In article ,
charles writes:

In article , Andrew Gabriel
wrote:
I use WD40 to wash out the dried lubricant and clean up the bearing,
before re-oiling it (with oil, not WD40).

Note that this is a short term fix only. This happens when the original
oil which is soaked in to the phosphor bronze bearing has dried up, and
you can't get new oil into it - the pores are all blocked with dried
gunk, so you're limited by the small amount of oil you can get to coat
the surface.

If the bearing has run dry long enough to wear the hole, it's not going
to be even temporarily repairable.

A colleague used to repair fans on Tektronics 'scopes by soaking the
bearing in 3-in-one oil over a weekend. It gave it time for the oil to get
properly absorbed.

During manufacture, the bearing and oil are heated to reduce viscocity,
and it goes through a vacuum cycle under oil (possibly more than one)
to help force the oil into the bearing. You could try to mimic that.
However, I suspect the pores themselves will already be compromised if
you are starting with a dried out bearing.

Geoff (CTL) has mentioned what the oil is because he uses it, but it is
only available in large containers so not viable unless you are doing
loads of them.

--
Andrew