Tips for oiling capped jewels

[fellerts]

Hi guys,

I'm well on my way to turning my Elgin 539 into a scrap movement  I'm reaching out to ask for tips on oiling the balance end stones. I watched Marshall do it in this video but when trying this method out for myself, I can't fathom how this is possible without displacing the drop of oil.

I found the TM 9-1575 war department technical manual (what an awesome manual) which suggests the following:

Quote

To place oil in a capped jewel, a small drop should be placed on the oiler and fed into the space between the jewel and the end stone with a fine pointed wire or broach smaller than the jewel hole.

Are they suggesting to guide an oiler through the upper jewel hole onto the end stone? For reference, here's the jewel with my smallest oiler - the spade tip thing is almost twice the diameter of the jewel hole. Has anyone tried this method with success?

cheers,

Fredrik

[Geotex]

No, a standard oiler won't generally fit, but it brings the oil drop to the hole. What actually goes through is the fine wire or broach, which does need to fit. I have a very fine strand taken from a wire brush that I keep in a cheap pin vise to use when oil needs to be fed/wicked/teased into the cap cavity. Some people use a very fine needle in the same way.

[fellerts]

Ah, that makes sense. It's right there in the illustration... Thanks a lot, I'll give this a shot!

[watchweasol]

Hi As I am a Diabetic the needles we use are very fine and do the job well only drawback is they are short in length and need mounting in a handle and being hollow they carry a small quantity of oil also.

[GuyMontag]

Mark has a good video showing his process (similar to the video linked in the original post but with clearer visuals) as well as the automatic oiler option:
 

 

Esslinger sells a tool ($9) for feeding the oil through to the cap jewel if you want to go that route:
 

https://www.esslinger.com/watch-oil-inserters-tool-balance-jewel-oiler/

Edited October 10, 2022 by GuyMontag

[LittleWatchShop]

This was on my Dad's bench.  Always figured it was for this purpose.  It is a staff mounted on a piece of pegwood.  I think I broke it and replaced it with another staff of larger diameter...prolly too large for the 539...but you get the idea.

[canthus]

This available from Cousins UK.

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/oilers-3-in-1-incabloc-specialist?code=O49487

Wire is very thin so needs care when using.

[fellerts]

3 hours ago, GuyMontag said:

Mark has a good video showing his process (similar to the video linked in the original post but with clearer visuals) as well as the automatic oiler option

I attempted his method of oiling the lower end stone and it worked like a charm, thanks for the link!

2 hours ago, canthus said:

This available from Cousins UK.

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/oilers-3-in-1-incabloc-specialist?code=O49487

Wire is very thin so needs care when using.

For the top jewels, I attempted the method suggested in the technical manual. I stripped a broken USB cable and snipped off one of the copper strands (technicall not MILSPEC I guess). Then, with a drop of oil placed over the jewel hole, I inserted the copper wire into the hole and lo, the oil wicked through onto the end stone like magic. I'm sure this is easier with proper tools, but it was fun to see how well it worked.

I'll give Mark's method for the top jewel a shot as well.

Thanks for the help guys!