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That may be true - if you aren't a red hot player!

Doesn't your ultra pure lamp oil work for either application?

“So the lubricant matters almost not at all, other than using plenty.”

While I (used to?) like Ultra Pure valve oil I have recently found that - for me - it doesn’t sit well. If I have it on a horn and don’t play for a few days, the valves stick horrendously and re-oiling doesn’t help. I have to scrub out the valves and casings and start from scratch. Seems like Al Cass would last forever and, even after months of non-use, I could just oil the valves and they’d be ready to go.

I use trombone slide oil. Probably wrong, but it works for me.

bloke wrote:difficult for me to tell much difference in (what's that fancy word...??) viscosity.

My old piston tubas are like my old jeep, they all just run better on a little heavier weight oil. Sewing machine oil is too heavy for the tuba though (tried that also : )

The way I do it (taking a page out of the bloke playbook) - I make my own. Ultra-pure lamp oil, mixed with mineral oil. Sometimes, I even put in a drop of peppermint oil, just to make it smell purty.

This way, the mixture can be tailored to each specific instrument, if so desired.

Aaaaaannnnnd, I save $$$$ - pennies per bottle, vs. $5 for 2 ounces of Al Cass (this is no small point, if you have several horns, work on or build tubas, etc.).

Works for me (ranging from newly plated pistons, to somewhat worn ones) - YMMV.

bloke wrote:Specifically, it's hard for me to tell much of a difference between 1 oz. bottles marketed as "valve oil", 1 oz. bottles marketed as "rotor oil", and 1 oz. bottles marketed as "slide oil".

I suspect you are not alone

(Coincidentally, this circular discussion regarding lubrication also exists among Model T Ford enthusiasts.)

roweenie wrote:
(Coincidentally, this circular discussion regarding lubrication also exists among Model T Ford enthusiasts.)

Ongoing and sometimes painful lubrication discussions also in the various Harley Davidson forums.
Interesting though, how many views there always are!

Lubrication only matters to people who don't have an oil that works well for them. Longevity is important to schools, techs and people who leave instruments sitting for extended periods of time. etc.etc.etc. As a tech since the beginning a few extra dollars for something that keeps your instrument working well is important.
Through college we were all turned on to the blue and I always thought it was the pistons that had issues...later found out it was all the detergent drying off and leaving a film that made the pistons not work well.
It was important when you were in the middle of a gig and your valves quit working...

I like it when people quote themselves.

I suspect they also laugh at their own jokes!!

The quality of oil you use directly correlates to how clean your horn stays under "normal" conditions. Some are blessed with routines or body chemistry that allows for clean horns with little scale, food particles, lint, hair, etc. I am not so blessed. I need an oil that will keep the valves working without having to worry about things like what I ate this afternoon. The simple and the cheap simply don't work for some. Those that know me know I'm cheap. I wish lamp oil worked for me. I tried...and it does not. Even when the horn is new, and has been cleaned several times, I have problems with sticking piston valves. I don't want to re-apply oil during intermission in order to make it through a performance without worrying about piston valves sticking.

I finally found something that works for me. It stops the new horn's valves from sticking. It stops the old horn's valves from sticking. Worth every penny not having to worry anymore.

.

bloke wrote: Many gun-owners clean their guns after each shooting session. It's not that big of a deal to clean out a musical instrument every couple of months

I do clean my instrument every couple of months and always at least the morning of, or the day before the performance....and still had sticking piston valves even when I oiled at intermission. The only time in my life when I didn't have this problem was when the instruments were old, worn and not mine (school owned). Even with the new oil, I'll still continue to follow this practice....except now, I won't have to worry.....or oil at intermission.

Tubaryan "my time (and nerves) are worth more than $8.99 per bottle" 12

bloke wrote:

Tubaryan12 wrote:

bloke wrote: Many gun-owners clean their guns after each shooting session. It's not that big of a deal to clean out a musical instrument every couple of months

I do clean my instrument every couple of months and always at least the morning of, or the day before the performance....and still had sticking piston valves even when I oiled at intermission. The only time in my life when I didn't have this problem was when the instruments were old, worn and not mine (school owned). Even with the new oil, I'll still continue to follow this practice....except now, I won't have to worry.....or oil at intermission.

Tubaryan "my time (and nerves) are worth more than $8.99 per bottle" 12

OMG...You're one of those...
That's the perfectly-wrong time to clean an instrument.
I'll let someone else explain why. I post about 20X as often as I should.

So I've heard..... but whether it's the day of or the week before, the valves still stick. It's not like they weren't sticking the weeks before or the weeks after I cleaned the instrument.

djwpe wrote:
........if you find something that seems to be more persistent, and overcomes whatever contaminants you introduce into the system, then use it.

Don Winston

This

My latest bulk quart of lamp oil has citronella in it. So when I play outside there are no bugs around.

bloke wrote: it's hard for me to tell much of a difference between 1 oz. bottles marketed as "valve oil", 1 oz. bottles marketed as "rotor oil", and 1 oz. bottles marketed as "slide oil".

My buddy worked as a machinist at LeBlanc in Kenosha. One day he was walking through the warehouse, and saw a guy seated at a 55 gallon barrel. He was methodically filling bottles of Holton Valve Oil.
The next day, he saw the same guy, seated at the same 55 gallon barrel. He was filling bottles of Holton Rotor Oil.
The next day . . . . you can guess this one . . . . . Holton Slide Oil.

I am re-entering the world of pistons very soon... I forgot about all of this valve oil nonsense!

So a 4P + 1R gives the best of both worlds, then!

bloke wrote:MM PT-6P copy?