Hi Tom, In my quest for applying Protek, I have tried every type of oiler, hypo oiler, by Schaff, Jenson tools, others, etc. There are two problems with all of these oilers: 1. The amount of flow is not controllable enough; you lose too much Protek. 2. The heads of some oilers will not go in tight places between the flanges. I have found using a hypodermic syringe is the best, however you have to prepare it somewhat before using it. Syringes can be purchased from any pharmacy or veterinary supply without prescription for about .35 each. Buy a syringe that at least 100cc in size. This is a good size to handle and will do an entire action in about 3 barrels full. The needle itself should be 1.5-2" long and have an internal diameter of . 020. This may be referred to as a 20 gauge barrel, but I am not certain. You need this needle length to get good access to all action centers from any position, and this internal barrel diameter to get adequate flow. The tip of a syringe will have to be cut flush because syringes have a slice at the aperture of what looks like 70-80 degrees. This will cause Protek to flow out the side allow you to put it where you want it. Preparation: Before you cut the tip off the barrel (cutters for steel here; no center pin cutters) insert a . 020 guitar strings. At any music store, ask for a . 020 plain steel guitar string. The string is about 30" long, enough for 20-30 syringes, and cost about . 85 cents. The reason you are inserting the string into the barrel is to prevent the barrel from being crushed flat when you cut the sharp tip off. Once the tip is flat, it is impossible to "round" again, and is useless. Insert the string into the needle until it protrudes a little out the tip. Now cut (again, sharp cutters here. These needles are very hard stainless steel!). After the cut you will notice that the barrel has compressed on the guitar string. Sometimes you can pull the string out, sometimes you can't. But it doesn't matter at this point because you will hav e to "reshape" the barrel some anyway. At this point I take the smooth part of needle nose pliers and gently compress the needle in the area needed to get it back to a round shape. This will always "release" the guitar string. Applying: Usually, until the bottle of Protek (4oz size) is about 2/3 empty, you can push the syringe into the top of the bottle, and back out the plunger. It will fill up. Then I upright the syringe (needle upwards), thump it to get the air bubbles to the top, and push it the plunger a little to get all the air out. Drawback: There is something about Protek that causes the rubber part of the plunger to swell. This swelling occurs by the time you are finished doing an entire action. You will notice by the second barrel that the plunger is getting harder to push. So, when you use the syringe you cannot leave it partially filled, and then go have lunch, etc, and expect to use it again later. You will find the plunger will be nearly impossible to move! So, this is applied all at one time. Cleanup: As soon as you are finished, wash the entire syringe (especially the rubber part) in water. Fill the barrel and flush water through the tip. DO NOT store the syringe with the plunger inserted. This will compress the rubber, and make the fit no longer air tight which will cause it to leak. When I apply Protek I usually remove the entire action and balance it vertically. This way I have easier access to all the action centers. But more importantly this uses gravity to flow Protek directly into the bushings. I flip the action and apply again. This "syringe method" make sound like some trouble, but it really isn't. You will find that you will waste no Protek at all, and will have perfect control of even "micro-drops" to just the places you want it. Good luck! Devlon Western KY Univ.
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