JonB,
Ah I see you covered your bases early! That is great work for a true scientist!
I like your answer!
Jim
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JonB,
Ah I see you covered your bases early! That is great work for a true scientist!
I like your answer!
Jim
Thanks, I'll probably order there. It should be the right stuff?Quote:
Originally Posted by JonB_in_Glencoe
(The instructions are worryingly similar to "stearine" our local candle supply stores are selling..)
I'd contact the seller and ask for details about the product...melt temp and such.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ola
It seems that sourcing MW has been taken care of, but if someone else needs some try asking candle/soap/body vendors at your local craft fair where they get theirs, or if they would be willing to split an order.
I probably still have a 50lb box around here somewhere from my candle/soap days for making body products, not sure of the specs.
Maybe I should dig it out and check the specs to see if it would be useful to anyone here.
I can't throw stuff away, but I will never use it, at least not that much, I still have enough oils/lye to make a lifetime supply of soap.
if I were to make a new batch I would use as many waxes available to me as possible.
as long as they fit the criteria of the micro-wax and bees-wax realm.
going rogue with paraffin is likely to cause some issues.
I won't have an issue sneaking some soy wax in the mix. [probably sneak some small % of alox in it too :lol:]
Well, I took the big step yesterday, and emptied my Star of the Tamarack 50-50 (Beeswax-alox2138) and put in SL68B.
Why was this a big step, something that I've never mentioned before about SL68B, is that because of the high melt temp, you can't drain/empty a lubesizer by using a heatgun or boiling in water. Although it's easy enough to change lubes by just adding a new lube on top of SL68B and just cycle it through by lubing boolits or just pushing it out with pressure and the die removed...which is a bit of a drawback...The only one I've found so far.
Anyway, when I did this, I added some "bits" of old Ideal black lube between the two lubes, so I would know when the Tamarack was gone and I was pumping pure SL68B, as they are about the same color. For continued testing purposes, I don't want any Alox in my SL68B (for good or bad)...but mostly for smokiness evaluation.
I sized about (500) SWC 158gr for a coming batch of HOT 357 Mag ammo. So I'll have some tamarack lubed and some SL68B lubed and some blended...for testing smokiness purposes.
FYI, these SWC's are a NOE clone of a double crimp groove (lyman?) and have a single generous square lube groove. It took about 200 boolits from the beginning of the blended lube with black streaking to the end, where the lube was obviously pure SL68B...in case anyone is curious.
Jon,Quote:
Originally Posted by JonB_in_Glencoe
I don't believe in melting a soap based lube again after it's made. I feed my luber/sizer mechanically. If I have to empty it out I pull the ram piston out of the die that is in the machine and crank all the lube out as a long thread. Then I remove the die and clean out that cavity where it resides as good as possible then fill er back up again. This isn't offend that I have to empty it because I don't switch lubes often. If I'm testing a lube I hand lube. Just my two cents.
Well, the corrosion tests are at the 16 month mark, still no corrosion.
I bumped this thread, as a friend and fellow cast boolit member has recently requested to join me in making a batch of this lube, for tutorial purposes. No date have been set yet.
When ya make some...I want some...
Have been reading on this site about the BEN's RED concoction. I really am confused as to some of it's constituents. Transmission fluid. I mix abit in my cosmoline cleaning solutions.
Johnson's Wax. Again...don't understand the need or use of this.
*********************************************
{ooohhh... just found this...see below..
Thanks to Ben and others who shared how they make it, I decided to try it today. This is the basic mix:
50% beeswax
30% Red, Tacky Lucas High Temp Grease
10% Johnson's Paste Wax
5% Dexron II or Dexron III Trans. Fluid
5% STP Oil Treatment
But a forum member was nice enough to describe that in other units, and using a complete Red Tacky Lucas Grease:
24 ozs. = 3 cups - melted beeswax
14 ozs. = 1 3/4 cups - Red N Tacky , heat it..it doesn't really melt
4.6 ozs. = 2/3 cup - Johnsons Paste Wax - melted
2.3 ozs. = 1/3 cup - Dexron II or III ATF
2.3 ozs. = 1/3 cup- STP Oil Treatment
Note, 1/3 cup = 5 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
************************************************** ***
GEAR-- Comments on this solution? I found what I could about the recipe for your responses.
Nose Dive
Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.
PS...just found this on this site...cannot verify accuracy...
***********************************
Johnsons Paste Wax
(From www.k-state.edu)
By weight: Isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent 75-85%, Paraffin wax 10-30%, Carnauba Wax 5-10%.
******************************************
I used to make HC Paraffin wax from crude oil before we made gasoline out of it. Used in COLD DRINK PAPER CUPS.
What is the 75%-85% HC Solvent shown above? we used naptha....ND
Gear hasn't been on loggin'd in to CB since April, so I doubt he'll see this.
I can't speak to Ben's Red.
the JPW is used for the paraffin and carnuba.
paraffin goes into full flow all at once under heat and temp it pulls the beeswax into working sooner and longer in the barrel.
the atf is used to widen the temperature window somewhat and leaves a film unlike the film from the mineral oil base of the grease.
Bens red does better with about 10% more B-wax added to the mix.
OK... I use paraffin...bees wax...some STP...Lucas red 'ticky tacky' grease and/or some old fashion Vasoline... and some red crayolas. My eyes are going bad and in some BOOLIT cavities, it is hard for me to see the lube after a few months.... i might try some food coloring...see what happens...
But...to me...adding aromatics to the mix will allow for drying and cracking and I age my boolits a few months before loading them.. My alloy needs time to, well, as Emeril says...'sit and get happy' before reloading.... I like to let'em sit for 90 days or so....
So...No BEN's RED for me... I might just make some and lube a few 45s or something...set them in the cabinet to see if indeed they 'boil off' and crack. I could be wrong you know. Once...Hmmmm...back in '68 or '69, if I remember correctly....I did make a mistake.
Nose Dive
Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.
PS...the JW folds also add aromatics to their paste stuff... and I know,,,it does dry out and crack up...
*************************************
Johnsons Paste Wax
(From www.k-state.edu)
By weight: Isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent 75-85%
I cranked out 600+ NOE 360-160-SWC through the Star (SL68B) this morning and had to refill the reservoir. While gouging out chunks of SL68B from tuna cans with a modified/bent screwdriver and pushing them into the Star, isn't as easy as dropping in a solid tube, it's not so bad, it took about 4 minutes and my hands cleaned up easily with regular hand soap and the tooling cleans up with just a wipe of a paper towel. I love this lube. These NOE boolits have a large square lube groove, the Star and SL68B sure did a nice job
OK, still learning here.
This week, I'm working on a large batch of Lee 358125RF for 9mm (1500 of them).
As I emptied the Star of lube, before I refilled it, the way I did before, I pondered...
Last time I used the bent screw driver and gouged chunks...I ended up using about 1/2 of a tuna can, to fill the reservoir. It was a bit messy.
So this time, I cut 1/2 the lube out of the tuna can, and formed that 1/2 disk shape into a tube shape. SL68B is more firm than molding clay, but it can be formed with your hands. This made refilling the reservoir as easy as putting a commercial made tube of lube in there...I don't know why I didn't think of this before.
Forming a tube wasn't messy at all, compared to pushing gouged out chunks of lube into the reservoir...which would cling to the sides...also knowing the amount it takes to fill (or almost fill) the reservoir is fairly important, because over filling is troublesome and messy to correct.
that's why I pour my lube out of the pan into a 3/4" deep cookie sheet then cut the lube into strips.
this makes a 3/4X about 1" square about 12" long.
I roll those strips over onto themselves and shape them with my hand into rolls about 1" around and cut them into 6" lengths that I store them in a cup with a lid.
I can then tear off the length I need and shove it into the star sizer.
I somehow doubt stearic acid is the cause of corrosion. Paraffin wax as used in candles had stearic acid in it. It is added to raise the melting point.Quote:
Originally Posted by runfiverun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin_waxQuote:
Paraffin wax initially suffered from having a low melting point; however, this shortcoming was later remedied by the addition of harder stearic acid.
Stearic acid is good flux and can be used for soldering copper and brass. Perhaps it's the stearic acid in candle wax that makes it usable as a flux for casting.
What kind of gear oil is that used?
Also I am trying to source out micro crystalline wax? I have found some from craft sources for microcrystalline modeling waxes and blended waxes doesn't list your melt temps.
API GL-1 Mineral Gear oil is the old timey formula with no additives.
You can get it at Napa or most any tractor dealer.
For the past few months, I've been planning to make a bunch of this lube as I was almost out (the last batch was made in 2015). Well that finally happened yesterday and it was a BIG Lube day...I may have made enough for the rest of my life?
I did 10 batches, which is 20 tunafish cans that are 3/4 full.
I had one batch flame up, right after the beeswax addition/stirring, I got a little enthusiastic and splashed some on the burner, that was scary, as I didn't have a cover handy. My quick thinking was to move the pot off the heat and hold it under the picnic table tightly to the underside, to snuff out the flames, because I had to save the batch :) After the flames were out, I poured it in the tunafish cans. Now, a day later, while that batch is a little darker, I actually think it has a better feel to it, if I ever make more, I may consider a flambe' finish, LOL.
The Big Lube day was about 5 hours(from setup to cleanup), once setup, a batch takes about 15 minutes.
While I'd like to make larger batches, I just don't think it's feasible, mostly due to the beeswax addition and crash cooling.
Here is the updated recipe.
...ever since I made the last batch, the Lube guru's offered a bit of advice to "tweek" this recipe. So, as per their recommendations, I added some paraffin and reduced the castor oil. and I re-wrote the instructions.
SL68B (I'm not changing the name)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons 90-wt GL-1 gear oil
2 tablespoons generic white petrolatum
1 tablespoon heavy mineral oil (laxative grade from pharmacy)
1 teaspoon castor oil
2 ounces fresh Ivory soap (soft, damp).
Waxes:
0.5 ounces 175º MW
0.5 ounces 185º MW
0.5 ounces 190º MW
0.7 ounces pure beeswax
0.2 ounces paraffin
Instructions:
>Melt everything except the soap and BW, I use a thick heavy wide (aluminum) 4 qt sauce pan on a gasoline camp stove.
>Then add half the soap (which should have been previously sliced into slivers, I use a kitchen scissors) Stir, it will foam up, when foam starts going down, add remaining soap,stir, and squish soap clumps.
>Stir until the mix becomes a light clear amber liquid with no gel or foam or clumps of soap remaining.
>It should be around 460F and smoking but good, I choose not to use a thermometer, it just complicates things.
>I move the pan off the heat and add the pre-melted Beeswax, stir.
>If the mix Gels up, put pan back on heat, stir until it becomes liquid. Usually this isn't the case, if it isn't, I just pour the HOT lube into tunafish cans that are sitting in a container of Ice water (or snow) to "crash cool" the lube.
Measuring/cooking setup under the open garage door.
Attachment 215301
Crash cool setup (Hammer/2x4 for busting wax)
Attachment 215302