Oil

[GrafonolaG50]

Is it safe to use gun oil such as Hoppes on a phonograph motor's gears? If not what is safe?

[zenith82]

I typically use a couple of drops of Zoom Spout or 3-in-1. Too much oil is not a good thing.

[Uncle Vanya]

I typically use a couple of drops of Zoom Spout or 3-in-1. Too much oil is not a good thing.

Zoom Spout is great. When you've been collecting for forty years you will curse 3-in-1, which oxidizes and gums up the works.

To answer the OP, Gun Oil is great, if it is the kind that you get at a gun shop or sporting goods store. This is generally a long-lived, non-gumming synthetic. There is another sort of "Gun Oil" which I've just seen offered online that would be entirely inappropriate for this purpose. Just stick to the stuff in the family gun cabinet.

In the years after University I designed industrial lubricants for a living, and can think of little better than a modern synthetic gun oil, such as Hoppes No. 9 for pivots now that Lead Napthinate EP additive is no longer used.

Stick to a heavy oil or light grease for the teeth of the gears.

[banjo_picker]

Be careful with Hoppes #9. There is a #9 gun oil, but there is also a #9 solvent, which is the opposite of an oil. You don't want to use the solvent thinking that it is an oil. Since they are both "Hoppes #9" it could be easy to mix up. I'm sure the original poster knows that, but in case others are reading this... just a head's up.

A good gun oil such as Hoppes or Outers is ideal as a light machine oil.

[HisMastersVoice]

There is another sort of "Gun Oil" which I've just seen offered online that would be entirely inappropriate for this purpose.

If it's what I think you're referring to (No. 1 search result on Google) I don't think you want that on your phonograph motor!

In the years after University I designed industrial lubricants for a living, and can think of little better than a modern synthetic gun oil, such as Hoppes No. 9 for pivots now that Lead Napthinate EP additive is no longer used.

I've always used Singer sewing machine oil with good results, but out of curiosity I just bought a bottle of Hoppes No. 9 Synthetic on Amazon. Any recommendations for a heavier gear oil?

[Uncle Vanya]

A heavy rear end lube (I'd shudder to google that) works splendidly. Look for a 95 or 140 weight gear oil. The heavier weight is a might better if you can find it, bt the 95 will suffice. As the driver of a Flivver you will find that the 600W used in he Ford rear axle works exceptionally well in this application.

Years ago I found that Brunswick and latterly Edison adopted a very heavy gear oil for the lubrication of their springs. Through experiment I found that 600W is a fine replacement for that abominable petrolatum and plumbago mixture used by Victor and others. Springs lubricated with 600W never grunt, save in sub-freezing conditions. About twenty years ago I tried simply adding modern 95W to the grunting mainspring from a Victor 240J motor without fully disassembling or otherwise cleaning it. After fully winding the motor and letting it entirely run down a couple of times the motor absolutely ceased grunting, and has not ever again made a bump. I've since used this trick on hundreds of motors, with nary a problem.

[Henry]

80W-90 Marine lube, for lower units of outboard motors, is readily available and might work as well. It's usually sold at auto stores and big box retailers (Kmart, etc.). A quart should do quite a number of springs!

[Chuck]

I agree with what Uncle Vanya says about the thick gear oil.

HMV also mentions again the use of sewing machine oil, which is also a very good general purpose oil to have around and use.

One thing I've found out over the years that has to be watched for are various types of oil
mixtures that tend to gum up later, or ones that tend to fume. 3-in-1 oil fumes a lot.
WD-40 gums up later.

For instance, if 3-in-one oil is used inside
of an 8 day shelf clock, it soon can be seen
condensed as tiny drops on the back of the glass.

In some places on Edison phonographs such as
the carriage guide rod, there can be
excessive play in the sliding bearings. For
normal playing of cylinders this is not an issue. But when recording, if this slack
runs out, it can cause a misformed groove and
cause a skip.

So, I keep some 20W50 car engine oil handy
in a small oil can to keep the carriage guide
rod coated with this thicker oil. This
serves to tighten up the whole works so
that the slack is almost not there.

I also use 20W50 car engine oil on my shaving
machines which get wiped down and re-oiled
after every few blanks shaved because the
wax combines with the oil and turns to
a very gummy mass very quickly. It's a fast
and easy process and it keeps the machine running nicely.

I keep a bunch of small eyedropper bottles
around with various weights of oil in them.
It goes from Marvel Mystery oil on the light
end, up to 140 weight gear oil. 20W50
is good stuff when you need a middle-weight
stuff.

Chuck