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Oil can oil?

JG Owens

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Joined
Apr 13, 2020
Messages
81
Location
Lehigh Valley, PA
When I was a kid my father would take the cans of oil he just put in the car after a change and let the remainder drain into his oil can. Every day, he'd change the can until the five cans were completely empty. When I needed to squirt some oil on my bicycle chain it was 10 W 40. My question is, nowadays what grade oil do you keep in your bench top cans?
 
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isb cornbinder

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Nov 3, 2010
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7,073
Location
Pacific South West, BC, Canada
I/we use peanut butter for many situations requiring lube. PB goes on the bedroom door knob to discourage unwanted visits. I put some PB on the executive restroom door handle, at work. The response was amusing, to say the least. One of the managers started to throw-up because he thought the brown stuff was something other than PB. Imagine that?
Peanut butter is a dual viscosity lube. It makes a door knob slippery and at the same time acts like a glue to hold banana slices to bread.
I am guessing my peanut butter is a 15-40. After it sits for a while. The 15 rises to the top and the 40 settles to the bottom. I have tried PB as a lube on my bicycle chain. The down-side is the nasty brown stripe it leaves on my pants. The location of the brown stripe leaves others thinking had I lost control.
PB is a wonderful treat. Our Bernese Mountain Dog liked PB on a wheat cracker. The Bernese would try and bark and the PB made her bark sound like MARFF, MARFF.
 

Zeke

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Aug 13, 2009
Messages
17,176
Location
Long Beach CA, the sewer by the sea.
I/we use peanut butter for many situations requiring lube. PB goes on the bedroom door knob to discourage unwanted visits. I put some PB on the executive restroom door handle, at work. The response was amusing, to say the least. One of the managers started to throw-up because he thought the brown stuff was something other than PB. Imagine that?
Peanut butter is a dual viscosity lube. It makes a door knob slippery and at the same time acts like a glue to hold banana slices to bread.
I am guessing my peanut butter is a 15-40. After it sits for a while. The 15 rises to the top and the 40 settles to the bottom. I have tried PB as a lube on my bicycle chain. The down-side is the nasty brown stripe it leaves on my pants. The location of the brown stripe leaves others thinking had I lost control.
PB is a wonderful treat. Our Bernese Mountain Dog liked PB on a wheat cracker. The Bernese would try and bark and the PB made her bark sound like MARFF, MARFF.
So, we don't know if he is kidding but there was a Dennis the Menace cartoon many years ago about greasing his wagon wheels with peanut butter.

I have a collection of old oil cans but the trigger pumpers have cutting oil in one and heinz 57 in the other. Then there's the Kroil, PB Blaster, WD, and a dozen of others including 3 in 1, clock oil and Hoppe's (cleaning) gun oil.
 

AldeanFan

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Joined
Sep 9, 2014
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Location
Niagara on the Lake
Whatever is on hand when the oil can is empty.

I have several cars that don’t take full quarts of oil - like my truck that holds 6.2Q or the wife’s car that takes 3.5Q. As a result I occasionally end up with a partial quart that I don’t want to hold on to and bother with the math at the next oil change.
These partial bottles get combined in to a gallon oil jug marked “mystery oil” and that’s used for oil changes on lawn equipment or top ups to friends cars, it’s also used to fill the oil can.
It’s a mix of 0w20, 5w20, 5w30 and 15w40, some synthetic some conventional.
 

ronr80

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Feb 13, 2013
Messages
504
Location
ontario
For years I have used the oil that comes out of my cars and recycle it on Garage door hinges and what ever needs a bit of lub, most car engine oils and not that dirty or won"t make any difference on bike chains , I even ued it for undercoating.
 
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charbar

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Feb 6, 2021
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1,993
Location
Midwest
I/we use peanut butter for many situations requiring lube. PB goes on the bedroom door knob to discourage unwanted visits. I put some PB on the executive restroom door handle, at work. The response was amusing, to say the least. One of the managers started to throw-up because he thought the brown stuff was something other than PB. Imagine that?
Peanut butter is a dual viscosity lube. It makes a door knob slippery and at the same time acts like a glue to hold banana slices to bread.
I am guessing my peanut butter is a 15-40. After it sits for a while. The 15 rises to the top and the 40 settles to the bottom. I have tried PB as a lube on my bicycle chain. The down-side is the nasty brown stripe it leaves on my pants. The location of the brown stripe leaves others thinking had I lost control.
PB is a wonderful treat. Our Bernese Mountain Dog liked PB on a wheat cracker. The Bernese would try and bark and the PB made her bark sound like MARFF, MARFF.


Well that was random. But entertaining :lol:


I use whatever quart bottle happens to be open at the time. Any weight motor oil or trans fluid.
 

larry_g

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Joined
Apr 28, 2007
Messages
16,877
Location
oregon
I'm one to drain into a oil gun. I also have oil guns with way oil, cutting oil, chain lube, and reclaimed from the bottles oil.

lg
no neat sig line
 

HenryAZ

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Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
1,054
Location
South Congress AZ
I use tractor hydraulic fluid, a gallon left over from the last change. It is a bit thinner than motor oil. I also have some in a syringe for hard to get at spots.
 

retDAC

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Joined
Oct 28, 2011
Messages
1,249
Location
near Huntsville, Ala.
For my pump oil can, I set up a funnel draining into a remarked oil bottle, then every "empty" oil container gets drained into it. Have to be careful about overfilling the can though. Motor oil, gear oil, trans fluid, power steering fluid, bar oil, etc. I use this for noncritical hinges and the like.
Also use odd containers of clean grease from messed up grease gun cartridges and such for noncritical threads.
Prefer to keep partial oil bottles as is and use that up for its application.
 

VFlorea

Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2021
Messages
8
I got one with shell Tellus 68 way oil and another with Tapfastic cutting fluid since we have tons of it at work, I just bring some home once in a while.
 
OP
J

JG Owens

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Joined
Apr 13, 2020
Messages
81
Location
Lehigh Valley, PA
Well that was random. But entertaining :lol:


I use whatever quart bottle happens to be open at the time. Any weight motor oil or trans fluid.
I was wondering about trans fluid or like lubricants. I've had a half quart of power steering fluid for about 20 years.
 

wantedabiggergarage

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Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Messages
3,897
Location
Independence, MO, USA.
Just one?
3 in 1 comes in its own can, so gramps left that in it. He had one that had straight 30 weight/lawn mower oil (not sure used or new, whatever was on hand).
I drained the synthetic compressor oil the other day, put in one and have been using it with a file stone to sharpen the lawn tools. Mineral oil in another (restaurant equipment), and as I am finding my bottles (or from garage sales), filling them with different things.
 

67CarGuy

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Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
763
Location
Outside Boston, MA
Just one?
3 in 1 comes in its own can, so gramps left that in it. He had one that had straight 30 weight/lawn mower oil (not sure used or new, whatever was on hand).
I drained the synthetic compressor oil the other day, put in one and have been using it with a file stone to sharpen the lawn tools. Mineral oil in another (restaurant equipment), and as I am finding my bottles (or from garage sales), filling them with different things.
Similar here. Kroil, PB, other aerosols, then the old-fashioned dimple bottom oil cans get a mix of whatever is leftover. I think one is ATF, I should probably start labeling them...
 

APEowner

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Oct 2, 2009
Messages
4,164
Location
Sunny, New Mexico
My oil cans have specific uses so they have specific oils in them.

Spindle oil for oiling the appropriate spots on the lathe and milling machine, engine assembly lube for engine assembly and gear oil for manual transmission assembly.
 

Lassen Forge

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Apr 26, 2014
Messages
15,135
Location
The romantic hills of central Umbria, Italy,
My car for the past 10 years used 0W20 Full Synthetic, so probably that's whats in my oil cans. Worked good for rusty **** and keeping things moving. When I use the last bottle of 0W20 I'll probably change to 5W30, since thats what my car runs now...

It's GP lube oil... I try not to overthink it.
 

64C10

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Joined
Mar 12, 2022
Messages
369
Location
Globe, Az
I’ve got 3 pump cans on my bench - one with SAE 30, one with ISO 32 hydraulic oil, and one with Rapid Tap. Then prepackaged 3 in 1, Kroil and a tube of Lubriplate.
 

dr_clyde

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Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
6,440
Location
Holland, MI
I keep a light spindle oil in one, machine slideway oil in one and drilling/tapping fluid in one.

Most oil jobs I need to do are two sliding surfaces on a machine, so way oil is the right call. If I want penetrant, I use AeroKroil.
 
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