CD,

A cigarette filter .... that's a good one. We don't smoke and the thought of using the filter medium as a oil reservoir wick would have never occurred to me. But you're right, it should work great.

Joe

Several of my VS machines have that oil place. The Minnesota B, Free, 127, Franklin 1911, and maybe one more. It took me a while to figure out what that was for. It came to me as I was thoroughly cleaning one of the machines and I dug out all the old oil medium and gunk and found that tiny cross hole. I forget which machine that was in. Then later I read about oiling that place in one of the manuals I have. Light bulb time. Now every time I use those machines I oil that spot and they do run quieter. It will also prevent wear to the shuttle.
For the machines without that feature, I put a drop of oil on the arched wall the shuttle runs against every so often.

Joe

I finally had time to oil Miss Florence and try treadling for the first time! She runs very quietly, but I still need to practice my treadling technique awhile before threading her up to sew. Every time I thought, ok I am getting the hang of this, I would falter and she would turn backwards :o