Oil / Oilers for leather sewing machines

[kgg]

On my older sewing machines that I have had what I found to work really good for freeing up seized parts and regular oiling is a formula that we use on our guns. The red neck formula that we use is 7cc's of Royal Purple Synthetic Oil SAE 5W-20 for gas engines and 5 cc's of Motormaster Full Synthetic Dexron- VI Automatic Transmission Fluid mixed together. This has worked really good for parts that are exposed to high heat like slides. I am using this now on the daily oil spots on my Juki 1541S rather then the Juki oil but still using the Juki oil in the reserve for now.

As a side note a great cheap refillable oiler that can get into those hard to reach areas without making a mess are oilers made for lubing fishing reels at 10 bucks versus the oiler for guns at 20 bucks both look the same. Just dump the oil that comes with them and load up with whatever good stuff you use.

What do you use for oil and oilers on your machines.

kgg

[garypl]

I use sewing machine oil - doesn’t stain the leather.

Gary

[chrisash]

I would be more concerned as to why you have seized up parts, I just use the recommended oil the maker suggests and have never had a seized up part or one running hot

[kgg]

3 hours ago, chrisash said:

I would be more concerned as to why you have seized up parts, I just use the recommended oil the maker suggests and have never had a seized up part or one running hot

I don't have seized up parts or heating problems but when rebuilding old Singers and I do appreciate the old Singers that I salvaged like Singer 127's and 128's from the early 1900's often they have had many parts initially seized solid. With some parts being difficult to get I have been fairly successful in trying to save everything I can.

From the heat point of view in my other hobby, target shooting, parts heating up can be a real nasty problem with operation (jams, miss fires, parts fracturing to name a few) and accuracy of a lot of parts when under fairly heavy pressure stresses. The object is to ensure parts that rub /slide together or otherwise are exposed to these stresses have the necessary areas oiled with the best (slipperiest) lube possible as heat can be extreme and instantaneous. Particularly when shooting the larger cals.

For my equipment I am willing to take the risk of voiding the warranty, broken parts etc. is that if the oil mix combination I use can withstand the rigours (heat / friction stress) of shooting it should be able to keep the parts lubed and handle the friction of most parts in most sewing machines.

kgg

[Constabulary]

On newly restored machines I use S-761 for a while as is has a good cleaning effect (there is always some dirt - somewhere). Later I use plain sewing machine oil (like Lily White Oil)

http://www.spartacusgroup.net/NATO_S-758_NATO_S-761_SGOMP.html

I use S761 for almost everything from Household to mountain bike chains to sewing machines. We had this in the Army and used if for all weapons from MG3 down to P8 and to me the specs are pretty convincing. So no reason for trying something else. But everyone has his "miracle" oil or secret oil mixture. I just buy what worked for me for years.

[dikman]

kgg, I use hydraulic oil, which is basically all Lily White oil is. There are really only two potential issues with oiling sewing machines - staining (if it drips down the needle bar/feet) and gumming up. Many of the "ordinary" household-type oils will cause gumming if left long enough without the machine being used, but that is rarely a problem for most of us. I agree with what you say regarding firearms, but fortunately most of us run our machines slow so excessive heat buildup is unlikely to be much of an issue. Your oil mixture sounds pretty good to me.

As for oilers, I have some small squeeze containers that held ink for refilling inkjet printers, they don't hold a lot but they have a nice stainless tube on them to get into tight areas.

[kgg]

dikman, I do agree that if my mix should drip down it will show a dark stain which is not what you want to see but then again I have accidentally over oiled with the regular sewing machine oil and have had staining occur. To help prevent any dripping from messing the needle / needle plate area I usually put a thick fluffy terry pad down and fully lower the needle into it. Why I like the oil filler for fly reels is that no oil is dispensed until you depress the needle against a part so not as much over oiling can occur. That said I do like your idea of the inkjet refillers and I must see if I have one around and give it a try. Another thing I have used for oiling is a syringe with a small gauge needle just don't prick yourself. I will remember your info about the hydraulic oil vs Lily White.

kgg

[gr8legs]

I've found a 'curved tip syringe" works very well for oiling and applying other chemistry in small amounts.

Available on eBay for about 50 cents each if you get a box of 25 or 50 (lifetime supply?) They come in sizes from 5cc and up - 5cc is fine for most everything I do.

Also puts down a very fine line of glue or cement. Disposable item and no metal needle to scratch paint or poke you.

Stu

Edited September 9, 2018 by gr8legs

[garypl]

59 minutes ago, gr8legs said:

I've found a 'curved tip syringe" works very well for oiling and applying other chemistry in small amounts.

Available on eBay for about 50 cents each if you get a box of 25 or 50 (lifetime supply?) They come in sizes from 5cc and up - 5cc is fine for most everything I do.

Also puts down a very fine line of glue or cement. Disposable item and no metal needle to scratch paint or poke you.

Stu

Sounds like a good idea here - can you cap them when you are finished so they don’t leak or are they one time use and throw away?

Gary

[brmax]

At this time, Im liking how the Zoom Spout container is proving out.

I haven't yet just cut the 12” extendable tube, off. Though I constantly consider it needs to be shorter. Probably 4-5” would be plenty.

I first leaned towards them ( even if I fill my own ) because mine have not leaked. Or I should say the lid is a precision seal, vs the typical machine drip bottle, container/oiler bottle.

These others I have are from a juki part number, and work ok but its obvious the lids to container contact need attention in both uses.  And a towel under the oil bottle assembly is helpful as the flipping over to use as oiler shows.

 

Good day

Floyd

 

[dikman]

I've tried hypodermic syringes for various fluids but I don't really like them as it's too easy to squirt too much out! The Zoom Spout looks good, Floyd, but as usual not easy to find here in Oz.

[gr8legs]

On 9/9/2018 at 9:59 AM, garypl said:

Sounds like a good idea here - can you cap them when you are finished so they don’t leak or are they one time use and throw away?

Gary

 

The tip of the spout is pretty small so most oils don't evaporate away at all. The only thing so far that's leaked away is the carrier in "Dri-Slide" molybdenum disulfide lubricant.

They're reusable several times but eventually the oil or solvent causes the plunger to swell and soften and become stubborn. At $.25 or so apiece it's no biggie.

Stu

[chrisash]

I find the needle point oiler's do a great job like this one

http://www.ciponline.co.uk/air-and-garage-tools-c184/auto-service-c449/draper-expert-precision-lubricator-model-no-po1-p55402/s57053?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=draper-expert-precision-lubricator-model-no-po1-dra43982&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz93cBRCrARIsAEFbWsj0waQ2mg6bhVaRVBwH7Sv-eqq3kWL2Tc-Ue4tLbjy1Q-IzN-w4desaAqhuEALw_wcB 

[garypl]

5 hours ago, gr8legs said:

 

The tip of the spout is pretty small so most oils don't evaporate away at all. The only thing so far that's leaked away is the carrier in "Dri-Slide" molybdenum disulfide lubricant.

They're reusable several times but eventually the oil or solvent causes the plunger to swell and soften and become stubborn. At $.25 or so apiece it's no biggie.

Stu

Thanks Stu - more concerned about oil leaking out when the oiler is setting on the shelf.

2 hours ago, chrisash said:

I find the needle point oiler's do a great job like this one

http://www.ciponline.co.uk/air-and-garage-tools-c184/auto-service-c449/draper-expert-precision-lubricator-model-no-po1-p55402/s57053?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=draper-expert-precision-lubricator-model-no-po1-dra43982&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz93cBRCrARIsAEFbWsj0waQ2mg6bhVaRVBwH7Sv-eqq3kWL2Tc-Ue4tLbjy1Q-IzN-w4desaAqhuEALw_wcB 

This looks like a nice alternative, assume seals are designed to withstand oil.  Might give it a try.  Thanks for the tip!

Gary

[chrisash]

Hi

We used to use them on our embroidery machines, the beauty is you just get one drop at a time so never get oil drops and if used on the hook you don't get wicking up of extra oil into the bobbin and the long thin needle puts in right where it should go