Anno 1640 Waaguhr oil

[Bauertime]

Hello, my uncle gave me a Waaguhr wooden clock. I was wondering what kind of oil do you put on the wooden gear shafts, if any?

[watchweasol]

Hi  A lot depends on the type of wood, Lignum Vitae is a dense wood and has its own oil,  Most of the wooden clocks were black forest made usually of pine (the local wood). Pine is by nature a resinous wood in its new state but as time goes by dries out  so some method of lubrication is required. I have used petroleum jelly (Vaseline) just thinned with a little oil applied sparingly as excess will gather dirt.  No lubrication will wear out the wooden pivots in no time.   Linseed oil is a wood preparation oil used on dry wood and cricket bats to good effect. but again just enough to do the job and no more.

 

[spectre6000]

Don't use linseed oil. It's a drying oil. The triglyceride decomposes, and the free fatty acids react with oxygen in the air to form a hard plasticky resin (haven't had my coffee yet and it's been years since I dealt with triglyceride chemistry, so the technical term is not coming to me at the moment... maybe it'll come to me in a few cups). That's why it's used as a wood finish after boiling to speed up the breakdown process, historically was what made patent leather shiny and brittle, and used to be the main component in japanning (a durable black finish often applied to cast iron). 

Speaking from a chemistry perspective with out much in the way of practical experience lubricating wood, you'll want something with long, fully saturated carbon chains. Lard would have been used to lubricate wooden shafts historically, though I'm not sure about in a clock setting. Coconut oil might be a reasonable vegetable derived fat. If the oil being solid at room temperature is problematic, neetsfoot oil has, IIRC, 18 carbon bonds, as does olive oil. Both were used as machine oils in the early industrial era. I'm having a hard time thinking of any others that are heavier, readily available, but aren't solid at room temperature. Jojoba oil I think is a good one. Being fully saturated will make it less likely to break down and go rancid (which is why hydrogenated vegetable oils were used to keep packaged food from going bad before people realized it was bad for you). I'm having a hard time thinking of any readily available fully saturated oils off the top of my head at the moment...

Edited October 30, 2020 by spectre6000

[oldhippy]

Are the pinons and pivots all made of wood. Do the pivots fit into wooden holes or into brass bushings. If the answer is it is completely made of wood then clock grease is to be used. If the pivots are steel and fit into brass bushings then I recommend Windles clock oil.  

[Bauertime]

The clock is all wood. After a quick search, the NAWCC website, the opinion is to never add any oil to a wooden clock. It creates more problems. I think I will set it up and see how it runs without oil. I sorry to waste your time. Thanks for your opinions.

[Bauertime]

 After examining the clock further. It does have metal shaft pins, that are very well hidden. So I will use a clock oil on it. Never mind and thanks again.