Inca owners?

[Bruce Darrow]

I recently bought an abused and neglected Inca 550 J/P locally on CL. I ran it in jointer mode, so it does work, and it is all there, but it was full of chips, dust and caked pine resin, and most of the steel parts were rusted to some degree or other, so I've been having a grand old time disassembling, cleaning, derusting, and reassembling this old girl.

My question to you Inca owners is what kind of lubrication, if any, do you use on the machine other than on the drive train or on the table surfaces?

Both of those issues are well documented: most prefer white lithium grease (sparingly) on the drive train, and Waxlit or equivalent on the tables, but having disassembled and derusted and cleaned nearly every nut, bolt and part other than the case itself and those parts constrained within, what about other moving parts, such as the table ways and the fence travel and tilt surfaces? The joints of the articulating fence mechanism?

I also would like, for my peace of mind, to relube the cutterhead bearings - is this advisable? I read one post at the Yahoo Inca group that indicates that removal of the cutterhead is problematic, and possibly that the bearings are sealed and thus don't need servicing.....can anyone speak to this?

Looking forward to picking the brains of other Inca owners - I would think that these questions would cross link with their other machines as well.

Thanks in advance,

Bruce

[John TenEyck]

Bruce, these guys can answer all your questions: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/incawoodworking/ I use Triflow to lube the various steel components on my Inca, and Butcher's Bowling Alley wax on the tables, which is now about 40 years old and still running great. I still have the original cutterhead bearings in mine; I believe they are sealed so I've never tried to lube them. I've thought about replacing them, but haven't taken the plunge yet. Good luck getting it all back to her former glory. They are a sweet little machine.

John

[Jim Matthews]

Less stress on the motor, in jointer mode.

My motor trips the breaker, when planing.
I'm with JTE - the "main" bearings are sealed.

If those go out, it's a difficult replacement process.

[Bruce Darrow]

Jim,

As I already own a lunchbox planer, my projected use of the machine will be primarily as a jointer, so your post resonates here. Another perusal of the owner's manual reinforces the sealed bearings question - trust in the quality of the factory ones (sealed) and hope for the best.

Thanks for the input.

Bruce