The Essential Oilpot

[Derek Cohen]

Don't forget, another form of mineral oil is baby oil, such as Johnson's. This is also useful for diluting/levelling Veritas green compound, such as on strops.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Brian Holcombe]

Camellia oil will work fine. Just remember that if it is real camellia, it will go rancid and harden with time. This is not a serious problem with an oilpot because you can add more, or replace the wick if it gets too bad.

If it is the camellia oil sold in the States called Sword Tsubaki, then it is mineral oil, and will not harden. I have a bottle or two of that around here somewhere I picked up a flea market. Not much use for it. I also have a bottle of real refined camellia oil a relative gave me sitting on a shelf. I'm bald, so the days of oiling my curly locks are long past. You can have them all if you want them (the bottles, not the locks).

Only you can decide what is too thin or too thick. I prefer a little heavier oil that stays on the tool longer.

I'm not sure if it's the real thing or mineral oil, it has kanji on the bottle and no English that I can recall. My bonsai teacher gave me the bottle because the pump was faulty (and I'm the only person he knows who hates stainless steel shears). I will take you up on that .

I have a giant bottle of Mobil 1 5w-30 so I will give that a try as well. The smell will bring back memories of the machine shop.

[Kirby Krieger]

Wonderful (useful, informative) thread — thank you (and the commenters).

Paul Sellers recommends oiling tools often enough — or emphatically enough — in his free videos that one of the first organized things I did as a beginner was buy a small bottle of Camellia Oil and a rag, dampen the rag, and use it. I keep it in a plastic sandwich bag in my apron. The oil appears to "self-distribute" throughout the rag. This blackened some woods when used on the soles of my planes, so I switched to lubricating them with wax from an old candle. The trick, afaict, is to lubricate before you need it.

—Kirby

[Stanley Covington]

I'm not sure if it's the real thing or mineral oil, it has kanji on the bottle and no English that I can recall. My bonsai teacher gave me the bottle because the pump was faulty (and I'm the only person he knows who hates stainless steel shears). I will take you up on that .

I have a giant bottle of Mobil 1 5w-30 so I will give that a try as well. The smell will bring back memories of the machine shop.

If it is in a plastic bottle, it is probably the version called Hamono tsubaki, written 刃物椿, and which they translate to "Sword Tsubaki." If it is in a glass bottle, it may be the real thing.

I'll send you the bottles. You still have curly locks

[Brian Holcombe]

Hah! Indeed, they were what won over my wife.

I must have the sword tsubaki, as it is a plastic bottle.

Thank you kindly! I will put them to good use.

[mike holden]

Stan, thanks for response.
Mike

[Jim Koepke]

Stanley, thanks for taking the time to share an important part of woodworking tradition.

I tend to have a loose furniture oil rag laying around and a block of wax or two to keep things lubed.

Incidentally, in case someone doesn't know, pure mineral oil without additives is sold in drug stores alongside laxatives. It often goes on sale..$1.89 or so for a 16oz. bottle. When it isn't on sale it can run around $5.

I buy buy mineral oil at the local Kroger affiliated grocery store. A pint is priced in the $2-$3 range.

I remember David Weaver telling me that he had used a heavier mineral oil intended as a laxative for cattle and horses as a rust preventative for tools. I think he said he had bought it quite cheaply at a feed store.

When I compared the price between the grocery store and the feed store we visit most often the gallon pricing was higher than buying it by the pint. Haven't checked all the feed stores around town.

jtk

[Luke Dupont]

Great tutorial!

I'm not sure if I understand one thing, though: do you cut the bamboo off between two nodes (so that it is completely sealed), and then drill a hole in the top to put the rag?

I suppose an alternative would be to just leave one top open and roll up more material, such that it still fits snugly, yes? Or would that soak up too much of the oil?

Anyway, thanks for sharing! These are the sort of tid-bits that are quite helpful -- things/practices that I wouldn't have even known existed, much less think to do or look up!

[Andrew Hughes]

I would like to thank Stanley for sharing also. I use mostly wax for my Western planes and sav my dwindling bottle of oil for my Japaneese chisels.
I do remember reading or hearing that motor oil can make a great protection lube for hand tools.I guess I shouldn't have dismissed it before try it.I don't know if I'll use bamboo but I'm gonna think about something similar.
Heres my coveted bottle I've been nursing for sometime now .

[Patrick Chase]

Thank you Stan, I have been using camellia oil, is this advisable or too thin?

Real Camellia oil, or the stuff that's sold for woodworking?

Real Camellia oil solidifies and becomes rancid like any other vegetable oil. I actually tried 100% pure Camellia oil very early in my woodworking voyage, and couldn't understand why everybody was raving raving about "Camellia oil" as my results differed greatly from theirs. I don't think you'd want to use it in an oil pot. At the very least you'd be replacing a lot of wicks.

The stuff that's sold for woodworking, even from outlets like TfJ, is basically a Camellia-scented light mineral oil. I think it would work (and it works as described in all of the aforementioned rave reviews), but there are cheaper ways to acquire light mineral oil.

[Patrick Chase]

Remember that the market for oils for woodworking, sports equipment (bicycles, guns, fishing gear, etc) is miniscule, and that the products targeting these small niche markets are mostly diluted, modified, and repackaged versions of advanced lubricants developed specifically for more high-volume markets that can absorb the R&D and production costs involved [snip]

You could replace "advanced lubricants" with many other things we use in woodworking in that sentence, and it would still hold true. "Woodworking specific" products are often more a matter of marketing and distribution than any real underlying difference. I'm continually amazed at outlets that sell stuff straight out of the 3M catalog at hideous markups.

(Note: I am not referring to LV there. I generally have to buy in volume to significantly beat their prices on stuff like 668X or 061X. They're scrupulously fair when they resell general-purpose "catalog items").

[Patrick Chase]

I would like to thank Stanley for sharing also. I use mostly wax for my Western planes and sav my dwindling bottle of oil for my Japaneese chisels.
I do remember reading or hearing that motor oil can make a great protection lube for hand tools.I guess I shouldn't have dismissed it before try it.I don't know if I'll use bamboo but I'm gonna think about something similar.
Heres my coveted bottle I've been nursing for sometime now .

The stuff in that bottle is just light mineral oil with Camellia scent, confirmed both by comparison to my identical bottle and by comparison of the label to Stanley's post #19.

No need to nurse.

[Kenneth Fisher]

image.jpg
One of the very first things I made in my shop, an old tin from some chillies or tomatoes, an old towel and a bottle of 3 in 1 oil. Certainly not as nice as Stanley's, but still very effective. Amazing how much of a difference it makes after a few swipes on the bottom of a plane or back of a chisel.

[Patrick Chase]

image.jpg
One of the very first things I made in my shop, an old tin from some chillies or tomatoes, an old towel and a bottle of 3 in 1 oil. Certainly not as nice as Stanley's, but still very effective. Amazing how much of a difference it makes after a few swipes on the bottom of a plane or back of a chisel.

Hey, why not some CRC 3-36 while we're at it? It's mostly mineral oils, and if you buy by the gallon it's almost cost-effective...

EDIT: The main non-oil component (dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate) is pretty nifty stuff from a corrosion-control perspective.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Stan, I am another who is appreciative of the information you share, and the time and effort it takes to do so. Thank you, Patrick