[modeleng] Re: Lubricating oils

-----Original Message-----
>From: Alan Stepney <alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>I use hydraulic oil for (almost) anything and everything.  Well, except for 
>steam.

As do I, escpecially around the workshop.  It makes superb way and spindle oil, 
in fact that's how I began using it, my lathe manual called for it.

As for chain saw bar oil, in the US this stuff is regularly mentioned as a 
substitute for steam cylinder oil.  I once sold steam and lube oils for small 
scale live steamers and in order to combat those who claim "Aw it's the same 
stuff", and there are many, I researched the oils I sold.  I spoke with a 
couple of petroleum product engineers specifically about chain saw bar oil and 
I was told that steam oil and bar oil are on opposite ends of the performance 
spectrum.  That is, the lubricating behavior and characteristics of chain saw 
bar oil are diametrically opposite those for which steam oil has been 
specifically formulated.  Also, bar oil is usually scavenged oil, "the dregs" 
or what is left at the bottom of storage tanks, trucks, tankers, and pipelines 
after everything else has been taken off and typically receives no further 
processing or additives and may contain impurities and suspended solids (aka, 
grit).  Bar oil is intended for 100% loss lubricating systems, to lubricate for 
a few seconds and then be thrown off as waste.  For these reasons I don't use 
it for anything except chain lubrication and the most undemanding lubrication 
jobs.

There are some folks who now claim there is no longer an actual "steam cylinder 
oil", it's all now gear oil some of which has been re-labeled steam oil.  While 
there may indeed be an isolated case where this may be true, I was told by the 
same petroleum engineers (above) that the rumors that steam cylinder oil was 
doomed to extinction were completely untrue, that in fact steam oil was in 
great demand in many industries, particularly food processing and brewing where 
machinery must operate in a steam and/or scalding water environment.  It's my 
belief that certain gear oils are more likely to be re-labeled steam oil than 
the other way round.

Regards,
Harry

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