The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I don't use Edison's "Original Formula"...which is Vaseline and Graphite... a 1:1 Ratio I believe...

I use this stuff below on my Edison Big Gears and Mainsprings....It's also excellent on Victor and Columbia Disc Machines as well which I rarely work on.. It is Castrol GTX Brown Bearing Grease in a Tub... Sold at any Wal-Mart...or any Autoparts store.. Been using it for years with very high success.. Everything else gets Sewing Machine oil....especially on small gears..

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Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

I have been using Mobile 1 Synthetic grease and Mobile 1 Synthetic motor oil in my rebuilds with success. I pack the grease in then add a small amount of oil. I may try the lithium moly blend sometime to see if i like it better.

Lubriplate. That's what I have been using. When I bought my first cylinder phonograph in 1994, the man who restored it used lubriplate on the springs and gears. He have me a small sample and I used it. Overy the years, I tried several other greases, and ended up coming back to the Lubriplate. The stuff I use is 630-AA, it is a beige colored lithium grease. I like it because it is clean, has no odor, and springs do not thump. I oil the spring with zoom spout or 3-in-1 blue (electric motor oil) first, after it has been cleaned. Then I pack ½ the spring with grease and wind/unwind a few times to distribute it. If the grease oozes out without discoloration, you know the spring is cleaned correctly. i use ther oozed out grease for the winding gearts and pawl.

I used Valvoline wheel bearing grease on my VV-50. But I’m probably gonna ship out the barrels to someone else for my VV-111. That four spring motor looks a little too intimidating for me.

AmberolaAndy wrote:I used Valvoline wheel bearing grease on my VV-50. But I’m probably gonna ship out the barrels to someone else for my VV-111. That four spring motor looks a little too intimidating for me.

A 4 spring is like doing two 2 spring motors. If you do rebuild, just make sure you note which way the spring go before you take them out. I didnt on my first one and regretted it.

I use what edison origionaly used, a mixture of Vaseline and graphite. I've found that the graphite is the more important ingredient. On my double spring diamond disc machine I didn't use enough graphite and the springs thumped badly enough to make the machine skip. I poured in about a teaspoon of graphite through the lube holes into the barrels and the springs are completely silent now.

Stephen

Yes, The Graphite acts like Lead does in a Internal Combustion engine. It's a great lubricator for Metal to Metal contact.. It will quiet the machine down and make things run very smooth, but its a major mess! Black goop everywhere...lol..

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Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

Where do you guys get your graphite flakes for grease? I've got a couple Edisons in the lineup to re-build and am curious about using a vintage grease.

Certainly we collectors don't sit around with pen-knives shaving down our pencils!

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:Where do you guys get your graphite flakes for grease? I've got a couple Edisons in the lineup to re-build and am curious about using a vintage grease.

Certainly we collectors don't sit around with pen-knives shaving down our pencils!

https://www.mcmaster.com/graphite

you can find flake and powdered graphite in various quantities at the link above

Using a Vaseline & graphite mixture as originally supplied really makes no sense, my friends. If you owned a century-old Model T, wouldn't you use the vastly superior modern lubricants for it? Doesn't an antique phonograph merit the same respect?

During the first decade of the 20th century, various dealer publications such as The Edison Phonograph Monthly, and even house organs like The Phonogram diagnosed the complaints of "thumping" while machines were running, and recommended adding fresh Vaseline/graphite to the spring barrels. This shows that sometimes the original lubricants were drying out already. Why would you want to use that stuff today?

There are a few machines in my collection whose mainsprings were lubricated with modern grease as long as 40 years ago with no problems over the intervening years. As a matter of fact, I've never had to re-lubricate a mainspring.

But if you enjoy working with mainsprings, then have a blast with that Vaseline & graphite and more power to you!

George P.