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A trick I picked up from a 30-year boilermaker in St. Louis last month
I was working a shutdown at the Anheuser-Busch plant in St. Louis last month, and this old timer named Chuck showed me something that saved me a ton of time on tube rolling. He said to stop using that expensive expanding grease for the mandrel and just wipe a little bit of dish soap on it instead. I figured he was pulling my leg, but after three tubes went in smooth as butter with no chatter, I was sold. It's wild how something so simple cuts down on binding and keeps the rollers from grabbing. Chuck said he's been doing it for 25 years and has never had a tube split on him. Has anyone else tried this or got another homemade trick that works just as well?
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paulb981mo agoMost Upvoted
Dish soap seems like it would dry out or gum up after a while though. I get that it works in a pinch but for a whole shutdown I would worry about it leaving residue or attracting dust. Chuck has been doing it for 25 years but maybe he just got lucky with the conditions. Bacon grease is even more ridiculous, that would just go rancid and smell terrible. I'm not saying it doesn't work sometimes but I would not bet my whole tube rolling on dish soap unless I was desperate.
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