shazzbat wrote:

"Larry Stoter" wrote in message
...
I have just got a small chain saw for the first time.

The instruction say I need to get chain saw oil, to lubricate the chain
during operation.

Do I really need a specific oil or is ordinary car gear box oil going to
work just as well?


Gearbox oil is possibly going to be a bit viscous for it, especially if
you're talking about OEP 90. General purpose light machine oil should do
you. Marketing it as chainsaw oil is almost certainly more of a revenue
stream than a special requirement. You could check out the specification on
the label for what standards it meets.

All this assumes of course that you're referring to oil for the chain (bar
oil) rather than for the engine.

Fora are full of people arguing for the use of various oils, including
several people who use old engine oil. Bottom line is that whilst it's not
the case that "oil is oil" as some say, in this instance any oil is going to
be better than no oil.

Steve

Thank you.

Interesting - from those that have actually answered the question, some
seem to think chain saw oil needs to be thick so as not to fly around,
while some think engine oil/gearbox oil is too thick.

Which confirms my initial thoughts - as you say in your 2nd sentence,
chain saw oil is nothing special but just a repackaging exercise to
generate a further market.

I will use the unused engine oil from a half-empty 5 ltr container in
the garage, which will cost me nothing.

Going rather off-topic, some years ago I visited a Castrol formulation
laboratory. It seems that the colour of engine oils has absolutely
nothing to do with the properties but is taylored to meet local market
expectations. In South America, they consider that engine oil should be
very dark while in Northern Europe, the market wants a pale oil. It's in
fact exactly the same oil with the same operating properties but Castrol
changes the colour to meet customer expectations :-)

Larry