[GreenKeys] whale oil

[Richard Knoppow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Nagle" <nagle at animats.com>
To: <greenkeys at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:58 AM
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] whale oil


> On 1/26/2012 9:03 AM, greenkeys-request at mailman.qth.net 
> wrote:
>> Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:09:06 -0600
>> From: Adrian Stoness<tdk.knight at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [GreenKeys] whale oil
>>
>> can one still buy the stuff i hear its prolly the best 
>> thing i could use on
>> my asr33?
>
>    No, you can't get whale oil any more in the US.  The
> ASR-33 was rather late for whale oil era, too.
>
>    We use a low-viscosity synthetic motor oil.
> Valvoline 5W-20 works well.  It's a few dollars for
> a quart at larger auto parts stores.  The synthetic
> oils are more stable.  Petroleum-based oils tend to
> turn stiff over time as the volatile fractions
> evaporate.
>
>    Do not use WD-40.  That's not a machine oil.
> It's a penetrating oil for loosening rusted bolts
> and such.
>
>    I work on older machines only (models 14 and 15 era),
> which are all-steel and were intended for a routine 
> cleaning
> process which involved immersion in a solvent.
> The 33 has plastic parts, some nylon gears, and 
> electronics
> all over the place, so you can't just dunk it in solvent 
> like
> the older models.
>
> John Nagle
>

     "Instrument" oil is heavier than either clock or watch 
oil.  Its available from both Nye and Kano Labs. Not 
expensive.  Is a highly refined petrollium oil which is 
non-gumming. Clock and watch oils are probably not necessary 
for Teletype machines and are quite expensive. Watch oil is 
sold under the Mobius trade-mark and is available via 
Amazon. These oils are intended for use mainly on the 
jewelled bearings of watches. They do not wick so stay where 
they are put. Clock oil is a bit heavier and is intended for 
trunnion type bearings. I use this on camera shutters.
     Generally brass gears do not need lubrication but steel 
does. The choice between an oil and a grease depends on the 
motion at the lubricated point. Grease is oil in a material 
to keep it from running and needs sliding motion for the oil 
to be effective.
     Plastic gears must be lubricated with care because many 
lubricants, including some synthetics, will cause them to 
swell. There are special greases for them.
     The main advantage of synthetic oil and grease is that 
it does not oxidize.  One effect of oxidizing is gumming or 
hardening.  The very highly refined petrollium oils like 
Nye's oils, are probably as resistant to gumming as silicone 
synthetics.
     There are a large variety of greases with various 
properties.  The one I am currently using (but not on 
Teletype machines) is a synthetic aircraft grease 
recommended by Collins Radio for use on the gear trains in 
their receivers. Its available as Aeroshell No.7 but several 
other makers sell greases that meet the same specs.
     BTW, finding out what various lubricants really are and 
which are optimum is not easy. As an example the company who 
made Compur shutters, the most widely used high-quality 
camera shutters made for years, specify four or five 
lubricants in their repair instructions. All are specified 
under German brand-names. This is a problem where the 
products is one that has not been made in decades and no 
specs for it can be found. One just has to guess based on 
the kind of mechanism that is to be lubricated. The same is 
probably true of Teletype machines where I would guess that 
Teletype supplied whatever lubricants were required under 
their own part numbers.  If one has access to the 
specifications for it you are home free but otherwise its 
guess work.
     I also suggest _not_ using automobine engine oil as a 
general purpose lubricant because most has additives in it 
to affect is high temperature performance that may not be 
desirable in other applications.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com