The Essential Oilpot

[Lenore Epstein]

Aw, Phil, you're breaking my heart! I've deliberately kept myself from geeking out over oil chemistry, but at the very least I guess I'll have to stop dabbing a little behind my ears and on my wrists before going out.

Seriously, though, I've used so little oil at a time that I hadn't thought about its effects, and I usually have a window open nearby, but if I'm going to be using more oil more frequently I ought to make sure that whatever I use isn't going to make me sick.

[Wes Harper]

What about Ballistol? Anyone have any experience with it?

[Stanley Covington]

If you want a safe oil, try some of the stuff made for dental handpiece (drill) lubrication. There is a famous sword polisher here in Tokyo who for many years has repackaged this kind of oil and sold it at a very high price for rust protection for swords. Great stuff, BTW.

Nontoxic, but very effective.

Matt Lau might be able to recommend some.

[Stanley Covington]

What about Ballistol? Anyone have any experience with it?

I used Ballistol for my muzzleloading rifles when it was all the rage. Developed in Germany before WW1 from coal tar. Ok lubricant. Not so hot at corrosion resistance. The smell is something you either love or hate... like nothing else.

I wouldn't use it again.

Stan

[Patrick Chase]

Love Hoppes myself, but due to the toxicity and hazardous/flammable nature, can't even find it in gun stores around here anymore. Most have gone to a synthetic cleaner and oil called M-Pro 7 Gun Cleaner and M-Pro 7 Gun Oil with LPX.

According to the manufacturer these products are odorless, non-toxic, non-hazardous, biodegradable, non-flammable and environmentally safe. The only reference to ingredients is "Combines high quality synthetic oils and LPX additives"
They claim LPX has the lowest known friction coefficient.

Since it's all I can find, I use it for my firearms and it does clean and lubricate well. At the price though, not something I wanted to use for the oil pot.

Guy at the store said I could clean guns on the kitchen table and then eat off of it without worry. I think I'll pass on that. Wouldn't make LOML very happy.

If you want to know the composition of something like that you should always start with the MSDS. The ingredient list isn't complete but it gives a reasonably clear picture in this case.

[Kees Heiden]

Hmm, that Tricresyl phosphate doesn't sound so harmless. It is a neurotoxic and "numerous poisonings" are known according to wikipedia.

Maybe better stick to tallow. BTW, it is not just the tallow that makes old English (and continental) beech tools so dark. It is also smoke from the coal or browncoal they were burning in almost every stove, combined with the usual shop dirt, sweat, aging of the wood etc.

[paul cottingham]

I keep a rag in a cup that I use with McQueens mutton tallow. The rag slowly got saturated. Now...I am goin to try this. Great idea.

[Kirby Krieger]

Inspired, I made my own oil pot from recovered materials.

My father (and his father before him) smoked a pipe. Every day — pipe racks in his office, pipe racks at home, tampers, reamers, Italian polishing clothes, names close to magic in my boyhood mind: meerschaum, burl. Then one day he showed his doctor a white spot on his tongue and was told to stop smoking. Never touched another lit pipe. (After about a year, my mother collected the pipes and the paraphernalia and put them in a drawer.)

I smoked a pipe for a week. Liked it. My wife told me she liked the smell, but intended to stop kissing me.

The pipes lay quietly in a drawer for years.

Reamed one clean this morning, sanded the inside, rolled one of the Italian polishing clothes into a tube, stuffed the tube in the pipe, and scissored the exposed edges of the cloth. Holds oil well. Bonus: can refill oil-pot from the bottom.

Kirby Krieger Pipe Oil Pot.jpg

[Stanley Covington]

Inspired, I made my own oil pot from recovered materials.

My father (and his father before him) smoked a pipe. Every day — pipe racks in his office, pipe racks at home, tampers, reamers, Italian polishing clothes, names close to magic in my boyhood mind: meerschaum, burl. Then one day he showed his doctor a white spot on his tongue and was told to stop smoking. Never touched another lit pipe. (After about a year, my mother collected the pipes and the paraphernalia and put them in a drawer.)

I smoked a pipe for a week. Liked it. My wife told me she liked the smell, but intended to stop kissing me.

The pipes lay quietly in a drawer for years.

Reamed one clean this morning, sanded the inside, rolled one of the Italian polishing clothes into a tube, stuffed the tube in the pipe, and scissored the exposed edges of the cloth. Holds oil well. Bonus: can refill oil-pot from the bottom.

Kirby Krieger Pipe Oil Pot.jpg

Beautiful oilpot! And it comes with built-in handle that can be held in the mouth!

Stan

[Patrick Chase]

Hmm, that Tricresyl phosphate doesn't sound so harmless. It is a neurotoxic and "numerous poisonings" are known according to wikipedia.

The stuff in the gun oil is Tritolyl Phosphate, not Tricresyl Phosphate. There isn't as much information about that, and phosphates are almost always problematic to some degree, but the MSDS doesn't look all that bad to me.

[Kees Heiden]

Oops, my google fu left me for a moment. I don't know much about chemistry anyway.

[Mike Brady]

Speaking of pipes, I'm going to pick up a PVC plumbing pipe cap to use as the cup. I'll have to eyeball them, but I imagine 2" (I.D.) would be about right.

[Patrick Chase]

Oops, my google fu left me for a moment. I don't know much about chemistry anyway.

I work with search engines for a "search giant", and I got basically the same result when I did the same search yesterday. I'm pretty sure my fu is reasonably good, since I know how that sausage is made.

There just isn't much out there for Tritotyl Phosphate (mostly people selling it).

[mark kosse]

being a old cap and baller you all can use what I use, a can of Crisco. It lubes, helps prevent rust, is non toxic, doesn't spill or spoil and comes in its own container with a lid. melt in a little beeswax or some toilet bowl ring for a thicker lube with more protection. it works best if the toilet bowl ring is unused though.

[Phil Mueller]

That's a good idea, Mike. Thanks.