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Oiling Olds Rotors

Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 10:14 am
by JohnL
This has come up a couple times recently, so I thought I would post a pic to make it clearer.

On most Olds valves, there's no way to directly apply oil to the back bearing. Olds got around this by putting an oil groove in the bearing and a passage between the groove and the bottom of the hole the sprindle screw goes into. To oil the bearing, you remove the screw and put oil into the hole.

Image

EDIT: FYI, this core is from an S-20 Super bass trombone, s/n 3092xx. Based on published lists, it was most likely manufactured in the fourth quarter of 1959.

Re: Oiling Olds Rotors

Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 10:20 am
by Posaunus
Thanks John. Since you showed me this, I have been oiling my Olds valves regularly. It's very effective, and keeps the valves smooth and quiet. Now I keep a straight-slot screwdriver with my valve oils.

Olds valves may be undersized ( :idk: ), but they work well.