# Precision oiling



## GailInNM (Jul 3, 2014)

In our hobby we all have to oil things. For those who build bigger  engines a pump oil can is often sufficient for most needs. For those of  us who build smaller toys small precision oiling devices are desirable.  Four ounce oil cans of 3 in 1 or Starrett oils are often used as are  syringes filled with our favorite oil.   But no matter how careful I am  in clipping the tip of one of the small cans I still get too much oil  and I often can not reach into tight spots for oiling linkages.

Luer  blunt dispensing are common and easily available on eBay and many  suppliers. They are inexpensive and come in wide variety of sizes. They  also will make a tight fit on 3 in 1 cans by just pressing on firmly.   They would also fit the old metal can Starrett oil cans, but the newer  plastic Starrett bottles have too large a tip.











I  modified the cap of a Starrett bottle to take a Luer tip by cutting off  the end of a 10ml syringe in the lathe and cutting off the spout of the  Starrett bottle. After cutting off the spout, a 3/8 inch drill was run  through to clean up cut off burrs.










The  syringe tip was then pressed through from the inside of the bottle  cap.  The 10ml syringe tip is large enough to seal against the top of  the bottle making a leak tight joint.




And then screwed back on the bottle.





Now I can change tips easily to suit the need.
The  dispensing needles come in a wide variety of sizes and lengths.  For me  the most useful has been an 18 gauge needle either 1/2 inch or 1 inch  long.  They also come in 1-1/2 lengths but I have not had the need for  that long a tip.        20 gauge is also used some times, but I find  that the slightly larger 18 gauge is better for most of my applications.  

A word about oils.  3 in 1 oil is not bad oil but I can tell  the difference between it and Starrett when using it to oil precision  tools. When oiled with 3 in 1, the slide on my calipers gets a little  stiff after about 2 weeks, but works fine for 2 months when using  Starrett. Of course the Starrett is harder to obtain and costs twice as  much but as a can lasts me several years I don't think an extra dollar a  year is going to break me.

Gail in NM


----------



## kuhncw (Jul 3, 2014)

Gail, thanks for posting these handy suggestions and modifications.

Regards,

Chuck


----------



## Swifty (Jul 3, 2014)

Now why didn't I think of that, I have plenty of syringes and needles, blunt ones as well, due to my home haemodialysis.

Paul.


----------



## Wizard69 (Jul 21, 2014)

Neat idea!

You could also just fill the syringe with oil which is handy for tight locations.


----------

