Oil cups

[teegee]

Currently, I'm using the hard-plastic type of oil cup that has three reservoirs with one lid. Works fine, but is prone to scoring a bit if you stab them with an oiler.

Last month I did exams at the BHI, and they had very nice Bergeon metal agate-cup oilers with individual lids.

On ebay I found a Chinese version that seems OK -- but has anyone here used a set of these?

(This link is link is just one of many sellers with the same product, as usual)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-New-Oil-Cup-Stand-with-4-Agate-Containers-For-Watchmaker-Watch-Repair-Tool/292568705943

Cheers!

     Rob

[Chopin]

They won't be as high quality as the Swiss ones but they should do fine... The lids might open/close a bit weird or with difficulty but it's probably a hit or miss.

[Tmuir]

I have them. The finish isnt as good as Bergeon and I think they are glass not agate, but work well enough. Lids open and close as good as a Bergeon one.

[rogart63]

Bought mine from cousinsuk . Works okay. And is a little cheaper on cousinsuk . Have tested the Bergeon so have nothing to compare  with. Have a small red Bregeon with agate and that works fine. 

[BUSAKAZ]

3 hours ago, rogart63 said:

Bought mine from cousinsuk . Works okay. And is a little cheaper on cousinsuk . Have tested the Bergeon so have nothing to compare  with. Have a small red Bregeon with agate and that works fine. 

I have these as well and I think they are grate .....

[rogart63]

3 hours ago, rogart63 said:

Bought mine from cousinsuk . Works okay. And is a little cheaper on cousinsuk . Have tested the Bergeon so have nothing to compare  with. Have a small red Bregeon with agate and that works fine. 

Bregeon is not a special brand. It's me that can't spell the to Bergeon  

[BUSAKAZ]

23 minutes ago, rogart63 said:

Bregeon is not a special brand. It's me that can't spell the to Bergeon  

[teegee]

Great, time to get a set

Cousins is much more expensive at 35 UKP, plus shipping vs 28 USD including shipping on ebay. The proper bergeon one is 90 UKP, which is not even as much as I expected. The full metal one is 260 quid though, lol

[Halvis]

I do not recommend these.
I noticed small particles in the oil, and on closer inspection I saw that it comes from the hinges. When opening and closing, the hinges grind away paint and material that ends up in the oil.

But it is much nicer to use this kind of oil cups than the cheap plastic ones, so there is no going back now. I will invest in the original Bergeon version

[teegee]

Well, that didn't work out..  I received a set from China, and it turns out the cups are made of plastic -- some sort of nylon (see picture). That's even worse than the hard plastic ones I'm using at the moment. 

The seller clearly stated that they are agate cups and apologized for the incorrect description (probably just copied from another seller anyway).  Working out a resolution now, sigh. At least he's responsive.

So now I'm very hesitant to buy another set from ebay, since I don't want to run into this issue with another seller as well.

 

 

[Halvis]

On 7/17/2018 at 6:45 AM, teegee said:

Well, that didn't work out..  I received a set from China, and it turns out the cups are made of plastic -- some sort of nylon (see picture). That's even worse than the hard plastic ones I'm using at the moment. 
The seller clearly stated that they are agate cups and apologized for the incorrect description (probably just copied from another seller anyway).  Working out a resolution now, sigh. At least he's responsive.
So now I'm very hesitant to buy another set from ebay, since I don't want to run into this issue with another seller as well.

As I said, I'm not happy with mine either, so I would not get another from ebay. I found out after it was too late to file a complaint, so that is a loss for me.

In the end the real deal is probably a better value. I have one on the way.

Edited July 18, 2018 by jdm
Please don't include pictures in quoting

[ecodec]

2 hours ago, Halvis said:

As I said, I'm not happy with mine either, so I would not get another from ebay. I found out after it was too late to file a complaint, so that is a loss for me.

In the end the real deal is probably a better value. I have one on the way.

I have the hard plastic ones, have tested them with no problems. I did re-finish the concave oil recesses though. Works well for me. I do re-finish most watch repair equipment though to my satisfaction. Expensive screwdrivers and tweezers are an example and still need to be "touched up" to make spot on.

 

[Halvis]

I have the hard plastic ones, have tested them with no problems. I did re-finish the concave oil recesses though. Works well for me. I do re-finish most watch repair equipment though to my satisfaction. Expensive screwdrivers and tweezers are an example and still need to be "touched up" to make spot on.
 

My oil cups contaminate the oil. The hinges grind away paint and material that ends up in the oil. To remedy this is simply not worth the hassle (to me)

[ecodec]

1 minute ago, Halvis said:

35 minutes ago, ecodec said:

I have the hard plastic ones, have tested them with no problems. I did re-finish the concave oil recesses though. Works well for me. I do re-finish most watch repair equipment though to my satisfaction. Expensive screwdrivers and tweezers are an example and still need to be "touched up" to make spot on.
 

My oil cups contaminate the oil. The hinges grind away paint and material that ends up in the oil. To remedy this is simply not worth the hassle (to me)

No paint or hinges on mine !! Just cover caps.

[Halvis]

No paint or hinges on mine !! Just cover caps.

I have the one the op enquired about.

[vinn3]

 the vintage oil cups are the best.  designed to be free of contamination.  either the high quality steel ( 3 hinged cups),  or the hard jewel single cups encased in wood.   they should be easy to find in "used tools for sale".    any contamination is not acceptable.  vin

[Halvis]

 the vintage oil cups are the best.  designed to be free of contamination.  either the high quality steel ( 3 hinged cups),  or the hard jewel single cups encased in wood.   they should be easy to find in "used tools for sale".    any contamination is not acceptable.  vin

I sure hope the modern Bergeon oil cups are free from contamination as well.

[JohnR725]

A amusement with the link above eBay now makes recommendations as that item is no longer available. Of course the recommendation is the same item but side-by-side one seller claims agate which is slightly cheaper then the other seller claiming plastic then of course they all look identical

A problem with plastic is each time you insert the oiler in there's the possibility of scratching the plastic with little particles coming off with time. Then there's the long term consequences of oil and plastic? As we have zero idea of the chemical makeups of the plastics the oil is going to be sitting in their basically forever even if you do change it from time to time it's still long-term oil and plastic no idea what good and bad will come from that.

Personally what I use and like is the individual cups. These are the classic oil cups originally made out of wood and agate. Later generation ones like I have or more affordable is the agate is replaced with tinted glass to look like agate and much later ones the top is plastic rather than wood.  Then I like individual cups because typically I have quite a few different lubricants. Then with individual cups they can be moved right next to the watch makes it easy to see what you're doing.

[teegee]

11 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

Personally what I use and like is the individual cups. These are the classic oil cups originally made out of wood and agate. Later generation ones like I have or more affordable is the agate is replaced with tinted glass to look like agate and much later ones the top is plastic rather than wood.  Then I like individual cups because typically I have quite a few different lubricants. Then with individual cups they can be moved right next to the watch makes it easy to see what you're doing.

Interesting.. I wonder if I should try to get a few single cups instead. For rarer oils (like braking grease), it doesn't matter if it's in a 3-cup hard plastic oil pot. Old oil cups are not that easy to find though. 

For funsies, I had a look at Cousins. Single cup, glass wells, Bergeon is 14.50. That adds up quickly.   Single cup, plastic, A*F: 23.50. Wow..  

Perhaps I should just stick with 1.50 single cup Indian ones, and teach myself to stop stabbing chips off the cup wall

[rogart63]

The cheap black one from cousinsuk i bought has hard inserts. Which material i don't know. But it ain't plastic. I use a red Bergeon with 9010 that i can move around . 

[dieale2]

Is it worth buying a vintage watch oil cup or just a decent one? There are some on ebay but it's like ~$20 for each one.

[Dpastl]

I actually 3D printed some for myself.  Took an hour of sanding and polishing but they should serve okay until I can afford better. I originally wanted to make my own cups similar to that on clickspring, but I just can't find the little agate cups for less than buying the Bergeon ones.  Oil and all the related bits to go with oiling has so far been the most expensive part of getting into watch repair for me.

[m1ks]

18 minutes ago, Dpastl said:

I actually 3D printed some for myself.  

Are those pla? That's A heap of sanding and polishing if so. That's dedication.

I was just thinking about printing some in resin. Hmmm.

[chrisdt]

What the hells wrong with glass??

https://www.eternaltools.com/watchmakers-oil-cups-set-4pc

[vinn3]

nothing wrong with glass.   oil might desolve the plastic and set up when in the watch. on the subject of hell; it might be diffacult to service watches by fire light.