Miniature oiler from Harbor Freight

So I made a pilgrimage to the place where (practically) all the tools and stuff come from China and are cheap, and ran across a miniature lubrication pen that looked good, at only two bucks. Got it home, looked at it more closely, saw that it was basically a replica of a technical drawing pen, with a small tube with a wire inside it, the wire attached to a weight inside the nozzle. Fairly crudely made (in India, not China), certainly not crisp and precision-looking like a Rapidograph or Mars, but it looked usable.

One problem was that the wire didn't protrude far enough from the tube to do any good, so I took it apart and ground the tube down on a sharpening stone. For some weird reason it didn't work at all until I almost destroyed it out of frustration by slamming it down on the workbench; after that it worked fine. (I must have just missed smashing the nozzle.)

I recommend this oiler to any model railroad types with locos needing lubrication. I have a couple other oiler pens, and this one actually has the finest tip, perfect for dispensing a tiny drop of LaBelle or whatever potion you like to use.

For some reason, this item (#98850) isn't listed on their web site. It is, howerver, in at least the store I went to (in Newark, California), so is probably in other stores as well.

Reply to
David Nebenzahl
Loading thread data ...

I have this picture of a new item for Walthers: a very small replica of an engineer's oilcan....

mark

Reply to
whitroth

I use something much nicer (but pricier). I just order a dozen of empty marker pens from

formatting link
fill them with several weights of oil . I use the thin tips for light oil and larger tips for heavier oils.

Maybe I should start selling these to model railroaders... :-) Too late - I gave away my secret!

Peteski

Reply to
Peter W.

Yes, but they don't have the cachet of an engineer's oilcan, of a size that's usable by human beings (as opposed to scale figures). Mmm, maybe the smallest usable one, with an appropriate spout on the tip....

Yup.

mark

Reply to
whitroth

Hey, what do you want - I model in N scale! :-)

Peteski

Reply to
Peter W.

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.