I got lots of great SWAG (Stuff We All Get) at the AWCI Convention. One of the little things I brought home was one of Bergeon’s new oilers. These new oilers cost about $25 each whereas the old oilers cost about $3. So what makes them so much better?
The old oilers don’t work properly out of the package. The oiler needs to be shaped so that it will properly pick up and deposit a small drop of oil. This isn’t a difficult task to do, once you know how to do it, but it does take time. The new oilers are supposed to work properly out of the package. Bergeon claims they deliver consistent sized drops every time and . . . I found it to be true. I’ve been using the oiler all week and I like it. I don’t know if it is worth $25 or not but I do find it to be slightly better than my modified oiler. I’ll still use the old oiler for greases but for small drops of light oil the new oiler works well.
As I was thinking about this post it occurred to me that not everyone shapes their oilers the same so I thought I would illustrate what I do with my oilers:
The top picture is the standard Bergeon oiler. The middle picture is the new Bergeon oiler and the bottom one represents how I modify the old style oilers. By truncating the tip the drop of oil forms on the end of the oiler instead of on the side of the oiler. This makes it easier to place the oil exactly where you want it. I control the size of the drop by the motion I use when dipping the oiler in the oil. If I go straight in and out of the oil I get a big drop. If I drag the oiler out of the oil across the oil cup I get a smaller drop. With the new oiler you get the same drop size no matter how you remove it from the oil, which makes it more important to use different size oilers. The propaganda says you can apply half a drop with the new oiler and I have only found this to be true when applying a drop to a flat surface like a pallet stone because you can apply the oil from only one face of the oiler. When oiling a pivot oil seems to flow from both sides of the oiler. Perhaps I can refine my technique and better control the half drop.
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5 Comments
I was reading over Bergeon’s Basel 08 pdf brochure; these caught my eye. Regardless of price I want to try them out. That $600 stand they come in looks pretty cool too…
I don’t know about the stand but I do enjoy my oiler. I am still using it for everything but greases. It is great. It even survived one mishap where it bent and I had to bend it back. It will have to last me a full year to make it worth that $25.
Thanks for the pictures of what you do with your oilers- I know we all have different methods, and it’s great to see what someone else does with theirs. I suspect that there will be some oiler modification in my near future….
Best-
C
i just bought a Bergeon black auto oiler,, i paid less then half of retail for it..I like it but if i didn’t get a great price i would have bought something else..since the auto oiler i have is only for shock and balance jewels, i have been looking into the ergonomic Oilers for train jewels and such…if they work like bergeon and you say they do, i wouldn’t mind paying for them…it would be nice to stick the oiler in the oil and get the correct amount each time…
but a 600 dollar oil stand, is a waste of money..that is when you just have money to spend and don’t care what you spend it on
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