This section is from the book "Cassell's Cyclopaedia Of Mechanics", by Paul N. Hasluck. Also available from Amazon: Cassell's Cyclopaedia Of Mechanics.
In choosing the oil to be used for watches and clocks, it should be remembered that a watch will generally go from two to three years before the oil dries up. A clock, as a rule, will go from three to five years, according to the situation of the clock and the fit of its case. Dried-up oil must always be removed before applying fresh; thus a watch requires cleaning every two or three years. Watches require a very thin light oil, clocks a heavier oil; clock oil would soon stop a watch, and watch oil would soon run away from the pivots of a clock.
 
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