What are you fellas using to lubricate your hammers?
I was filling my chainsaw this morning with bar oil and in 32 degree weather it was as slow as the proverbial molasses.
Any thoughts on bar oil as a hammer lube?

i use motor oil... works good and is fairly cheap...

It depends on the temperature. In the winter when it is below 50 degrees, I use 10 wt. non-detergent oil. In the summer, I use 30 wt. non-detergent. Get it from a local tractor supply.

I use bar & chain oil on my mechanical hammers. It's designed to cling and it seems to stay on the parts longer than regular motor oil, especially the ram guides. Around here they sell summer and winter weight, I switch seasonally. I've seen a lot of guys add those flip-top thread in oil cups to their hammers, esp. at the pitman/crank plate connection.

I've used bar oil with good success, on my mechanical hammer. I does cling allot better than the thinner oils. You may find it a bit too thick in severe cold.

I use way oil on my mechanical hammers, not so sticky as bar oil but doesn't run out as quickly as motor oil. It's made to lubricate the heavily loaded /slow speed moving parts on lathes, mill and other machine tools.
I think the brand I use is Vectra 2. I get it from Enco in 5 gallon buckets. It's often on sale for about $45. Lasts me about a year and a half with 3 hammers in a full time shop.
This is the best stuff I've found for the purpose. I oil my hammers every 4 hours of use.
Any oil is cheaper than new parts or downtime.

I second SGropp....way oil is the way to go. use it all the time..

Do those of you running kinyon-style hammers with UHMW guides also use a lubricant ?

I don't use a lubricant with my UHMW guides. I polished the contact surface on the ram to reduce abraison. My expeirnce is limited, but I haven't had any problems, so far.

Ok, thanks Peter !
Oh, by the way, which grade do you use, I don't know if they are the same labeling in France but we can have grade 250, 500 or 1000, the latter should be best but also more expensive...

Mike,
I'm afraid I can't answer that. I ordered mine from MSC Industrial Supply. I just checked the catalog, and it doesn't give any specifications along those lines. They do list a "premium grade", but the wear strips that I bought are not in that category.

I have a "Rusty" type mechanical hammer with UHMW guides. I spray the ram (polished square tubing) with a light coat of 3-in-1 silicone spray. I noticed that the beats per minute increases slightly after I spray the ram, so it must help. I mostly lube the ram to keep it from rusting though. So far (in 2 years) the silicone has not harmed the UHMW).

Great, I was also wondering how to protect the ram if the guides didn't like lubricant !