Pig Iron vs Japan Hobby Shop

When I have done helicoid relubes in the past I have used Japan Hobby Shop #10 grease. I have just used the last of this and was wondering how good Pig Iron grease was, this product is half the price in my country.

Has anyone compared these two greases?

Pig Iron has the same numbering as the JHS greases but they recommend their #30 grease for lenses such as Nikon Ai, whereas I have used the JHS #10 for a wide variety of old MF lenses with very good results.

I am leaning towards the Pig Iron #10, unless anyone has experience that says otherwise?

In the USA grease hardness is rated by the NLGI. Car wheel bearings use NLGI grade 2. I use NLGI grade 0 or even 00 for helical threads.



Perhaps your greases cross reference the hardness consistency number?

CDC

Bosun:

I suggest you directly ask the Pig Iron vendor to tell you what NLGI/JIS grease consistency number (based upon a worldwide standard cone penetrometer test) their #grades equate to.

Both JIS and NLGI use the same scheme. Grade 2 is wheel bearing grease and too stiff for lenses. Grade O is what I like for old MF lenses. Grade 00 is really soft and likely needed for autofocus lenses that need very low resistance.

One could delve into the type of oil and thickener used in the grease but this is probably a bit too technical for most

CDC

OK, I was able to get some hard data for the Japan Hobby Tool greases:-


The figues are largely to JIS standards.

The measurements are all to JIS standards and therefore may not be comparable to others, but the ranges shown do look suspiciously similar.

The viscosity number is likely to be the centiStoke value for the grease.

The consistency is a measure of how much pressure is needed to release oil from the grease and the figures above look very much like ASTM worked penetration values.

The 400 and 370 values are for vey light greases with consistencies like yoghurt or mustard.

The dropping point is the temperature in C where the oil will separate out spontaneously, obviously most lenses will not experience 202C. To put this in perspective I use 200C to separate canada balsam cemented doublets.

The torque figure was too involved for easy explanation.

As the Pig Iron grease reference numbers mimic the JHS ones exactly, it is likely that the specs will also be similar. It is trying to be a competing product, after all.

As you can see from the above figures, there is little difference between #10 and #30 so I have ordered the Pig Iron #10.

Hi Bosun:

You found some good hard data. Nice!

I do grease penetration tests in my lab and I work with NLGI too. I am no grease expert but I know several

This site shows the connection between JIS and NLGI and, importantly, penetration depths:


The relevant data is:





I find that I like to use a grade 0 grease for smaller lenses and a 00 grease (softer) for bigger lenses with more thread area.

I would go for the Pig#10 grease as it looks right on the line between a 0 and 00 grease.



In fact, sometimes I "thin" my 0 grade grease with a few drops of light oil if the threads feel too stiff.



Have fun!

CDC

Off-topic, but we had a tribologist in our engineering faculty back in college. First time I'd encountered the term, and it confused me as I wondered what anthropology had to do with mechanical engineering :-D

Chris DC said:

I do grease penetration tests in my lab and I work with NLGI too. I am no grease expert but I know several

Click to expand...

Tribology is a word added to the lexicon in 1960. It comes from the greek root "tribos" which means to rub. Tribology is the study of friction, wear and lubrication

CDC

Chris DC said:

Hi Bosun:

You found some good hard data. Nice!

I do grease penetration tests in my lab and I work with NLGI too. I am no grease expert but I know several

This site shows the connection between JIS and NLGI and, importantly, penetration depths:

https://www.kyodoyushi.co.jp/english/knowledge/grease/penetration/

The relevant data is:



I find that I like to use a grade 0 grease for smaller lenses and a 00 grease (softer) for bigger lenses with more thread area.

I would go for the Pig#10 grease as it looks right on the line between a 0 and 00 grease.

In fact, sometimes I "thin" my 0 grade grease with a few drops of light oil if the threads feel too stiff.

Have fun!

CDC

Click to expand...

It is odd, the NLGI 000 - 6 rating seems to be used for greases a lot, particularly in the US, but I have never seen it used for helicoid grease, this is always rated #10 etc..

I suppose it is a very niche application and perhaps a manufacturer specced #10 way back then and it stuck (sorry!), or maybe that is just the parlance that camera repair bods traditionally use.

In reality, it is if the stuff does the job you want that matters, not what the figures on the pot say.

We Shall See.

My Pig Iron #10 grease arrived.

It looks different to the Japan Hobby Shop stuff. The JHS grease was milk white and opaque, after I had had it a while I could see traces of brown liquid on the surface.

The Pig Iron is a translucent grey with no surface liquid.

Unfortunately I used up all of the JHS grease so I cannot take a comparison image.

I am planning to relube my Nikkor 105mm, so I will post on how that goes with the Pig Iron when it is done.

I suggest you mix the brown liquid (oil) back into the grease before use unless you want a more stiff grease. It is oil separation that can occur especially if the grease was air shipped or got warm.



CDC