Sperm whale oil was good stuff, and chemists worked for many years to find a suitable replacement. It was an outstanding lubricant for precision machinery (including timepieces), worked well at preserving metal and wood and was also a moisture-displacing substance. I experimented with it for a while as a patch lubricant for cloth and paper patched bullets, but in that application I found it to be no better than bear or neatsfoot oil, which I currently use.