lubricating my Super Bull

[esantoro]

I'm a bit worried that I'm not lubricating my Super Bull very well. For a while I had been just oiling regularly but got the feeling that that probably wasn't enough.

I haven't been able to fiind Balistol anywhere local, so I've been using WD-40 to spray areas that I may be missing with oil.

Is it ok to use WD-40 in this manner?

Thanks,

Ed

[bruce johnson]

Ed,

As far as a source of Ballistol, I use it to fill out orders from Weaver. Interesting you mention availability. Yesterday I was hunting up some shot for shot bags, and saw cans of Ballistol in 2 of 3 gun shops. One shop had it for sale and the other it was on the back bench. Might check local gun shops. Just looked at a couple Ballistol websites, amazing stuff.

Regarding WD-40. I have had mixed advice. Everything from use it as a regular cleaner and lube to don't let it close to your machines - they will gum up, collect grit, and have bad days regularly. The answer is somewhere in between I would suspect. I clean with Ballistol and lube with a mix of hydraulic jack oil and Prolong oil additive. The hydraulic oil/Prolong was suggested to me by Ferdco several years ago, and My machines have stayed tight. Most all of the oil points on my 2000 are pretty accessible. For the ones behind the inspection plates I use a plastic catheter on my oil bottle to reach more easily and pinpoint. Anything that looks like it moves gets oiled.

Bruce Johnson

[Art]

Hi Ed,

I would not use WD-40 to lubricate, however as a cleaner I don't have a problem with it. I guess I would/have used it to lube a door hinge and the like. I get ballistol from Weaver in liquid form and use it for anything. I have used it on leather just because I spilled a couple of drops on a piece so just spread it all over with no ill effects. Darker just preceptably but maybe in my immagination also. Ballistol is also somewhat anaseptic and if I get a small cut, I will squirt a little on. Hasen't killed me yet.

Mineral oil is the recommended oil for sewing machines. It comes in different grades (thickness) and is the primary ingredient in hydraulic fluid, however they have been fooling with those formulations in recent years and it can have vegetable oil, esters, ethers and who knows what else, mostly as additives. Primary qualification for hydraulic is don't foam, don't compress.

Weaver has Lily Stitching Oil, Campbell has SO-5 Stainless Machine Oil, they are all made by Randall (which is now Campbell) and consist of 50/50 light/medium mineral oil. In a pinch go down to Jo-Ann's and get Dritz or Zoom Stainless machine oil, it is practically the same stuff but maybe to the lighter side for fabric sewing machines.

Lubricate every time you sew any appreciable amount. I lubricate after I am finished sewing for the day so the oil will distribute and get over dripping before the next session. Wipe everything down before you start sewing. I am sure there is a reason to oil before sewing too.

Take the side place off of your machine and look at everything. Pull the machine through a few times to determine the wear points, then put the plate back on and figure how to oil those points. Get a couple small engineers oil cans from eBay with long thin spouts (I have uploaded pictures before) so you can get into the machine with the side plate on and oil the wear areas. Some of the oil holes are mearly drip holes and could use a good shot occasionally.

Learn how to get your shuttle in and out and make sure the race that the shuttle rides in gets oil, don't flood it, just a little bit of oil is all that's needed. I used to oil bobbin thread and didn't have to worry about oiling the shuttle, but since I have stopped doing that I occasionally oil and clean the race.

If you ever break a needle (no small feat for a big stitcher), it is imperative that you find all of it, quite often a piece will fall into the bobbin case and or race and scar things up badly if it stays there for awhile. You won't hear it but it will mess things up. A new shuttle cost about $250 for a big stitcher, and you will have to put it in yourself.

Oil early and oil often. If oiled properly, I can't imagine one of us wearing a big stitcher out in our lifetime. Not so for some of the used machines on the market, a lot of them need a total rebuild, which is a nice project, but not for the beginner.

Art

I'm a bit worried that I'm not lubricating my Super Bull very well. For a while I had been just oiling regularly but got the feeling that that probably wasn't enough.

I haven't been able to fiind Balistol anywhere local, so I've been using WD-40 to spray areas that I may be missing with oil.

Is it ok to use WD-40 in this manner?

Thanks,

Ed

[esantoro]

Hi Ed,

I would not use WD-40 to lubricate, however as a cleaner I don't have a problem with it. I guess I would/have used it to lube a door hinge and the like. I get ballistol from Weaver in liquid form and use it for anything. I have used it on leather just because I spilled a couple of drops on a piece so just spread it all over with no ill effects. Darker just preceptably but maybe in my immagination also. Ballistol is also somewhat anaseptic and if I get a small cut, I will squirt a little on. Hasen't killed me yet.

Mineral oil is the recommended oil for sewing machines. It comes in different grades (thickness) and is the primary ingredient in hydraulic fluid, however they have been fooling with those formulations in recent years and it can have vegetable oil, esters, ethers and who knows what else, mostly as additives. Primary qualification for hydraulic is don't foam, don't compress.

Weaver has Lily Stitching Oil, Campbell has SO-5 Stainless Machine Oil, they are all made by Randall (which is now Campbell) and consist of 50/50 light/medium mineral oil. In a pinch go down to Jo-Ann's and get Dritz or Zoom Stainless machine oil, it is practically the same stuff but maybe to the lighter side for fabric sewing machines.

Lubricate every time you sew any appreciable amount. I lubricate after I am finished sewing for the day so the oil will distribute and get over dripping before the next session. Wipe everything down before you start sewing. I am sure there is a reason to oil before sewing too.

Take the side place off of your machine and look at everything. Pull the machine through a few times to determine the wear points, then put the plate back on and figure how to oil those points. Get a couple small engineers oil cans from eBay with long thin spouts (I have uploaded pictures before) so you can get into the machine with the side plate on and oil the wear areas. Some of the oil holes are mearly drip holes and could use a good shot occasionally.

Learn how to get your shuttle in and out and make sure the race that the shuttle rides in gets oil, don't flood it, just a little bit of oil is all that's needed. I used to oil bobbin thread and didn't have to worry about oiling the shuttle, but since I have stopped doing that I occasionally oil and clean the race.

If you ever break a needle (no small feat for a big stitcher), it is imperative that you find all of it, quite often a piece will fall into the bobbin case and or race and scar things up badly if it stays there for awhile. You won't hear it but it will mess things up. A new shuttle cost about $250 for a big stitcher, and you will have to put it in yourself.

Oil early and oil often. If oiled properly, I can't imagine one of us wearing a big stitcher out in our lifetime. Not so for some of the used machines on the market, a lot of them need a total rebuild, which is a nice project, but not for the beginner.

Art

thanks Art and Bruce,

I always oil the shuttle before I stitch, just a drop or two. And then Another drop or two for every hour of stitching if in one sitting.

I don't oil everything else every day, only if I've been using the machine. I guess I oil everything for every four hours of machine use. If the machine has been sitting for three or more days, I think I've been giving it a once over with oil. I do seem to go through quite a bit of the lily white. I may even be over oiling a bit out of paranoia.

If I'm in doubt I oil. However sometimes, if I stitch for twenty minutes one day, then twenty minutes the next day, I don't oil again, sticking to my oil for every four hours of machine use if in a two day period.

I'm not using the WD40 in place of oiling. I use it just to be sure, in addition to oiling, probably once every two weeks. Once a week if I'm stitching for two hours a day, though I don't think I've ever had a week where I stitched that much, but I'm getting there.

Thanks for the help,

Ed