• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

Whale oil

doghead

4 Star General /Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
26,246
1,179
113
Location
NY
Anyone ever use it as a fuel?

It was used until crude oil was discovered.

The Hubble telescope uses it for lubrication.

Anyone have any experience with it?

I'm suprised nobody has asked this before...
 

rtk

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,190
446
83
Location
Lockport N.Y.
Doghead , believe it or not but WHALE OIL was used as a additive in GM "LIMITED SLIP" gear oil additive in 50's-60's , until THAT became a BAD WORD . LOL
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
34,012
1,808
113
Location
GA Mountains
DH, do you have a source or are you planning ahead in the event a whale beaches itself on Lake Erie or Lake Ontario?
 

firefox

General
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,845
51
48
Location
Berkeley CA
I am new to this so I don't know the right protocol.
Which end of the chain are you suposed to yank on?
I am in awe of DH since he does it so well.
 

gringeltaube

Staff Member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
6,986
2,523
113
Location
Montevideo/Uruguay
Specifically sperm whale oil, in sulfurized form, was the main EP additive used in gear oils until the late 70's, until it got banned (worldwide) as raw material coming from endangered species. At that time the price had already climbed sky-high (about USD6000/ton) so it was just logic that the industry switched to cheaper (and often better) substitutes.

Whale oil has a very unique (chemical)composition and unlike vegetable oils, or i.e. common fish oil, it is a "non-drying" oil: no gumming-up of parts or the typical tackiness from being exposed to air. Also when cold-filtered it would stay liquid and clear for days, at 0ºC.

Sure enough it burns very nice and it would be an excellent fuel alternative for our MF-powered toys, BUT... as it was mentionned above: it IS a BAD WORD!
Don't even think about telling anyone about putting it in your tank, even if you could get it for free...!


G.
 
Last edited:

Coal Cracker

Member
469
2
16
Location
Weatherly, Pa.
Doghead , believe it or not but WHALE OIL was used as a additive in GM "LIMITED SLIP" gear oil additive in 50's-60's , until THAT became a BAD WORD . LOL
It was also used used by GM in the first Dynaflow transmissions in the ATF. The Whale Oil additive was available up until the early 80's.
 

doghead

4 Star General /Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
26,246
1,179
113
Location
NY
At some point, Jojoba oil became a suitable substitute for whale oil.

Anyone try running on it?

Also considering coconut oil.
 

m1010plowboy

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
3,912
2,724
83
Location
Edmonton, Canada
Hey, we're tryin' to have dinner up here......we prefer the term whale JUICE.

Whale oil was used in some early deuce transmissions in Canada.
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks