Originally Posted by
J Miller
ATF is great in transmissions where heat, friction, and hydraulics are in need of a quality oil. The thing is, sewing machines are not transmissions and do not function like transmissions.
The clear oil used as sewing machine oil is designed to work in sewing machines and does that very well. Any machine that sits for any lengthy period of time should be oiled before use as the oil, any type, will run off or evaporate. Some faster than others, but it does dry out.
I have used ATF as a cleaner in really stubborn machines, but when finished I cleaned it out and re-oiled the machine with Tri-Flow and never looked back.
I make suggestions as to what oils / greases to use based on my experience, but I know people will use what ever they want. I suggest Tri-Flow.
Joe
I'm not so sure about sewing machine oil being specifically designed for sewing machines.
The impression that I get from reading the MSDS sheets for these oils is that it is just plain mineral oil.
I have bought a few Singer products recently (seam ripper, bobbins etc) and it all seems to be low quality generic stuff with a Singer badge on it.
I see no reason why the oil would be any different, just cheap bulk mineral oil in a Singer-branded bottle.
I very much doubt that sewing machine oil is formulated in a lab by a team of tribologists. It's just plain off-the-shelf mineral oil that is 'good enough'.
A good example of this is 'Pellgunoil', which is a lubricant specifically designed for Crosman air pistols.
The $2, 1/4oz tube reads 'Specially Developed Formula'.
If you read the MSDS sheet, you can see that 'Pellgunoil' is in fact 'Monolec GFS SAE 30 Engine Oil'.
Most companies would have the good sense to at least change the name on the MSDS, but this is the type of thing that regularly goes on.
Transmission fluid has to be high quality, because it has to meet the stringent specs.
It is true that transmissions are far more hostile places than sewing machines, and ATF is probably overkill, but I'd rather have overkill than, er, underkill?
I'm sure Tri-Flow is also high quality, but 'sewing machine oil'? Not so much.
I'm not trying to be argumentative, just stating my case. This is something that I have researched a great deal, and I am very happy with the results.