:HE TECHNOLOGIST. [Mat 1, 1865. 



466 OIL FOR WATCHES. 



of ungilt brass ; the difference, however, is not so great after all, and it 

 is erring on the safe side to use ungilt brass when testing oil. 



The next thing to consider is, Where "may we obtain good oil ? This 

 is a very important question, and one easier asked than answered. The 

 animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms have all in their turn been 

 explored by the various oil manufacturers ; and while some give the 

 reference to vegetable oils, others again prefer those which are obtained 

 from the animal kingdom. Amongst watchmakers I have found the 

 following oils most generally used — 1st, olive oil ; 2nd, nut oil, from 

 Barcelona, almond, and hazel nuts ; 3rd, neat's foot oil ; 4th, fish oil. 

 In endeavouring to obtain a good watch-oil, I have tried all these. f 

 first turned my attention to olive oil, but after a year or two's experi- 

 menting, I gave it up, not because I consider it impossible to get a good 

 oil from it, but from the difficulty of obtaining the oil in this country. 

 A French watch-oil manufacturer, in a book lately published, states, 

 that after experimenting for many years upon various kinds of oils, he 

 has come to the conclusion that the olive is the best from which to 

 obtain a good oil for watches. He states that it is only a certain kind 

 of olive from which the good oil is obtained, that the berry must be 

 plucked at a certain stage of ripeness, and then only the virgin oil 

 extracted from it. I have little doubt but that the French manufac- 

 turer will obtain good oil from olives on complying with the foregoing 

 conditions, but to us, who must first take the oil in its adulterated state, 

 it is a difficult matter to manufacture good watch-oil from it. Having 

 been advised by several watchmakers to try nut oil, I next turned my 

 attention to it. Amongst the various kinds tried were walnuts, brazil, 

 hazel, and almond nuts. The best oil was obtained from the hazel nut, 

 and the worst from the walnut. I found hazel oil to keep liquid on a 

 piece of brass for ten months, and on a gilt plate rather longer ; it is 

 certainly the best of all nut oils, but still is not up to the mark, as I 

 shall afterwards explain. Having failed to obtain a good vegetable 

 oil, my attention was next directed to animal cil. I first tried neat's- 

 foot oil. Having put it through the various processes necessary for 

 purifying it, I put a little of it on brass ; after lying past for a year, 

 I found it in a far better condition than any vegetable oil I had tried. 

 My next experiment was with fish oils. Of these 1 have found none 

 to equal sperm oil. I have kept it lying for three years on a piece of 

 brass, and it is as fluid as when first placed there ; it has, however, the 

 fault of spreading. As this oil seemed to possess the chief property of 

 a good watch-oil in a much greater degree than any other, I endeavoured 

 to prevent it spreading when applied to a watch by mixing it with a 

 small portion of beeswax. 



The proposed remedy, however, was worse than the disease. I then 

 mixed with it a little of the neat's-foot oil, which I found to answer 

 the purpose very well ; and for some years I have used this oil upon 

 watches, and find it the best oil I have ever employed. Its colour and 



