I told him no bother as there was no damage to them (or the bearings) but it HAD to be done every time the bearings were done: "Ok" repeated. After about an hour of mucking around & my advising to use the engineers vice & 20 ton press, I almost had to snatch the hub from him, as his new girl friend and her mom, were watching. 5 mins to the shed and back= done. Assembly was interesting: 3 or 4 pairs of disposable gloves later and looking at utube and the rear seal (different to original) and his complaining of must be Ford not GM bearings BS, he finally listened to me (I kept walking away as it was too stressful watching & advising & no heed being taken= he has to learn after all). His girlfriend's mother is a doctor (gyno I think but profession of no consequence) and had advised that a girl friend of hers bought a house part and installed watching utube & saved heaps of $$$. So, winding him up with support: too many cooks!

Anyway, he finally removed and wrecked the back to front rear seal and replaced it with the previous one & proceeded to fit the hub. You know when you advise the rubber goes to the bearing and the metal side to the outside you think it is CLEAR how to install. (I won't go into the greasing of the tapered roller bearings as too painful). Mom in law to be, gave further advice..........and he tightened the nut and started to replace the split pin. I said to not bend the pin yet. "WHY?"= "It is NOT tightened correctly" was my answer: "I'll show you how we did it in the old days BEFORE UTUBE and our boat trailer never got stuck on the side of a road or hiway from bearings". I first registered that trailer in 1972 and never been caught by it either. ( I was held up with the boat only once from someone had apparently tried to steal a wheel and was interrupted, and the wheel passed us at 100kph). I showed him by fitting the wheel to the hub and demonstrated that his method could be improved by following a process= not rocket science. He actually learned this time, I think: would never listen as a child and knew everything. Might be a chip off the old block: LOL.

Our kids were sent to us to bring up and they inturn TEACH US SOME LIFE LESSONS. I always had the patience of a rock, as my elder brother says, but kids can make some of us frustrated: me included.