Got Another Mystery Object

Oiler cup. I have been around antique engines for some time. They can still be purchased.

A random supplier page.

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By George, GriderPirate.   I do believe you hit that one square on the nail-head.   After reading your post, I looked up oil cups and found a picture of one identical to the piece I was asking about.

Thanks,

BA

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I believe GriderPirate is correct. A friend of mine in southeastern CT had an old barn where his family had built a belt driven tool system over the generations of ownership. They had one steam engine with a boiler and all kinds of leather belts, some of them 30 feet in diameter, running around the ceiling. He was always going around with his oil can and filling up those cups which were quite different in shape in a variety of sizes. Yours would definitely function the same as his did. They wicked oil up via a rope to a bearing to allow continuous operation of the equipment. His kids, son and daughter, still run a furniture manufacturing plant there where they custom build to order only.

They have added a backup electric motor but the smell of steam, leather and oil still smacks you in the face when you walk it. That reminds me that I need to visit them again soon.

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		Quote:			Posted by mrs.oroblanco
	I would tend to agree - except I'm pretty sure the hole has to go all the way through to be used as an oiler. (shrug).

If so, the oil would overflow when the cup was full. Those old cups did require manual refilling.

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		Quote:			Posted by mrs.oroblanco
	If its an oiler - can someone show a pic of how it would work?

For now, a word picture. In the fall, I'll go and photograph some in action if this topic is still alive. I plan to visit my old pal who still uses them.

The cup is oriented differently from the picture in use where it is turned upright like a chalice. The oil sits inside the cup and must be filled regularly. A felt or rope wick carries the oil to the part needing it which brings it up by capillary action. The oil used is machine oil, not motor oil. Machine oil like 3-in-1 oil or Marvel Mystery Oil is much thinner than regular oil and is applied from an oilcan. One of those kind that the Tin Man on Wizard of Oz used.

I initially didn't recognize it for what it was because my friend's work shop uses square reservoir oil cups with a greater capacity than this one. The oil is not pumped in from below but added from an oilcan via the open top. Remember, these things have been used for 500 years or more when industrialization was in its infancy. Modern day machinery doesn't use these any more but there are some things that use a dip or spray from oil. Some printing presses with exposed gears and mechanical levers still use an open oiling system.

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