Vintage Oiler

[71_Bronco 1,072]

Was over visiting my grandmother this evening. A couple years back, my grandfather passed away, and my family helps take care of my grandmother.

 

I went into his shop for nostalgic reasons (spent a lot of time with him out there when I was a thigh-high). A lot of the stuff was cleaned out by family, but there still is a good amount in there, which my grandmother is always telling us to take what we want.

 

When I was in there, I spotted this vintage oiler on the bench. I've been considering picking one up lately, so it almost felt like it was meant to be, how it was sitting perfectly in the middle of the bench when I went in.

 

I know its probably not anything special or expensive, but the sentimental value is priceless.

 

Not sure what this "Rainbow" brand is, but I love the patina and the color. Will clean it up and put it to use in my garage.

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,604]

NICE!!!

 

Just did the same thing last month cleaning out my 94 year old Dad's house...!

 

Mine's all silver but same concept! Works better than all my other ones...

Edited October 3, 2021 by SylvanLakeWH

[71_Bronco 1,072]

On a side note, what should I fill it with? Should I put a heavy gear oil in it? Or a light, very viscous oil?

[lynnmor 7,309]

1 hour ago, 71_Bronco said:

On a side note, what should I fill it with? Should I put a heavy gear oil in it? Or a light, very viscous oil?

 

Depends what you will be oiling.  I use 10W-40 in mine for general oiling of moving parts on the tractors.

 

Keep you eyes open for oil cans like that with tractor names embossed on them, John Deere for example.  They bring good money from collectors.

[ebinmaine 67,672]

AWESOME stuff. 

 

I have a few oil cans from folks who have passed as well. 

Just something special about them. 

 

Mine are all filled with regular old engine oil 10w30. 

 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

Here's the ones that I use regularly.  These date back to the late 40s when my FIL had a service station in Long Branch, NJ:

 

 

I sure wish I could find the screw on tip for the one on the left!  

[lynnmor 7,309]

5 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

Here's the ones that I use regularly.  These date back to the late 40s when my FIL had a service station in Long Branch, NJ:

 

 

I sure wish I could find the screw on tip for the one on the left!  

 

You might need to make a tip, do you know the thread size?  I'll take a look at mine to see what I might be able to figure out.

 

With the trigger and nozzle on one side, that type is always tipping over so I added stick-on wheel weights on the opposite side.

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

5 hours ago, lynnmor said:

thread size?

 

I'll check later, thanks!  I don't know why it didn't occur to me to make one!  Well, DUHHH!

 

Yes, tip over is an issue.  Helps to keep it full!  But now I'm gonna cast a lead weight to stick on the bottom.  Thanks again!

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

On 10/4/2021 at 3:50 AM, lynnmor said:

You might need to make a tip

 

 Lynnmor!  Your inspiration was priceless!

I went to the junkbox to look for material to make a tip and couldn't have gotten luckier!    

The thread is 1/4-28.

 

 

The very first thing that caught my eye was an old Chevy 396 pushrod.  The hole in the end looked just right.  Ground the ball end to a pointy shape.

 

Had to kill the temper, there was no way I was gonna cut that with a hacksaw!  Gotter red hot, cut the end off.  Lo and behold, the INSIDE oil passage was already the CORRECT TAP SIZE!

 

So I tapped it, and screwed it on.  Looks like it was made for it!  And in a way, it WAS!    Took me all of 15 minutes!  

 

 

 

 

 

Next going to cast a magnet into a lead weight and make it tip-proof...

 

 

 

[Digger 66 3,485]

On 10/3/2021 at 6:48 PM, 71_Bronco said:

Will clean it up and put it to use in my garage.

 

 

 

 

Just wipe it with a rag that has clean oil on it .

Patina like that can never be replicated .

[71_Bronco 1,072]

3 hours ago, Digger 66 said:

 

Just wipe it with a rag that has clean oil on it .

Patina like that can never be replicated .

 

Yes, I was just going to wipe the old gunk / dust off, not going to do anything too extreme.

[71_Bronco 1,072]

5 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

 Lynnmor!  Your inspiration was priceless!

I went to the junkbox to look for material to make a tip and couldn't have gotten luckier!    

The thread is 1/4-28.

 

 

The very first thing that caught my eye was an old Chevy 396 pushrod.  The hole in the end looked just right.  Ground the ball end to a pointy shape.

 

Had to kill the temper, there was no way I was gonna cut that with a hacksaw!  Gotter red hot, cut the end off.  Lo and behold, the INSIDE oil passage was already the CORRECT TAP SIZE!

 

So I tapped it, and screwed it on.  Looks like it was made for it!  And in a way, it WAS!    Took me all of 15 minutes!  

 

 

 

 

 

Next going to cast a magnet into a lead weight and make it tip-proof...

 

 

 

 

Looks good, glad you got it figured out. I kinda like it with the blued tip, little color contrast.

[lynnmor 7,309]

I had stick-on wheel weights that I applied to the side opposite the spout down low to prevent tip over.

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

On 10/10/2021 at 7:21 AM, lynnmor said:

stick-on wheel weights

 

I like that idea but it means I would have to buy them.  Did I mention that I'm cheap, AND a 'hoarder'?

 

I have plenty of lead, and a crucible (and fishing weight and bullet molds).  Also have a bunch of magnets from old hard drives.  All I need to find is a suitable mold.  I'm sure there is something out there!

 

 

By the way, those hand held propane torches also tip easily.  I found that the correct size plastic wire spool cut in half fits the propane tank snugly.  

 

        

 

Only problem is that unless you have access to the spools say from your job like I did, I'm not sure where you would get one of these.

 

[edit: I never thought to look, but stabilizers can be purchased for under ten bucks.]

 / 

Edited October 11, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[formariz 11,987]

I use quite a few old oiling cans myself. They are filled with different oils for different purposes. Some  I use kerosene with a little oil to lubricate the honing stones. 

On 10/4/2021 at 2:21 AM, ebinmaine said:

Just something special about them.

You are right. There is something special about them. It’s sort of a “nostalgic” feeling when using them. They also immediately catch everyone’s eye in the shop.

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

I pulled a few more down from the display shelf for a photo op:

 

This one's a "Lidseen" from around WW II based on the handle design.  Lidseen was making oilers for a LONG time before that!

 

 

Then there's this little fella... cute, isn't it?

 

 

Not sure the vintage but presumed to be about the same as the others.  No brand on this one.  Maybe an Eagle?

 

I'm moving stuff around in my shop and cleaning out the 'junque' shop to make room for another tractor coming on Sunday.

I found a CAR in there!  a 1987 VW Golf GT.  (actually, of course I knew it was there, but it was quite buried...)

Really oughta fix that car up............................. I'll put it on the 'to do' list.

 

 

Edited October 28, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[ebinmaine 67,672]

2 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

tractor coming on Sunday.

What??!!??

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

Here's a few more items in my collection of "Oil-abilia"

 

First is a "Swingspout".  One would pump the oil out of a drum with the spout up, then swing the spout down, insert into engine and push the trigger which opens a plunger in the bottom to dispense the oil.

 

 

 

Then there's the "Brookins".  This one has a piercing tool built in that would open the can it was shoved onto.  Turn it over and fill engine oil.

 

 

 

And of course, a few of the oil cans I have.  The Fox Head and the Sears are empties.  The Pennzoil "with Z-7" is unopened.  I'm thinking 1970s or so on these.  I could probably date them closer by researching the API code... but I'm too lazy for that.

 

 

I've got a few older items I'll post pics of when I can get to them.  They're currently buried in the mess in the back garage...

Frank from "American Pickers" would have a field day in my garages!  Some of y'all might too!

 

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[tunahead72 2,424]

On 11/1/2021 at 12:21 AM, Jeff-C175 said:

... And of course, a few of the oil cans I have.  The Fox Head and the Sears are empties.  The Pennzoil "with Z-7" is unopened.  I'm thinking 1970s or so on these.  I could probably date them closer by researching the API code... but I'm too lazy for that.

 

 

...

 

 

I had a few old cans of Castrol oil in my basement years ago, and did some research on eBay just for kicks.  As it turns out, people were actually selling (and others were buying) these same cans of oil for what I thought at the time was ridiculously high prices.  The funny thing was, EMPTY cans were consistently selling for more money than FULL cans!