The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

For posterity (when the eBay listing is long gone), here is a pic of RichK's machine.

Clay

Singer Sewing Machine oil has often been recommended for this purpose.

Bill[/quote]
RRRRR.RRRRR.RRRR.RRR!! ALLARM!!
the sewing machine oil's are much to thin and runny and they evaporate at a allarming rate and even more allarming is that the oil is meant for chrome and nicle plate parts some of these sewing machine oil's have some sort of acid in them i used sewing machine oil on my first portable and in a year the motor was very rusty
i now use only 2t motor oil meant for scooters and motorcycles its not too thin and it takes years to deteriorate i did the motor of my edison standard b with it 4 years ago and its still lubbed fine
there are also some synth oils that do reasonably

tino

Well, I disassembled and cleaned the old grease off the spring motor. I used turbine oil on the bearings and automotive grease on the gears. It runs much more quietly, but I think my mainspring may be getting weak, as it slows down about ⅔ of the way through the second side of a record (giving it another half dozen or so turns of the crank after flipping the record over, before starting it, keeps it from slowing down).

mrphonograph2 wrote: RRRRR.RRRRR.RRRR.RRR!! ALLARM!!
the sewing machine oil's are much to thin and runny and they evaporate at a allarming rate and even more allarming is that the oil is meant for chrome and nicle plate parts some of these sewing machine oil's have some sort of acid in them i used sewing machine oil on my first portable and in a year the motor was very rusty
i now use only 2t motor oil meant for scooters and motorcycles its not too thin and it takes years to deteriorate i did the motor of my edison standard b with it 4 years ago and its still lubbed fine
there are also some synth oils that do reasonably

tino

I've been using Singer Sewing oil for over 3 decades & never had any of the problems mentioned. I also have a small collection of about 10 sewing machines on which I use the same oil, and never had a problem with those either. As for the oil being for use on chrome & nickel plated parts, I'm not sure how that could be true as most of the internal parts & bearings in all my machines are not plated at all.

Perhaps the oil you tried was somehow contaminated or a cheap brand?
I've heard 3 in 1 oil is not a good choice because of it's ingredients, but never looked into it myself, or felt the need to try anything but Singer brand oil.

I think it's also important to remember no oil is going to last forever.
I like to re-oil my machines every 2-3 years, and those I use regularly get a drop of oil on the bearings & governor leather/felt about once every year.

Having worked on many portables, the loss of power through the record may be the mainspring, however many times, the records have wear which slows down the turntable, these portables (Birch etc.) are a bit underpowered in my opinion. Try some shiny records from the pre-1930 era, see if it helps. Some people add furniture polish to their records to get oils back into them, but be careful it may also damage them.

mf77 wrote: I've been using Singer Sewing oil for over 3 decades & never had any of the problems mentioned. I also have a small collection of about 10 sewing machines on which I use the same oil, and never had a problem with those either. As for the oil being for use on chrome & nickel plated parts, I'm not sure how that could be true as most of the internal parts & bearings in all my machines are not plated at all.

Perhaps the oil you tried was somehow contaminated or a cheap brand?
I've heard 3 in 1 oil is not a good choice because of it's ingredients, but never looked into it myself, or felt the need to try anything but Singer brand oil.

I think it's also important to remember no oil is going to last forever.
I like to re-oil my machines every 2-3 years, and those I use regularly get a drop of oil on the bearings & governor leather/felt about once every year.

I bought a bottle of turbine oil (electric motor oil) to use on this and other small mechanical items I have. Turbine oil is supposed to have no additives.