What’s the best type of grease and oil for the lubrication of engines and cars ? And the best way to apply it ?
Chuck
For oil, I like Labelle brand in the needle-oiler bottle. It’s expensive(about $5 from most hobby shops), but it’s an excellent plastic-compatible oil. I’ve also found that their needle oiler is smaller than other brands that I’ve tried, so it’s easier to get into tight places.
Labelle also makes an excellent general purpose grease. I like to use a toothpick to apply it, or squirt it directly into gear boxes.
For your postwar trains, 3-in-1 oil on a toothpick or straight pin, and vaseline on a toothpick or old screw driver work fine.
Labelle is okay but Lubriplate is the best. Bennie is wrong about vaseline.
Thanks. There are not any hobby shops in SE Ohio, or any that I’ve heard of. But, I’ve got the idea. I’ve never used vaseline… so I can’t comment on that.
Chuck
Vaseline is a petroleum byproduct and thus will destroy plastics. You may have to phone and order a tube of laBelle’s or Woodland Scenics Hob-E-Lube. Bottom line, get what they sell that is plastic compatible. It may cost a bit, but will last a long time because it should be applied seldom, and then only very carefully and sparingly. Otherwise, you get gunked up pivots and bearings. I use a pointy toothpick because oil will adhere to the end while you place it near the point to be lubed, and the wood doesn’t absorb too much of it. A pin or other hard surface will not hang on to enough oil.
Wipe off the excess after you have ‘run-in’ the oil by moving the object back and forth a few times.
Just to clarify, I don’t use vaseline on anything other than postwar trains with metal gears. Definitely don’t use it on anything with nylon or other plastic gears.
I’ve used Hob-e-lube before, and I didn’t care too much for it. It’s a good oil, but the bottle was horrible. Mine was extremely unstable(tall and round, rather than short and oblong like Labelle). It leaked when turned on its side, which happed quite easily, and the needlepoint was much, much larger than the one found on Labelle. I found it nearly impossible to get small drops into tight places like I can with Labelle. In my opinion, the dollar or two saved on Hob-E-lube is not worth the trouble.
I got an old Marx leaflet printed off the internet and they recomend vaseline. The advantage of vaseline is that it won’t drip on your track. But all Marx is basically metal construction. I use a train lube from a hobby store. Its worth the extra money just because it comes with a long needle like applicator. Van Hobbies up here in Vancouver sold me a motor bearing lubricant made by Aero-Car Hobby Lubricants Western Springs Il. It seems to work fine. But I’m going to try the vaseline as I always end up having to clean the track after oiling the fleet. I’m running all metal Marx stock so there is no risk. Let you know how it works!
Mark
Blueberry, there’s a good train store in Lancaster, Ohio that has all of these types of lubricants. Also, there is a store in Huntington, WV.
Some hardware stores also carry special lubricants.
I too have been using Labelle oil on both Postwar and Modern Lionel and Flyer pieces with no problems. I’ve also used Labelle 106 Grease on gears during the same period with excellent results. Their grease is compatible with plastic and dosen’t seem to sling all over the engine and tracks like some other types of grease do.
Labelle grease. Emptied a needle oiler and refilled it with Slick 50 One Lube [synthetic oil, plastic friendly]. Slick 50 is really slick and works great for oiling.
Chief Eagles has a good idea with the Slick50. I use the Labelle or some other plastic compatible oil mixed with a little bit of a product called Motor Kote. www.motorkote.com
underworld
[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
For pin point oiling, use cheap, disposable syringes. Using our kinds of oils, the rubber stoppers take many months to deteriorate. I’ve only had to replace mine twice in 5 years.
For axels and couplers I’ve been using the teflon/oil used for the cam on compound bows, archery. I use a hypo to apply it.
Buckeye… can you give me the name of the hobby store in Lancaster, that you were referring to. I found 4 listed and have not visited any of them. Thanks for the help.
Chuck
I’d like to say “rubbish” to that…so I will:
RUBBISH!!
I’ve used Veseline on so many plastic gears I can’t count 'em! As my dad did before me.
I guess the fact that my Vaseline comes in a plastic container means little.
BTW, I also use real steam oil (also a “petroleum byproduct”) on my engines as well.