Thread: Reilang Oil Can - Another Swiss Delight

Originally Posted by Greg Q

I will make sure M. Garwood sees this as he has the brother to your can. Both of mine are new...one is cast, the other spun.

GQ

And thank you Gregory for making this acquisition possible. I reckon mine is as good as new now. It sits well on the 13.

BT

My pleasure.

It is so good to graduate from the typical Super Cheap red oil can that ends up with as much oil on the outside as in the can. I will try to source more Reilangs as I find them.

GQ

Hi BT,

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

The Spezial does not work if inclined steeply. The Reilang does.

The Reilang works upside down (well the double pump ones do)

Though I've never had one to pieces, I thought they didnt have seals in the pumps. Is the seal we are talking about the seal for the bottle?

Thanks for the pictures.


Stuart

Originally Posted by Stustoys

Hi BT,

The Reilang works upside down (well the double pump ones do)

Though I've never had one to pieces, I thought they didnt have seals in the pumps. Is the seal we are talking about the seal for the bottle?

Thanks for the pictures.


Stuart

The only seal is the one between the bottle and "lid" Stu.

Bob.

Originally Posted by RayG

Only problem I've had is the neoprene seal doesn't like the waylube I'm using and expands enough that it causes a problem. A different seal material would fix the problem.

Interesting, I have the same problem with Vactra#2 in my Reilangs as well. Almost impossible to get the cap off after a while.

A short while ago Ray G suggested that I might be able to help a bloke with dimensions of some of the loosable components contained within the oilcan's pump mechanism. I had asked Dave, the bloke chasing the information, if he had searched for spare parts. Turns out Reilang are no longer around. Below is our email exchange.

I'm not expecting that this will have any relevance to the majority of members, these cans are pretty thin on the ground here, but it's a way of keeping all this information in one place. If it helps one other Reilang owner down the track then it's been worth the effort.

BT

Hello Bob,

Thank you very much for your kind offer!

If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to ask you to make the measurements and send them on to me. That's just a lot more accurate than measuring photographs. However, if you're busy or the oiler is not at hand, or whatever, I'd be very glad to have the large-size photographs. I actually used only 4 of the photographs, numbers: 3, 4, 5, and 7.

If you are in a position to do the measurements, that's great! I will re-post my spreadsheet with your measurements included for posterity: Reilang oilers probably last over a century so it's good to have data like this around and findable!

If you have a copy of Excel or similar spreadsheet program available to you, it would probably be simplest to just plug in your measurements over my guesses on the spreadsheet I posted yesterday. If not, here's a list of what I'd like:

For all 4 springs:

1. Main Pump Spring
2. Check Valve on Suction Swivel
3. Check Valve on Discharge Spout
4. Check Valve on Secondary (small) Pump

I'd like these data:

1. Spring Material (only if it seems obvious: magnetic vs. non-magnetic, etc.)
2. Spring OD (the OD of the spring helix itself, as if the spring were a cylinder)
3. ID of the Tube carrying the Spring (for the Main Spring, just the smaller tube)
4. Spring Length, end-to-end, when the Spring is relaxed.
5. Diameter of the wire used to wind the Spring.
6. The turns of wire (No. of rotations) in each of the 3 parts of the spring:
   
   
   1. Inactive Turns at one closed end of the Spring
   2. Active Turns in the middle of the Spring
   3. Inactive Turns at the other closed end of the Spring
   
   
7. Diameter of the Ball Bearing (the Main Spring, of course, doesn't have one.)

Last, on the Seal Washer on top of the Aluminum Bottle:

1. Material
2. ID
3. OD
4. Thickness
5. OD of the Aluminum Bottle itself where the Seal Washer resides.

Well, that's a lot of data - about 40 measurements. I understand completely if you don't have time for this.

All the best,
Dave Doerschuk
a.k.a. "LowEnergyParticle"

Hello Bob,

Thanks very much for the photos! These higher res ones are definitely easier to work on.

I wrote asking for a quote to this guy on ebay, Jens Putzier, who seems to have a small business based in Germany selling Reilang products to the USA. He wrote back saying he'd check with the company, but that was over a month ago so I suspect he wasn't too interested in selling bits for old oilers. So I tried www.reilang.com only to find them no longer in business! I looked around a bit yesterday, and apparently Reilang sold out a few years ago to a Zurich company called Hausammann. They're at:
http://www.hausammann.com

The Reilang products all seem to be on this page: http://www.hausammann.com/en/katalog/0.B00?urltype=1

The double-pump oiler products line apparently is now called "Merkur", and the single-pump line is "Prazisionsoler". They seem to only be selling spare parts kits for the Merkur line. Interestingly, they have a lot of oilers with the aluminum body swapped out for a polyethylene body. Ouch! Furthermore, the aluminum-bodied oilers they still sell have machined bodies, not sand-cast finish, which surely is much more slippery when wet with oil. Which is their natural state. So hang onto your nice #3 oiler!

>>> My oiler weeps from the bottle seal
RayG on the PM forum was complaining about the seal also. He thought it was neoprene, and that the oil made it gooey. My seal is made of a fibrous material, possibly wool felt, soaked through with oil. I want to give some thought to the seal; surely some improvement can be made. The oiler body is never pressurized: it has a tiny vacuum drawn on it during a pump stroke. The oiler runs at room temperature, there is no vibration source, and the oil itself is not difficult to find compatible seal materials for. And yet...they leak.

Leaking seems to be as much a constant as death and taxes, eh?

Regards,
Dave


My reply....

Main Spring. Steel. 73mm in length. 7.7mm O.D. 0.8mm thick wire. 19 turns total, 2 inactive each end.
8.2mm I.D. brass tube.

Swivel Check Valve Spring. Brass. 20mm in length. 6mm O.D. 0.3mm thick wire. 14 turns total. 2 inactive each end.
Ball for above. 5.52mm dia. Ball seated in brass end cap.

Spout Check Valve. Steel. 16mm in length. 4.85mm O.D. 0.4mm thick wire. 10 turns in total. 2 inactive each end.
Ball 5.52mm dia. Ball seated in aluminum casting .

Secondary Pump Check Valve. Steel. 17mm in length. 4.7mm O.D. 0.4mm thick wire. 10 turns in total. 2 inactive each end.
Ball 5.5mm dia. Ball seated in aluminum casting.

Oil Bottle Washer. Fibrous Material ( could be compressed felt ) 39.5mm O.D. 31.5mm I.D. 2.5mm thick.

The O.D. of the bottle neck is a bit rough. 38 to 38.5mm.

The swivel ball dimension was 5.519mm but I guess a micron or two isn't going to upset the applecart.

Hope this helps in your quest. And sorry Dave, I have no idea about spreadsheets.

Not all Reilang oilers are Swiss Made. Not anymore. I have one with cast Aluminium flask like in this picture, and it is made in Germany

As far as I can tell, the spun Aluminium flask type and the plastic flask type are still genuine Swiss made.

A Swiss named Reinhold Langgut (REInhold LANGgut) started making these oil cans in Zurich in 1948. But in 2006 a trading company named Ernst Hausammann AG took over the Reilang factory and its rights.

Thanks for the info & pictures, all filed away for the day when.....
Great oilers, I have 3 at the last count. 1 has been modified with a length of soft 1/8" copper tube at the outlet with a custom (recycled BIC ball-point pen tip from when they were brass not plastic) pointy thing to get oil into those ratty little ball oilers on my Myford.

Mark

Hi Bob,
Is this what he is after?

http://www.ajreeves.com/reilang-200m...ck-12461-p.asp

Although I've never have one in pieces, as I recall the single and double pumps are pretty much the same. So (I think) the double pump kit will service the single pump, just with a few spare parts.

I took the time to order a couple more 300ml double pumps . I wish you could still get the plastic bottle.

Stuart

Nice work BT, I admit to being a bit shell shocked by the amount of information he requested...

Thanks Stuart, that kit looks like it would have everything he needs. Reasonable price too.

Ray.

Originally Posted by Old-Biker-UK

Thanks for the info & pictures, all filed away for the day when.....
Great oilers, I have 3 at the last count. 1 has been modified with a length of soft 1/8" copper tube at the outlet with a custom (recycled BIC ball-point pen tip from when they were brass not plastic) pointy thing to get oil into those ratty little ball oilers on my Myford.

Mark

Hello Mark,

Michael G and I both have Kaiser boring heads. These heads have very small inverted cone ball oilers, the hole is about 1mm in diameter. I'm not conversant with the ball oilers Myford use though I do know that Myford provided Wanner pom-pom oilers to lubricate their fittings. I use a rubber nosed Wanner on my mill which is festooned with ball type oil nipples - https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...44#post1563644

I'm wondering if your Bic nosed Reilang might work on the Kaiser oil fitting. I take it that the Bic's pointy nose pushes down on the spring loaded ball and the tapered brass portion of the nose seals against the body of the fitting? Any chance of a snapshot? Here's the Kaiser - (for scale, the boring bar holes are 10mm in diameter)

064 (Large).JPG

Originally Posted by Stustoys

Hi Bob,
Is this what he is after?

http://www.ajreeves.com/reilang-200m...ck-12461-p.asp

Although I've never have one in pieces, as I recall the single and double pumps are pretty much the same. So (I think) the double pump kit will service the single pump, just with a few spare parts.

I took the time to order a couple more 300ml double pumps . I wish you could still get the plastic bottle.

Stuart

Good things come to those who look. Thank you Stu. I might just order another can myself.

Originally Posted by RayG

Nice work BT, I admit to being a bit shell shocked by the amount of information he requested...

Thanks Stuart, that kit looks like it would have everything he needs. Reasonable price too.

Ray.

Hello Ray,

I don't know if you have informed Dave about the Reeves site. I can if you haven't. He was planning to wind some replacement springs. I'd spend the ten quid.

BT

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Hello Ray,

I don't know if you have informed Dave about the Reeves site. I can if you haven't. He was planning to wind some replacement springs. I'd spend the ten quid.

BT

You can do the honours...

Ray

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

I take it that the Bic's pointy nose pushes down on the spring loaded ball and the tapered brass portion of the nose seals against the body of the fitting?

Yup that's exactly how it works, you might need to make a custom nozzle for those oilers but the same principle would apply. My 'BIC' nozzle is soft soldered to a bit of annealed copper tube, nice and bendy. Don't have to push too hard to seal the nozzle on the fitting and a good squirt is enough to push the muck out from between the saddle & bed.
Those Pom Pom oilers are about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Originally Posted by RayG

You can do the honours...

Ray

I did and here's Dave's reply.

On 2/26/2014 7:14 PM, Robert Thomas wrote:
Hello Dave,

There was a some further discussion on the Australian Woodworking forum in regards to Reilang cans. This link was posted - http://www.ajreeves.com/reilang-300m...ck-12460-p.asp

I don't know if in your search you found Reeves.

Regards
Bob.

Hello Bob,

Hey, that's fantastic! Reeves must have some old stock on those service kits - they're not even listed on the Hausamann site. I have just ordered a service kit and so am saved from an afternoon of mandrel-turning and spring-winding! Thank you!!! I will still finish up the work on the document and spring force calcs, and also the new seal design.

There are different service kits for 200 ml and 300 ml cans. I was slightly surprised to find out that the "No. 3" designation didn't equate to 300 ml capacity. Stamped on the outside, on the bottom of my cast can is "0,2 L", indicating 200 ml. I confirmed the volume with a measuring flask. I suppose it matters to the length of the main pump spring, I can't think of anything else the height of the can would affect. So, I want to include in the document the oil can size of your No. 3 double-pump from which your measurements came. Would you mind looking at the outside bottom of your oiler and telling me the capacity?

Thank you very much for the pointer to Reeves, and all your other help!

Best regards,
Dave

No.Thank you Stuart.