"3 in 1" Oil?

[Sirius Glass]

Can "3 in 1" Oil be used to lightly lubicate a R B Auto Graflex? I need to lightly lubricate the ends of the shutter shafts. Gun oil? sewing machine oil?

Steve

[stillsilver]

Use the thinnest oil possible. Even if you have to oil frequently . Too Thick will gum things up.

Mike

[richard ide]

There is a product made for lubricating locks which is a little graphite in solvent. When the solvent evaporates, there is just a small amount of graphite which does not attract dust and gum up.

[Nicholas Lindan]

Do not use 3-in-1, or any other penetrating oil such as WD-40 or LPS-25. These oils will eventually turn to a sticky gum as the solvent in them evaporates over a period of days to months. I have had gun and sewing machine oil gum up.

Plain old engine oil works very well for general lubrication, SAE 5 (if you can find it) or Mobil-1 synthetic oil is fine enough for most photographic uses. Automatic Transmission Fluid makes a good fine lubricant, but it has a terrible tendency to migrate. Mineral oil and 'turbine oil' are other good choices.

The proper oil for cameras is Nye's clock & instrument oil, but I can't say I find it works any better than SAE 5.

The best grease I know of is Corning High Vacuum Silicone Grease - it doesn't separate, migrate, run, out-gas, get stiff in the cold or gum up - great for focusing helicals, much better than the 'damping grease' usually used for this purpose.

[Wade D]

The turbine oil is very expensive but very good. A 55 gallon drum was about $2200. We used 1000's of gallons of it where I used to work making turbines for power generation. A small drop on the end of a sharp toothpick would be all that's needed for a camera.

[eddie gunks]

i use sewing machine oil. very light and has no smell. i used gun oil once and now it smells bad ...

[Athiril]

I use some kind of dry lubricant that apparently repels dirt and doesnt build gunk up.

Its probably the graphite stuff in some kind of oil.

It cost $15 for a tiny bottle at a bicycle shop.

[steven_e007]

You can buy watchmakers oil on ebeegeebay.

3 in 1 is too thick... WD40 is fantastic stuff - for lawnmowers. Never, EVER let any get anywhere near a camera...

[Toffle]

Trumpet valve oil?

[mhcfires]

I have been using Lori-Lin, Knitting Machine Lube. It is thin, doesn't gum up. Knitting machines are complex instruments which will gum up with anything less. I have an 11 oz. can which I have had for fifteen years, you use so little and it seems to work fine for my Graflex SLR.