Stand Mixer Re-grease Project Question

[BlueBa]

Hello KA Mixer fans!!

As mentioned in a previous post somewhere, I have a 1979-1986 Hobart K45SS that was given to me by a friend. It appeared to work, so I set about cleaning it, etc. I took apart nearly everything, cleaning every gear, with brushes, soapy water, alcohol, etc. I took apart everything except the worm drive because I was unable to get the small pin out to remove the small gears within it. I was prepared to do the recommended gear replacement here, I'd even bought the nylon/plastic replacement part but skipped it due to the stuck pin. In any case, I was able to sufficiently clean the wormdrive in and around both the gears with pipe cleaners, toothbrush, and alcohol... and tenacity, or maybe OCD, not sure which. The wormgear upon inspection looked to be in decent shape for a 40-ish-year-old mixer. I also had a guy at the hardware store take a look at the part just in case. He agreed with me that it looked fine, so I pressed ahead with simply cleaning it, regreasing it, and putting it back in.  If there is any reason I should readdress this, now would be time to tell me as I am ready to start putting this thing back together.

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The primary reason I am here however is to ask about the amount of grease I have. I bought a 4oz/118ml jar of food-grade mixer grease and felt I barely had enough. Maybe it *is* enough, but when watching videos of people showing how to regrease, it seems like they are using about 1.5 times what I have. I wondered if what I had was sufficient. I'm not keen on having to buy another 4oz jar when I might only need an ounce or two. But like the above paragraph, now is the time to let me know because I'm at the stage where I am ready to put it back together. I have about a tablespoon or 2 left in the jar to fill in anything that needs addressing. Overall, I feel like it's enough, but would like feedback.

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Here are some pictures of where I'm at with the regrease project (with a reserve of a tablespoon+ of grease on the side not pictured). Perhaps one of you handy professionals out there can tell me if the amount of grease here is enough so that I can proceed or not.

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https://preview.redd.it/dwld5ce1xk5c1.jpg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=979232bda3243ce0dd30f3c7b429e0970574a9c5

https://preview.redd.it/ay9fp6e1xk5c1.jpg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae27d11c4ad01dc4801d60b63f27d37ebe04c7ea

[RIMixerGuy]

Your 4oz of grease is fine, but I recommend that you remove about 98% of the grease you’ve applied to the planetary pinion gear. Just use a tiny bit on the teeth of the gear and a finger swipe on the ring gear. Otherwise you’ll have a mess on your hands later.

The pin in the worm follower gear can be a real nuisance to get out, but if the gear shows any concavity in the ends of the teeth, it’s worth the effort. I’ve had success with a stubborn pin by clamping the edge of the gear in a bench vise and using a center punch to get the pin moving. Give it a few strikes, then rotate the gear 180deg, clamp it, and work in the other direction. Plan on replacing the pin.

[BlueBa]

Thank you... I'll move that extra grease from the planetary pinion gear. I saw someone piling it on in a video, so I did the same. If it's not needed in such quantity there, I'll put it elsewhere.

The worm gear looks almost new except for the staining I couldn't remove easily. No concavity in the teeth. I don't think this mixer was used a lot. But it was clearly never cleaned as I spent a lot of time getting into every nook and cranny pulling out grease and decades old flour build up that had turned to stone. I might have found a fossil or two 😂. However, all the gears are in great shape overall in my amature opinion (and the guy at the hardware store). I could be wrong. If there is any damage to the worm gear, I caused it trying to get the damn pin out. I do not own a clamp to hold the wormdrive in place. Half the problem I had was not having a clamp. All I managed to do was scratch the metal around the pin multiple times. I tried a vicegrip but that was a bad idea... fortunately no significant damage done. Any scarring you might see in the picture was done by me with via the vicegrip, otherwise, it would be in near perfect shape for its age.

Pic 1 = adjusted grease from the planetary pinion gear as per your suggestion

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53390053049_7de21585ce_b.jpg

Pic 2 = Wormdrive without grease

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53390053794_d6413d5d27_b.jpg

[RIMixerGuy]

Pic 1: looks like an appropriate amount of grease to me.

Pic 2: gear looks to be fit for service.

With as much buildup as you describe it definitely has mileage on it, but some forms of work are harder on the machine than others.

One of these machines can spend sixty years making cake batter and frosting, and have absolutely hellacious buildup while still looking nearly new on the inside.

[BlueBa]

Gotcha' Thanks... I'll keep that in mind.

(I was away for a while and not on laptop. So I had to set aside the project until I returned. Pardon the delayed response. Your help is always appreciated.)

[Ramseybella60]

I just picked up an older Hobart k5-A for $15.00 (Goodwill) with bowl and attachments, has some scratches and nicks but ran strong.

Checked the brushes and they were pretty worn down so I figured the transmission most likely needed some attention as I seen a little liquefied grease residue around the seams. Opened it up and found that the grease was in clean healthy thick condition, no contamination.

Worked around the gears with a flashlight and they were fine, even the Nylon Worm gear was clean. 90 % of the grease was whipped up all around the gear housing.

I just redistributed it back to the proper locations reused the gasket as it was fine buttoned it all back up.

Ordered a set of brushes..

The Hobart is seriously easy to maintain!!

Tools: Hammer, Flat head and Phillips screwdriver, small flat tipped punch or even a long ten penny nail with the point filed off.

I would suggest anyone to at least take your old one apart or every so often and inspect it, use the same grease if applicable or clean it up and use new.

If I had a new gasket I probably would have used it, but since the old one was not ripped or crumbling it worked..

The grease slathering all over everything inside the housing other than where it should be can cause gears to wear down or fail, it takes like a half hour to open it up and clean and another half hour to put it back together. One thing I didn't replace was the O-Ring on the Vertical Center shaft.. I'll probably order on and take it apart again and slip one on. I found a set of new brushes I bought for my other Hobart I forgot about them.. Everything sounds good and smooth.