Jojoba v Camilia

[David Weaver]

...to George's suggestion, is the classic "3 in 1" oil (which David Keller suggested) the same thing as mineral oil?

3 in 1 is a penetrating oil. Mineral oil is not. If penetrating oil gets on wood in any quantity, it's kind of a pain.

[David Keller NC]

So 3-in-1 is mostly spindle oil, which is a series of light colored and low viscosity oils meant to lubricate high speed spindles, which makes sense, because 3-in-1 was developed for use with bicycles.

This is one of the primary reasons I like it - it coats the tool well, but is of low enough viscosity and density not to form a really heavy film (extreme case: think cosmoline, which has roughly the viscosity of room-temperature butter).

Regarding wood contact, I'll simply note that all oils, regardless of their viscosity or hydrophobicity will penetrate wood. So one has a problem if a stray spill splatters on to your latest spice-box project (maybe a good reason to go with a linseed oil/wax finish!). However, I've never had an issue with a metal plane sole lubricated with any oil, including 3 & 1 and linseed, contaminating an unfinished wood surface to the degree that it caused any issues with a final finish.

There's one exception - oil/wax formulations that contain silicone or chloroflurocarbons (teflon) and final finishes that use laquer. That's one reason I avoid laquer.

[Shawn Albe]

972 pounds for $3.59
http://www.ronshomeandhardware.com/L...ource=googleps

[Tony Shea]

There is def something wrong with the above posts company description about that parrafin wax. It can't possibly weigh 972 pounds! Maybe that is not what is meant but is the impression I get by the post. Maybe has something to do with it's charactoristics I guess but the box is 3"x5"x2" and weighs 1.1lbs to ship. I'm curious to know what the 972LB designation means though.

[John Coloccia]

It's model #972. I suspect they meant to say "blah blah 972 1LB blah blah blah" because elsewhere they say it's 1lb.

Speaking of paraffin, don't use "liquid paraffin" or "paraffin oil". These either refer to mineral oil or kerosene, respectively. That so-called "lamp oil, 100% paraffin" nonsense you see on those ridiculously expensive bottles of lamp oil is properly "100% Kerosene" in North America. In other parts of the word "paraffin" is used instead of kerosene. We folks in North America call it "kerosene". They're trying to exploit the fact that we know paraffin is for candles, therefore "paraffin oil", is used for lamps, because no one in their right mines would pay those prices for kerosene. LOL. No relation to paraffin wax other than it's a petroleum product. It is true, though, that some of the high end "lamp oils" really are purified much more than just standard kerosene, and you will end up with a flame that has no smell and no soot.

[Joel Goodman]

+1 on gun oil. I've been using Hoppe's gun oil which says that it's good for lubricating metal parts and good for wooden gun stocks. Of course I only use a very thin film.

[Roger Bell]

I have two shops. My main one at my primary residence and another at my (wife's) second home at the coast.

Rust is not a big issue at my primary residence, so a variety of oils have done/will do.

At the coast, since I go there irregularly...rust is a big issue, since tools and machines sit idle for weeks at a time.

I do what Dave does. I put on several coats of Boeshield and buff off. That is fine for most surfaces, such as machine tables. But on plane bottoms and the bed of the lathe where I want some real slickness, I add TopCote atop the Boeshiled and that works well. I don't remember how I discovered this method.....probably not being satisfied with the Boeshield alone or with any other oil-only treatment.

[Matt Lau]

Thanks for all the tips.

I'd been using camelia oil (actually, more commonly olive oil from the kitchen). But I think that I'll use mineral oil from now on.

Jajoba oil is great stuff...for moisturizers, soaps, and shampoos. I only know because I'd recently gotten sidetracked with bar shampoo.

-Matt

[Andrew Pitonyak]

972 pounds for $3.59
http://www.ronshomeandhardware.com/L...ource=googleps

972 is the model number. This is one pound.