Quote:
Originally Posted by David Hamilton
I have no idea of the composition of Three -in-One oil in those old days but in the present day clock trade it is considered to be too short lived to be of any use. By short lived I mean that it dried out quickly. Whale based oils were the best! Their quality was based on the way they were prepared. Porpoise Head oil was the finest. Used in all fine lathes such as Watchmakers I have some left. David
|
The main reason for this was that back in the 19th century, the refining methods used to make lubricants were not precise enough to extract the
right sized molecules that were ideal for lubrication. So what you had was a mixture of the very short chain molecules (the volatile compounds like naptha that evaporated) and the extra long chain molecules (the ones that turned to sludge) left. So after the volatile compounds evaporated, you were left with an unholy goo that dried out and crystalized
This is why synthetic lubricants don't burn off as easy. all of the molecules are the same size so they don't turn to sludge or burn off as easily.
Threaded Mode