Best oil in a bottle for old clocks?

[bishopNlouisiana]

I'm looking for an oil product for a little bottle to put inside a new Kitchen mantel clock.
My great-great grandfather had a little open bottle of oil he kept in his old kitchen mantel clock when I was little. He said the light oil fumes would oil the clock parts with out putting oil on the clock itself.

Maybe it was just an old, old tale, but I never forgot it for some reason. I guess I just trusted him without fear.

I picked my retirement present from my company from a catalog 20 years ago. It was a new old looking, expensive kitchen mantel clock. It's starting to run slower and slower so I thought it might need a light oil in a bottle like my great-great grandfather.

Anyone one here ever hear about a little open bottle of light oil placed inside the door of an old wind up clock?

 

[Gene Davis (Ga.)]

My father told me that when he was growing up they kept a little kerosene in a thimble inside the mantle clock. It must have helped because when my grandfather died he willed me the clock.

It is a Seth Thomas made in 1905 that was a wedding present to them when they married in 1905. It had a couple of bushings replaced about 1999 by a local watch repairman that is now passed away. The clock runs and keeps good time even now.

 

[TimV]

I've heard of it, and Gramp had a bottle around he used for the purpose, but it's long gone down the river of time by now. I know he also had a bottle of "jaw oil", which was, I believe, whale-based, but that's also long depleted. I had the article below bookmarked from an earlier excursion into this same basic question by a friend with an old clock that needed some loving, and you may also find it useful--the author gives several recommendations and some things to stay away from, and it makes for interesting reading.
clock oils

 

[Village Blacksmith]

I had my grandparents old pendulum/striking clock. My mother said her father always put a little bottle of kerosene in the cabinet. I have a more modern striking clock, (35 Yrs). it seemed to be getting sluggish and I sprayed the springs and mechanism with some Remington "Rem Oil" for firearms. It is a very light oil. Worked great several years.

 

[gtractorfan]

You reminded me, I keep this small bottle of oil marked with a paint pen in the house, handy to use with a Q tip. I refill it with an oil can in the garage.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

The light oil or kerosene left in the clock was more to prevent corrosion than actually oil the movement . It works too , if left it evaporates over a year and does stop the steel parts of the mechanism from developing surface oxidisation .

I use sewing machine oil thinned with kerosene to lubricate my clocks , it works well enough and doesn't clag up the works with thick residue. One quarter kerosene to three quarters oil works well for larger movements .

 

[Stephen Newell]

You use synthetic clock oil.

 

[Texasmark1]

I have a 25th Anniversary Herman Miller, grandfather, free standing clock the company gave me back in 1993. I spray the moving parts once a year with Remington Gunoil in the spray can with Teflon.

 

[M-MAN]

Kerosene was used in our neck of the woods.

 

[Texasmark1]

No this doesn't answer the original question. Wasn't meant to. It's an alternative solution that could be implemented if the desired answer/solution is not received. Wink!

 

[teddy52food]

I think a duck or goose feather was used for that.

 

[jeffcat]

All kinds of modern synthetic stuff. In the olden days they used a very special oil . Sperm Whale oil from the head cavity. Called spermaceti. I had the chance to buy some years ago and didn't. Dumb. Very lite wax / oil that didn't oxidize. Just some information in the old junk files stuck in the back of my mind. Just take a look on Ebay. All kinds of listings.

 

[Little Ed]

I have heard of doing the same thing with a rattlesnake rattle. Old wife's (husband's)tale is that there is enough oil in the rattle to keep the clock lubricated for years. We do have some rattlers around here,(so. Ill.) but not very common, and I don't go looking for trouble.

 

[wrenchere85]

My Dad always said to use a bottle cap or small lid filled with lighter fluid, placed inside the clock. Also use lighter fluid to clean clock parts.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Hey Little Ed , are you trying to sell ' snake oil ' ? :lol:

 

[Texasmark1]

As I read the rest of the "whale blubber" was a source for lamp oil prior to Edison and his invention.

 

[Pete in Holland MI]

Clock oil is a specific blend. Engine oil is designed to be splashed on, run down, then splash up again. Clock oil needs to stay put. Look on-line for clock oil. A pen size container with a needle dispenser will last you a life time.

Yup.....whale oil used to be the cat's meow, but those were the good ole days.

Oil only the pivot points. Not the gears. They are designed to run dry. A few drops in the coil springs keeps them from rusting too.

Spraying the works with WD-40 and some other spray lubes will only make matters worse, as it gums up over time.

This comes from a local clock maker.

Interesting article on clock oils:

http://www.kensclockclinic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Clock-Oils.pdf


Interesting calculation on any old clock: If it has a second hand, calculate out the number of revolutions it has made in it's life time. My 32 year old regulator clock's second hand has over 16,000,000 revolutions on it ! If you're patient, count how many tick-tocks that occur in a minute, then run the numbers. Staggering !

 

[PaGlenn]

An older oil bottle. Don't know if company is still in business. Found this at auction in a boxlot.

 

[Ralph, Ohio]

Interesting story at /www.nyelubricants.com/170-years

 

[Village Blacksmith]

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