I have worked on many old motors that used the sawdust and oil mixture,
which is usually fairly dried out.  There are basically two types of
bearing lubrication methods: one has a lube chamber above the bearing,
sometimes the cap has a small wire pick in it which is used to mix up
the sawdust stuff to get it to release a bit more oil.

The other has a removable cylindrical cup below the bearing for the
lube and a string like felt wick that extends up into the bearing and
touches the bottom of the shaft via a hole in the middle of the bearing.
A few of these have a small spring to push the wick against the shaft.

The lube mixture was also marketed as "KOO" brand "Solid Oil".  I clean
everything and put it back like it was.  For oil I use the thick sticky
oil sold as auto lube additive under the brand "Lucas".  The real thick
stuff, "STP", seems too thick and does not follow up the wicks well
enough.

Just mix the oil with some fine sawdust to make a paste.  Do not use
dander dust as it contains grit from the sandpaper.  Sawdust from
a band saw works well.

Dave Reichert