Oil for Skilsaw Worm Drive

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After using a worm-drive Skilsaw I finally purchase a used one.  I've cleaned and inspected the saw and replaced a cracked handle.  I was going to change the oil but due to the cold weather it was taking forever to drain.  Does anyone know if there are different viscosity weight oils for this saw?  All I can find out is that 'official' oil is a Hypoid oil (common enough gear oil).  Also is there a more economical substitute for the 'official' oil.  (Seems rediculously  priced a $128 - $160 per gallon - $8.50/8 oz.
Reply:Buy the 8 oz. size...I couldn't see using a gallon of that stuff in my lifetime, unless you have a leaky saw, it may sit on the shelf forever. City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I have an old skil worm drive and I've used 80 w 90 in for a lot of yrs and it seems to like it just fine. That's all we ever used in the Dodge and Faulk gearboxes on conveyor drives and I'm sure they are under a lot more load than a skilsaw.                            JMHO,                                       MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:the "skillsaw" stuff i used to get was more of a grease than an oil. came in a tube.G
Reply:They've made more of a mystery out of the 'hypoid thing than it really needed to be. Basically you want a lubricant with a higher crush resistance rating. They rate that as EP for Extreme Pressure.How 'extreme pressure' can a hand held saw dish out compared to a differential? I dunno. It's all relative I guess. Maybe some folks run it ten hours a day and want to get twenty five years out of the gears instead of twenty. Altho it requires something a bit more quality in make up than your old time dinosaur bone oil, there's nothing super special about hypoid gear oil other than some prices. Couple of different ways to acheive EP. One is to go thick which tends to climb or wrap around gears, blows seals in tight cavities and high rpm, and robs horse power that you maybe didn't have to start with. Another is to go thinner and more expensive, tends to run off after long idle times, won't fill loose bearings, flings to the outside walls bla bla bla. If I lived in Alaska I'd used something thinner and higher priced for a dixie cup of it. If I lived in Yuma AZ I'd use a nice thick modern 90 weight. Anyplace in between and I'd use whatever was in my shop, just non-detergent.
Reply:I bought a tube of it at True Value for about $8.00
Reply:How often are you going to change the oil/grease anyway?Once or twice maybe?  Buy the 'expensive' little tube of lube for the saw and be done with it.  If you bought a gallon of gear oil just for the saw, what would you do with the left-over 120 ounces anyway?  Oh, and if the cold weather is making it slow to drain the old oil/grease out, you just have to warm up the oil/grease saw first.  Bring it inside the house overnight and drain in the morning.  Or run the saw (hard) for a while until it all warms up, and then drain it.  Etc.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:For general info,  "Hypoid" refers to the cut of the gearing.  You need a lube that is designed for that high pressure and shearing.  As Sandy said it is a high pressure lube rather than a regular gear lube.  It may be a small gear but it is still a hypoid gear.
Reply:I know Sears also has it in the little 8 oz tube...Good luck finding a clerk that knows where it is...
Reply:The OFFICIAL word from an email sent by Skil.Thank you for writing.  We do recommend Skil oil which is specifically formulated for the Skil worm drive saws.  If Skil oil is not available and you need oil immediately you can use a 90 weight gear lube oil, however that type of oil does not have anti-foaming agents.  That means the oil gets hotter and when churned up by the gear set it will foam up and could blow out the oil seals.  To order Skil oil please contact our regional service center at 1-800-346-4103, option 1.  They will assist you with pricing and availability.  If you need further assistance please write back.EllenSkil Customer ServiceFor additional information, please visit our web site at www.Skil.com .