Historic Lubricants

[BrownBear]

Ned Roberts says bear oil and grease was superb for lubing and rust prevention for all muzzle loading arms and was very good for patch lube as well.

I'm able to confirm that for both brown bear and black bear. Got the brown bear fat and oil from a bear guide buddy and the black bear from an eastern friend. (We don't have black bears. The browns probably et them.)

I've been around sperm oil and seal oil, and the bear oils are in a league. Gotta say though, good as seal oil is, when it goes rancid you'll have a new appreciation for the word. :barf: Not so the bear and sperm whale.

 

[George]

Does anyone have primary documentation of any lubricants used in any way on guns in the 18th century?

Spence

 

[R.C.BINGAMAN]

Hi,Spence Happy Thanksgiving. I would think a fellow on the frontier would of used what ever lubricant he could get his hands on. As to someone in a more civilized society may have access to more refined lubricants. My personal favorite is Un-salted lard and bees wax mixture good for every thing from weapons to moccasins,even used it for small cuts and scratches received in the bush also makes a great skin softener for rough hands. never tried it but in a pinch might be ok for on a cracker or biscuit :wink: R.C.

 

[George]

The lard-beeswax mixture is what I use, and, as you say, it seems to work very well for most anything. I've never seen it mentioned in the old days, though, don't know if they used it.

Spence

 

[M. De Land]

I still have a full can of it squirreled away but will probably never use it for anything.
Got lots of fresh bear grease that probably works just as good.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Sperm oil was actually from WHALES? Man, that certainly is a relief!

Yeah, getting sperm from whales could be a tricky adventure! :shocked2: :haha:

The oil from the Sperm Whale, hence it's name, was a high grade oil that was highly valued during the 18th and 19th century for oil lamps, lubricants and candle making. Ambergris is a solid waxy waste from their digestive system that was very highly valued as a fixative for perfume and other uses. They were hunting close to extinction and the current whaling moratorium was instituted to save them from total extinction. There is now an artificial sperm oil available from petroleum sources.

 

[csitas]

Wes tex, It was good to read your post . Your rememberance of Ambergris caught my eye. I use it as a fixative for trapping lure . It's surprizeing to me that you can still buy this stuff, and that someone else knows what it is .Thank you for the mention.you are well versed.I have used bear grease coudn't say it set the world on fire, but worked.

 

[M. De Land]

I just rendered some this fall to try out and what I have read about it is that if it is burned while rendered it ruins some of it's good properties for a preservative or patch lube.
I should look clear amber color when fresh from rendering and will set up a cream white when cooled.
It is supposed to separate farther over time to clear oil on top and white grease in the bottom.
All mine is still white grease, last time I checked. I have about 2 gallons in pint jars for making bullet and patch lube.Will try adding some Bee's wax and Murphy's oil soap for black powder cartridge lube and use as is for patch lube.

 

[csitas]

It will do as you say . Some that I saved is over 30 years old. Just in a sealed peanut butter jar.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

Wes tex, It was good to read your post . Your rememberance of Ambergris caught my eye. I use it as a fixative for trapping lure . It's surprizeing to me that you can still buy this stuff, and that someone else knows what it is .Thank you for the mention.you are well versed.I have used bear grease coudn't say it set the world on fire, but worked.

Without looking it up, if I remember correctly it's "whale puke" and it washes up on shore at times, no killing of whales necessary to harvest it.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Without looking it up, if I remember correctly it's "whale puke" and it washes up on shore at times, no killing of whales necessary to harvest it.

Basically, yes! It's a secretion of bile from sperm whales. Have never collected any myself but it's said to be quite fishy smelling when fresh but becomes mildly musky as it dries and ages. At that point it's used for fixative for perfumes and rubbing alcohol.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Wes tex, It was good to read your post . Your rememberance of Ambergris caught my eye. I use it as a fixative for trapping lure . It's surprizeing to me that you can still buy this stuff, and that someone else knows what it is .Thank you for the mention.you are well versed.I have used bear grease coudn't say it set the world on fire, but worked.

Just the result of collecting 70 years of useless information! The hobby no one would like to admit to! :wink: :haha:

 

[Twisted_1in66]

People that could afford it favored whale oil with sperm oil number one. Olive oil oft called sweet oil in the day was also popular. Sheep tallow and beef tallow was also used.

Sperm oil was actually from WHALES? Man, that certainly is a relief!

:rotf: They rendered the whale blubber to get it. The oil of baleen whales is exclusively composed of triglycerides, whereas that of toothed whales (such as sperm whale) also contains wax esters.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
Dan

 

[smoothshooter]

What ratio do you use when mixing?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Sperm whale oil was from the spermaceti wax in the whale's head; from the melon organ that produces their sonar. Not from rendered blubber. It is a liquid wax, not an oil. ;-)

 

[M. De Land]

Yes, I remember reading that sperm oil came from their head chamber and was not rendered fat.
I think I remember the article saying that up to 60 gallons could be had from a large whale.
I thought to myself, can that be right? Seemed like an awful lot to me.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Yes, I remember reading that sperm oil came from their head chamber and was not rendered fat.
I think I remember the article saying that up to 60 gallons could be had from a large whale.
I thought to myself, can that be right? Seemed like an awful lot to me.

Or maybe not! :wink:
https://quimicanovaee.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/3.jpg?w=640
https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/65/73265-004-7AC2C3C9.jpg

An average sperm whale averaged 25 to 40 barrels of oil during the whaling period but there are historic accounts of some really huge ones yielding over 100 barrels.

 

[BillinOregon]

Pretty sure Melville in "Moby Dick" describes a sailor climbing down into the cut-open case or head and scooping every last drop of spermacetti out with a bucket. What a job, eh?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Yes, I remember reading that sperm oil came from their head chamber and was not rendered fat.
I think I remember the article saying that up to 60 gallons could be had from a large whale.
I thought to myself, can that be right? Seemed like an awful lot to me.

A large whale could yield as much as 500 gallons (of spermaceti).

When I was a kid we were on vacation along the shoreline off Massachusetts and a sperm whale had washed up. . . so of course we had to go check it out. You can't believe how large their head is.

Also why the whalers would risk taking on the whale that fought back. Three or four of them would set the crew up well and pay-back the owners. And Sperm Whales sink when they die. Imaging hanging onto a 50 ft, 45 ton animal in a 20 ft open boat! It wasn't until the harpoon gun came along from larger ships that we near exterminated them.

Iron men in wooden boats.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Inuit tribes hunted whales from kayaks.. Imagine that.....Like mosquitoes trying to take down a bull. :shocked2: