Posted by Chuck on July 06, 1999 at 10:56:03:
In Reply to: silicons posted by Mark on July 06, 1999 at 01:39:46:
Dimethyl Siloxane (silicone oil) is one of the least-used lubricants in commercial practice for the simple reason that as a lubricant, it isn't much better than plain old mineral oil. What it IS good for is as a mold release agent.
Did you know that synthetic lubricants got their start on the Russian Front during WWII? Seems that during the Russian winter, pistols wouldn't fire and tanks wouldn't budge because their lubrication froze. So Hitler had his chemists cook up some long-chain molecules that would resist freezing. An interesting historical tidbit.
Myself, I use rotor oil generously daily on my piston-valved horns. The valves stay very fast and clean and I don't worry about oil-water interactions--the oil doesn't stay around long enough!