Using engines oil on tools

[SMALMALEKI]

I hope everyone having a safe and happy time.
while clearing my garage / workshop this morning I stumbled over a half empty engender oil. Then I realised I have few of them lingering around. After each service garage returns the remaining ~500 ml in the container just in case I need to top up before next service.
Has anybody used engine oil instead of WD40 oil for tools maintenance?

 

[sometimewoodworker]

Mha’s anybody used engine oil instead of WD40 oil for tools maintenance?

WD40 is not for lubrication or for leaving a protective film on tools. Clean motor oil will work well for tools.

 

[SMALMALEKI]

WD40 is not for lubrication or for leaving a protective film on tools. Clean motor oil will work well for tools.

Thank you for the advice.

 

[Woodchips2]

Paul Sellers shows you how to make a rag-in-a-can oiler Rag-in-a-can Oiler to make use of the engine oil and keep your hands clean. I made one several years ago and it is a very useful gadget.
Regards Keith

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I made one a few years ago despite being sceptical about machine oil as opposed to linseed, paraffin wax etc. - I use it regularly.

 

[t8hants]

I use baby oil in my 'rag in a can'

 

[TRITON]

I seem to remember old engineers used a rag with a mix of paraffin and oil on it to clean and protect old machines.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

At school (50+ years ago) the oil used for honing was half engine oil, half paraffin.

 

[SMALMALEKI]

Paul Sellers shows you how to make a rag-in-a-can oiler Rag-in-a-can Oiler to make use of the engine oil and keep your hands clean. I made one several years ago and it is a very useful gadget.
Regards Keith

Hi Keith
I have a rag in a can on my bench. I used 3in 1 for that one.
i must have missed the use of motor oil on Paul Sellers video.
Thank you for your help.

 

[Torx]

Wait, your garage returns the left over oil?

 

[SMALMALEKI]

Wait, your garage returns the left over oil?

Hi Torx
I get my own oil instead of bulk oil from a 200 litre barrel. I get the remaining just in case I need to top it up. I have few galleons in garage.
you can have one.
Regards

 

[TheUnicorn]

do you have a lid or cover of some description to stop sawdust and other desirables getting stuck in the rag?

 

[SMALMALEKI]

do you have a lid or cover of some description to stop sawdust and other desirables getting stuck in the rag?

Hi the Unicorn

not really. I have prt of rag out of the can. Haven’t had any problem with sawdust.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

do you have a lid or cover of some description to stop sawdust and other desirables getting stuck in the rag?

No. It gets filthier with age. It makes no difference.

 

[Rorschach]

I use engine oil for my lathe and as general rust protection for garden tools etc. I use the same grade of oil as used in my car for convenience. I do my own oil changes so there is always oil on hand. I don't seem to get rust on my wood working tools so I don't use oil there if I can help it.

 

[Fergie 307]

WD 40 will certainly protect your tools from rust. Problem is that over time the solvents evaporate and leave behind a brownish coating, a bit like varnish. This can make things look rusty, although they are in fact perfectly sound. Engine Oil takes much longer to degrade in this way, so the oily rag is definitely the better option.

 

[OldWood]

It may be urban myth, but I undertand that WD40 was developed to protect the Minuteman missiles in their underground silos from humidity. It was the 40th product tried and consists mainly of fish oils.

I am now expecting someone to come along and say that is a load of b******ks.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

WD ... Water Displacement. It's not designed to be a lubricant. Incidentally, I have read that it is not advisable to use it for that purpose on vehicle electrics as it can cause intermittent faults, which are a nightmare to find.

 

[SMALMALEKI]

After reading the debate here I decided to ask uncle Wiki. That’s what I was told.

Different sources credit different men with inventing WD-40 formula in 1953 as part of the Rocket Chemical Company (later renamed to WD-40 Company), in San Diego, California; the formula was kept as a trade secret and was never patented.
According to Iris Engstrand, a historian of San Diego and California history at the University of San Diego, Iver Norman Lawson invented the formula, while the WD-40 company website and other books and newspapers credit Norman Larsen. According to Engstrand, "Lawson was acknowledged at the time, but his name later became confused with company president Norman B. Larsen.""WD-40" is abbreviated from the term "Water Displacement, 40th formula",suggesting it was the result of the 40th attempt to create the product. The spray, composed of various hydrocarbons, was originally designed to be used by Convair to protect the outer skin of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion.This outer skin also functioned as the outer wall of the missile's paper-thin fuel balloon tanks, which were so fragile that, when empty, they had to be kept inflated with nitrogen to prevent them from collapsing. WD-40 was later found to have many household uses and was made available to consumers in San Diego in 1958.

 

[TheUnicorn]

odd, I'd heard wd40 was developed in axminster