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View Full Version : What ingredients to add to thicken up a lube recipe, or increase its melting temp...



Russel Nash
07-04-2009, 02:14 PM
Hi all,

I made some lube at home. It consisted of:

1 pound of beeswax

one, 14 ounce tube of lithium/moly grease from the auto parts store

2 tablespoons of Johnson's Paste Wax.

I have a Star with their heater base. Much to my chagrin :confused: this homemade lube is still stickey and soft.

What should I add to it to stiffen it up and/or increase its melting temperature?

Also, I was surprised at how soft the JPW was. Should I like melt that down on its own to get rid of any solvents? Or just leave the lid off and hope they evaporate on their own?

Thanks!

oneokie
07-04-2009, 02:19 PM
Stearic(sp?) Acid. aka IvoryŽ Soap.

Russel Nash
07-04-2009, 02:37 PM
Okay, thanks OneOkie.... any other suggestions?

I have read here that it is best to take the ivory bar soap to a cheese grater, to get it to blend in with the rest of the melt.

SciFiJim
07-04-2009, 03:22 PM
Carnuaba wax flakes will stiffen up and reduce the tackiness of your lube. The best price I have found is about $13/lb shipped on eBay.

StarMetal
07-04-2009, 03:31 PM
Microcrystalline wax.


Joe

jdgabbard
07-04-2009, 06:12 PM
So carnuba will take the tacky out of lube??? That may be just the ticket that i use to get it out of my Old NRA Lube...

Russel Nash
07-04-2009, 06:21 PM
Okay, I'm confused now... I thought Johnson's Paste Wax had carnuba in it.

:confused:

Thanks for the replies!

high standard 40
07-04-2009, 06:28 PM
JPW does have carnauba but the percentage is very low. It's mostly petroleum solvent.

fredj338
07-04-2009, 08:21 PM
What about adding paraffin or less moly?

Hayfield
07-04-2009, 09:04 PM
I just went through this with my black powder lube. ( see Black powder cartridge discussion) I don't know what affect the moly is going to present to you but I added 1 oz of carnuba wax flakes to my homemade lube and it made it 'a little' stiffer but not much. I've had no leading issues with it and it shoots fine and I'm going to continue to use it in my formula for BP lube. Carnuba wax has a melting point of 187 degrees F and double boiler type mixing is probably a must. I'd be curious as to the results with smokeless powder loads. Maybe I'll give it a try later this summer.

WildmanJack
07-04-2009, 10:33 PM
I also added a bunch of Carnuba to my BP lube, Since I was a bit too, how should I put it.... I don't want to say Cheap, but.... well o.k., I was a bit too cheap to buy pure Carnuba. I heard that they covered cheese with red carnuba, well it worked, sure stiffened up my BP lube real nice but now I need a heart transplant cause of all the cholesterol I have from the dam cheese!!!! :-D:-D:-D
Jack

jhalcott
07-04-2009, 10:44 PM
Can you "dust" the bullets with Talc or motor mica??

JesterGrin_1
07-04-2009, 10:49 PM
I also added a bunch of Carnuba to my BP lube, Since I was a bit too, how should I put it.... I don't want to say Cheap, but.... well o.k., I was a bit too cheap to buy pure Carnuba. I heard that they covered cheese with red carnuba, well it worked, sure stiffened up my BP lube real nice but now I need a heart transplant cause of all the cholesterol I have from the dam cheese!!!! :-D:-D:-D
Jack

lol Same here I purchased I think it is called Gould Cheese it has a red wrapper with a red wax that covers it. I think it is about 4 or 5" Dia. And put that in my lube mix. :)

I went through this before and even threw Felix the same question and he informed me I could use parafin Wax or some call it canning wax or I can just add more Bees Wax. But I did just that I put in more Bees Wax and used the Wax from the Gould cheese. Still soft but so far it has worked GREAT. :)

As a bunch of bottles of Makers Mark was a bit out of the ? lol.

runfiverun
07-05-2009, 12:43 AM
if you heat/melt the jpw in a microwave it will cook out the solvents [don't breathe the fumes]
just melt in a old used scented candle your wife don't want no more, it'll thicken it right up.
i use lanolin,glycerin to add softness to a lube.

Russel Nash
07-05-2009, 12:51 AM
Okay, thanks for all the replies fellas!

I have a 10 pound "sheet" of paraffin I haven't even touched yet. I might try adding a half a pound of that to my original lube mix. I hope that works.

It was kinda interesting emptying the Star lube sizer for the first time tonight.

I just cranked the heater all the way up. Which by the way with my digital meat thermometer stuck in the extra hole meant for the boolit feeder, the heater base maxed out at 260*F.... just an FYI.

Another dumb question while I am here...instead of pouring my lube into PVC pipe molds, could I just pour it into a Pyrex lipped measuring cup. Then let that cool.

Then when I want to do some lube sizing, can I just stick it in the microwave and then pour it as liquid into the Star's reservoir?

Thanks!

(I have a spare microwave by the way.)

WHITETAIL
07-05-2009, 06:44 AM
Nash, Yes you can.
I went that rout awile a go.
Now I just put my lube in a
jar.
When I need some I just melt and pour.:redneck:

runfiverun
07-05-2009, 02:13 PM
i just break a chunk off and cram it in the reservoir and let the heater do the melting as it goes down the tube.

DLCTEX
07-05-2009, 02:40 PM
I think most red rinds on cheese now days are parafin. If I were adding carnuba crystals to that mix i would leave out the JPW, as carnuba was the purpose for adding it and that would eliminate the solvents that are thinning the lube.

JesterGrin_1
07-05-2009, 02:50 PM
Dale I am not sure. I did ask the Guru Felix :) about Gould Cheese and he informed me yes it was a high percentage of carnuba. And then there is Makers Mark Whisky but that is a bit expensive unless you drink a BUNCH lol.

yodar
07-05-2009, 03:55 PM
Hi all,

I made some lube at home. It consisted of:

1 pound of beeswax

one, 14 ounce tube of lithium/moly grease from the auto parts store

2 tablespoons of Johnson's Paste Wax.

I have a Star with their heater base. Much to my chagrin :confused: this homemade lube is still stickey and soft.

What should I add to it to stiffen it up and/or increase its melting temperature?

Also, I was surprised at how soft the JPW was. Should I like melt that down on its own to get rid of any solvents? Or just leave the lid off and hope they evaporate on their own?

Thanks!
That is similar to you recipe, 1 lb of beeswax, 1 cartidge of lithium greas (1 lb) and it was renamed "Adrian's Goo"

When I decided to stiffen it up, I add a Bar of Gulfwax...If the package is a pound, each of the four bars must be 4 ounces"

Adrian's GOO works fine without a heater for all my pistol bullets, and the stiffer stuff for rifle, needs a little heat

I eschew JPW, it is mostly kerosene and the wax that's in it isn't enough.

I get PURE Carnauba from antimonyman and avoid the kerosene solvent


yodar

runfiverun
07-05-2009, 08:07 PM
the sage.com, has all kinds of goodies like beeswax,carnuba flakes,you know that kind of stuff.
sometimes the buck whatever lars's stuff costs just seems worth saving the hassle don't it.
oh yeah, his red is a nice stiffener and carnuba adder too.

JesterGrin_1
07-05-2009, 08:12 PM
Okay but why would you purchase a lube only to cut it up to make your own lube lol. When someone such as Lars has good lube to start with. It just might be me but it seems odd to do this lol.

runfiverun
07-05-2009, 08:57 PM
cause: sometimes you come across stuff like b-wax and lithium grease and moly valve lube for free.
his lube is good but it has a couple of things i don't like in some loads.
other generic loads it's just fine as is i keep one star full of red all the time.
the other two have brews and mixes and odds and ends sometimes just to work on stuff.
i have one going now that is really dang close to lymans moly but costs me about a buck a lb to make,and the red is to keep it in line with the viscosity i want.
trust me i don't pay glen for shipping when i need lube i stop by his house and pick it up.
but 75 sticks only goes so far.

JesterGrin_1
07-05-2009, 09:07 PM
75 sticks lol. I would not have enough primers to fire enough rounds for 75 sticks lol.

Russel Nash
07-05-2009, 10:31 PM
Well, I shot off about 15 rounds of my 9mm, 147 grain flat point boolit lubed with the crappy lube, today. (I haven't tweaked it yet.)

It was smokey.

*cough*cough*

But then again it was with Tite Group powder, which is really fast and I guess is notorious to smoke with lead boolits.

I would like to try either Winchester Super Target or Solo1000. IIRC, they are just a single base powder, burn cooler and so don't smoke as much.

At least the gun ran today with those 15 rounds. :-D

I would just like to try making my own lube to be self sufficient. No offense meant to Lars by coming on here to asking about tweaking my first homemade concoction.

I suspect that at some time, yeah, I will be placing an order with Lars.

runfiverun
07-06-2009, 01:22 AM
russel thats pretty perceptive of you to pick up on the powder causing the smoke.
i am currently using red and a moly mix i mentioned above in my revolvers with unique powder, it's ike using black powder. in my rifle[same loads] it is as clean as i can get with no smoking at all.
just an expansion ratio thing.
if glen was gonna get upset about us talking about making our own lubes, and mentioning his in the same thread. he woulda had an anurism long ago.

JesterGrin_1
07-06-2009, 01:23 AM
In other words have you seen the old movie Scanners lol. :) Sorry it is late lol.

runfiverun
07-06-2009, 01:32 AM
:lol:..

Russel Nash
09-15-2009, 08:35 PM
Bumpity... shamelessly bump bump...[smilie=s:

Edited to add: cool.... I was just wondering if or where my old thread here would show up. Thanks to the mods for creating a special boolit lube subforum.

geargnasher
09-15-2009, 08:55 PM
So, how'd you thicken up your lube?

Gear

Russel Nash
09-16-2009, 09:03 PM
I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Although I should work on it, and possibly another lube while the girlfriend is away and out of the house for two weeks for her Army reserve training.

It gets kinda stinky making lubes.

The other lube I have in mind is some concoction of Lucas Red-N-Tacky grease and paraffin or possibly beeswax.

Lloyd Smale
09-17-2009, 05:54 AM
it isnt a cheap way and its kind of cheating with homemade lube but what i do is cut the felix lube i make with about 25 percent magma hard blue lube. I figure if im going to add something to lube to make it hard its got to be better to add something thats actually a lubricant.