[ARC5] Fine Lubricants

[Fred Cousins]

>
> I can't quite make sense of the above, thin and  viscous
> are opposite terms and its not at all desirable for oil to
> evaporate whether it leaves a residue or not. The correct
> oil depends on the kind of mechanism.
>    I suspect sewing machine oil is a highly refined
> instrument type oil meaning its free of acids or other
> contaminents.
>    One of the main problems with lubricants is that they
> accumulate dirt. No matter how long lived the lubricant
> itself is it will get gummy from the junk it picks up. The
> only cure is frequent cleaning and relubrication.


My wife is a seamstress and owns about 5 different sewing machines she uses
daily.

I think that the description to use instead of "viscous" is "excellent
surface wetting and adhesion"  Sewing Machine oil appears very light
high quality machine oil that will cover a metallic surface with a
microscopically thin lubricating layer. In addition, it doesn't appear to
get gummy or "shellac" with age.  That is important because a sewing
machine (especially an industrial one) can accumulate bits of lint and
fabric dust inside the mechanisms quickly, and you cannot have a lubricant
that gets sticky with age. I was told by a sewing machine repairman to
avoid the 3in1 oil because of this reason.  Incidentally,
most modern machines have replaced their bearings with sealed bearings.
 My wife's Janome has just 5 points of lubrication whereas her 40 year old
Swiss Elna has 10 points of lubrication. One important point in all
machines, modern and old, is the bobbin race below the feed mechanism. The
bobbin runs freely in this race, a circular metallic holder and
it needs lubricant in the this area to spread in the entire surface of the
race without getting on the bobbin and the thread itself.  I think
it would be an excellent oil for the gears in any
tuning mechanism because of the properties described above.