Real Sperm Whale Oil?

[DuncNZ]

I have tried pure Jojoba oil and found it sets into a paste at well above freezing . I oiled a couple of f barrels with it and stored the guns upside down and after a week I found the flash holes blocked with dry oil , I used isopropyl alcohol to clean the residue , no problems . I purchased pure jojoba oil but I now wonder how pure it is .
There were a number of different species of whale hunted , the spermaceti found in the head of the sperm whale is probably the purest and by the way it behaved , it was a liquid which set as a light wax ,differently from oil rendered from blubber it must have a different chemical composition . The spermaceti was valued for candles as they burnt clean with a bright light and no smell or smoke .

 

[toot]

with todays methods of cloning items of past times, why not sperm oil?? just a fleeting thought.

 

[user 55555]

Sperm Whale Oil was Banned in 1972, since 1987 Illegal to sell.
be careful.

 

[Pukka Sahib]

I can't imagine that it, or sperm oil, would be anywhere near as good as a modern synthetic rust preventative.

Actually, there are some properties of sperm whale oil that they have not be able to “quite” duplicate. By in large though, the tribologists claim the synthetics are equal or superior for most applications.

 

[DuncNZ]

I can't imagine that it, or sperm oil, would be anywhere near as good as a modern synthetic rust preventative.

I have done necropsies on 2 stranded Sperm whales and seen several more , never saw any rust , and they live in salt water

 

[david w]

I can't imagine that it, or sperm oil, would be anywhere near as good as a modern synthetic rust preventative.

Have you ever seen a rusty whale?

 

[tenngun]

I had some, I THINK the hype was because for so long it was the go to oil.
Oil protects by laying an air proof layer between moisture in the air and the metal.
In all honesty I find lard, mink oil, bees wax and olive oil work the same.
Sometimes a patch comes out brown. I thought this was rust, and it scared the crap out of me. But the metal was pristine. It was just brown grease.
As a light oil it works well in locks, but I can’t really say better then 3 in 1 or any commercial gun oil.
It’s been twenty years or more since I used the last of my sperm oil.

 

[springfield art]

My only memory of whale oil is from when my great grandmother use it in her lamps.

Wow! How old ARE you, anyway?

 

[david w]

Wow! How old ARE you, anyway?

I'm 69. She had no electricity in the house. She did own a grist mill that was creek fed. She also had a working victrola.

 

[springfield art]

I'm 69. She had no electricity in the house. She did own a grist mill that was creek fed. She also had a working victrola.

Neat! They don't make 'em like that anymore!

 

[david w]

Neat! They don't make 'em like that anymore!

She was also the best cook I ever knew!

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

From my research sperm whale oil is essentially a liquid at room temperature wax.

 

[DuncNZ]

Spermaceti from the head of the Sperm whale is clear and is liquid , it can set to a waxy consistency. The oil tryed from the blubber is of a different consistency as is the oil from the bones . The most common whale oil in the early days of whaling was from Right whales , so named because they were the right whales to hunt as they were slow and floated after death .

 

[deerstalkert]

have been having good luck with rendered bear fat. have a small can of whale oil that came with the treadle sewing machine i bought my wife new when we got married. who says i'm not romantic?

 

[david w]

have been having good luck with rendered bear fat. have a small can of whale oil that came with the treadle sewing machine i bought my wife new when we got married. who says i'm not romantic?

My great grandmother had an antique sterling silver oiler filled with sperm whale oil for her foot pumped Singer sewing machine. It was handed down to my sister. I'm not sure what she did with it. As far as I know, it still worked.

 

[deerstalkert]

My great grandmother had an antique sterling silver oiler filled with sperm whale oil for her foot pumped Singer sewing machine. It was handed down to my sister. I'm not sure what she did with it. As far as I know, it still worked.

that's just what my wife's is, with the little oiler. bet i can count on one hand the times she used it in the last 56 years.
but i bet it would take all my toes and fingers to count the times i hooked my little toe on the treadle.
ever notice that wives get 3 corners of the bedroom for their treasure and squawk if we put guns in "our" corner?
her sewing machine is in the corner i have to stagger past in the dark to the head.

 

[JeffG]

Nowadays, I wouldn't touch anything related to whales or elephant.

Pretty much my feelings. Keep it quiet, use it.

 

[waksupi]

Spermaceti from the head of the Sperm whale is clear and is liquid , it can set to a waxy consistency. The oil tryed from the blubber is of a different consistency as is the oil from the bones . The most common whale oil in the early days of whaling was from Right whales , so named because they were the right whales to hunt as they were slow and floated after death .

in his history of American whaling, Eric Jay Dolin writes:

Despite this highly plausible rationale, nobody actually knows how the right whale got its name. The earliest references to the right whale offer no indication why it was called that, and some who have studied the issue point out that the word "right" in this context might just as likely be intended "to connote 'true' or 'proper,' meaning typical of the group."
— E.J. Dolin, Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, quoting a 1766 Connecticut Courant newspaper article.[10]

 

[nhmoose]

Captain Ahab picked the wrong whale, he chose poorly.

WOW I made a twofer without trying!!!!!!!!

 

[aquinn]

Ah yes, spotted owl fricasseed in sperm whale oil served on a table dressed with ivory utensils.