Alan wrote:

What substitute oil can I use to save me the cost of buying an additional
special oil for my Fellowes cross-cut shredder used in my home office?

Shredder manufacturers say to avoid WD40.

It seems some shredder oils are the consistency of a light machine oil
which is heavier than I would have predicted.

I wonder if some of the newer lubes (graphite sprays, PTFE, etc) would do
a good job? I guess the main requirements are probably

(1) to avoid the oil dripping off the blades soon
(2) to have enough lubricant powert os top wear
(3) to avoid holding paper dust such that over time it becomes congealed.

1) Clean it out, hit it with a teflon spray lube, Run empty for a
few seconds, let dry. Or,

1a) Take out the cutter, ion plate with titanium nitride,
reinstall. Or,

1c) Take out the cutter, microwave CVD with titanium diboride,
reinstall.

That last will shred scrap iron.

--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/lajos.htm#a2