The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi all,
This may be a topic that is controversial, I would like to ask what modern lubricant would be suitable for use on My Edison Cylinder players and also several Columbia graphophones that I own. Thanks in advance for your responses.

I, too, would like to hear the responses to this question. I know it has been beaten to death in earlier threads, but I'm pretty new to the Forum and finding answers to questions such as this can be a daunting task. Unless, of course, you're willing to read 2764 threads.

The same goes for solvents, polishes, finishing supplies, etc. Maybe there should be a permanent "best practices" area under Tips, Tricks & Tutorials that people can refer to. It doesn't have to be a "this and only this type of thing" but it could present some commonly accepted examples of various chemicals and methods used to restore and maintain antique phonographs. This would be highly preferable to searching through thousands of messages.

I've been out of the collecting/restoration arena for many years and am astounded at all the possibilities I'm finding. I never knew that 3 in 1 oil was bad. After all, Edison gave out samples of it. That's what the little ledge in the cardboard inserts in Recorder boxes was for. Has anyone else found a sample bottle of 3 in 1 oil in a Recorder box? I have. It's pretty cool. Maybe they were in Reproducer boxes, too.

I'm so old, I still use graphite grease that I mixed up myself. I never could bring myself to use Lithium. I had an aunt that took that stuff and she was weird. (just kidding). The point is that some of us, both old and new, could use a place they could go to to quickly find answers to some of these "best practice" questions.

Hi Bob,

There is a lot of information posted on the forum about this topic. Try the search function or copy and paste this into Google.

site:forum.talkingmachine.info lubrication

hbick2 wrote:I, too, would like to hear the responses to this question. I know it has been beaten to death in earlier threads, but I'm pretty new to the Forum and finding answers to questions such as this can be a daunting task. Unless, of course, you're willing to read 2764 threads.

Yup - I hear ya. Sometimes the results of a search here can be so massive as to be almost useless ... but you can search within the results which can help narrow things down a bit. So a search for 'Lubrication' which results in thousands of hits can narrowed down using a search within the search for a term like 'Lithium' ... which gets it down to hundreds ... thus only taking a quarter of your day to read through

For the record - I use lithium for the bits that need grease [spring barrels] and sewing machine oil for the bits that need oiling.

"I'm so old, I still use graphite grease that I mixed up myself. I never could bring myself to use Lithium."

I thought this thread was about finding modern lubrication alternatives...

I'm old too, but would never use that hideous graphite grease, that's what hardened up and gummed up most machines - vaseline and graphite - totally nasty... Vaseline® Jelly is made of 100% pure petroleum jelly which is a blend of mineral oils and waxes - wax hardens up after time and is not a lubricant (I can't really think of any good use for Vaseline). The pioneers used to use animal fat to grease wagon wheels, also, but I don't want my machines to smell like rancid meat...

Lithium grease works very well as long as you don't ingest it... And ANY modern automotive lubricant is better than what was available 100 years ago... Contrary to some ideas that old lubricants are better for old machines or keep them more "authentic" ... it's total BS.

I use sewing machine oil, and silicone grease non hardening because once you put in a spring barrel that is last time you ever have pack it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wba904WbNHs&t=62s

I always keep a bottle of Singer Sewing machine oil for machines, especially the cylinder machines

cheryla wrote:I use sewing machine oil, and silicone grease non hardening because once you put in a spring barrel that is last time you ever have pack it.

I was thinking of trying silicone grease in spring barrels, the clear stuff. Can you tell me more please about your experiences with it. Any thumping or slithering? I used it on gears and I think it made them louder.

Last time I used Molykote BR2 Plus with ⅓ graphite powder added. Still under testing, for I haven't found yet the perfect spring grease (i.e. no spring thumping after some time). And this is a hard and painful matter for me... 41 years collecting and still i can't find what to do...
For oiling I've been using ELF modern synthetic car motor oil for years. Seems very good and durable, yet I don't know if it is doing some damage to certain parts... For instance, the oil I add in the cup at the bottom TT spindle bearing, where the bearing ball is, invariably exudes a reddish oily substance which I don't know the causes of... I'm afraid if the oil is corroding something inside the cup, or if it's simply old dirt being removed by the oil. Otherwise, the results in governor bearings, governor pads, gears, etc, i find it to work fine, and it's persistent.
Spring grease is my permanent pain...!

Was there not some old threads warning about newer lubes in springs and possible ignition? Or am I just dreaming?