More homemade lube questions

[Marlin Junky]

OK, so I've got a sample of sodium stearate coming in the mail (supposed to be about 2 oz. of very fine powder) and am wondering how much to use when making a pound of lube. I'll either melt it in mineral oil or neatsfoot oil depending on availability and price. Should I use my casting thermometer to make sure the oil temp is 300F before adding the sodium stearate?

MJ

[felix]

No, just hot enough to melt it in without the oil smoking. Only peanut oil will not smoke at 300, and most others will begin charing a lot lower than that. Don't carbonize the oil; oil smoking is an indicator of things getting thataway. ... felix

[StarMetal]

Felix,

Check this site out for cooking oils smoking points (temperatures) and you'll see you're wrong about peanut oil.

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/CollectedInfo/OilSmokePoints.htm

Joe

I meant not wrong in that it's not the only oil.

[Marlin Junky]

OK, that's easy enough. What about the quantity of sodium stearate needed in a pound of bullet lube? I assume I'll be using 3 tablespoons of hot oil to melt the sodium stearate before adding the rest of the ingredients. Is sodium stearate usually available as a fine powder? I was told it's like talcum powder or baby powder. Pretty fine stuff I guess. I suppose I won't have it until next week.

Thanks,
MJ

[Marlin Junky]

I've been looking in vain on the internet trying to find the amount of sodium stearate contained in Ivory soap. I'd like to translate the 1 tablespoon of grated ivory requirement into a quantity that can be weighed on a typical reloading scale. The opening post to "Felix Lube - The Short Version" says 1 (one) tablespoon of grated Ivory but the actual quantity will vary quiet a bit depending on how much air is in that tablespoon. I'm coming up with about a quarter ounce of grated Ivory per tablespoon using my cheese grater. How does a quarter ounce of Ivory sound? If a quarter ounce of Ivory sounds good, does a quarter ounce of pure sodium stearate powder sound even better:???:

MJ

[waksupi]

I use home made soap in my FWFL. So, I don't know for sure if the Ivory transfers over. Anyway, when adding the soap, I do it just a bit at a time. If you watch closely, you can see when the oils have reached a saturation point. The mix will look pretty much all the same, with no trailings of soap separate from the oil. It's kind of hard to explain, and much easier once you have seen it. Once you reach this point, however, adding more soap is unnecessary.

[Marlin Junky]

Here's an oil question:

Wouldn't it be better to use oils containing only saturated fats in order to promote long self life? The UNsaturated fats will become rancid over time, right? So, I'm thinking as far as cooking oils are concerned, how about using coconut or palm oil in conjunction with the castor oil in WFL? Which cheap saturated fat cooking oils have a high flash point? High enough that is, to polymerize the castor oil and melt enough sodium stearate (or Ivory, whatever) to create a bullet lube with a high melting point?

MJ

[felix]

Yes, I do like coconut oil a whole lot because it aids in promoting a lower lube viscosity. Perhaps the best oil to prevent the micro bugs is plain baby oil, mineral oil. It does not hurt to use both oils in the same lube. It seems one of the high temp oils should be used to introduce the sodium stearate, just enough to get the job done on both accounts. I think Joe's web page has which ones have the highest smoke points. Longevity of lube is of no concern because it won't last long enough anyway if you are a real shooter. Besides it is more fun trying out different versions, so don't make a ton of any one. If one goes rancid, use it for flux. ... felix

[Marlin Junky]

All my lubing is pan lubing so I need to make about a pound at a time. If that flops I'll either dump it or give it away. I don't use any greasy material as a "flux". The wheel weights get rendered in the back yard over a propane burner with used candle wax via the lil' woman's obsession and that's the extent of my "fluxing". To keep the melt from oxidizing on its surface I place a half inch of clay on top which works fine using a Rowell#2 dipper. I shoot a bunch of .30 to .35 cal. rifle stuff but at only .4 to .5 grains of lube per shot, a half pound lasts a long time... probably in excess of a year.

Thanks for the input on coconut oil!

MJ

[Marlin Junky]

I checked three grocery stores tonight for coconut oil and couldn't find a single drop so I picked up some Star Extra Light Olive Oil. This stuff had the least amount of polyunsaturated fat of any cooking oil on the shelf and from the link above, doesn't start smoking until 468F!

My question is: Should I combine this olive oil and mineral oil to cook with castor oil, or should I just use the olive oil and castor oil in 2:1 ratio? I'd like to cook the oils at 300F (I'll watch the temp with my casting thermometer) and add the maximum amount of Ivory (or sodium stearate) to create a high temp summer time lube.

MJ