Emulsification: Ivory vs. Chemicals

[Hip's Ax]

Greetings. I recently made a post that I had ruined a batch of lube as I got the mix too hot for too long when trying to melt the Ivory soap. The Ivory was an old dry bar that I had grated but there were still some larger pieces and even after 45 minutes of a smoking mix had not melted. I thought everything had finally melted and I added the rest of the ingredients (I was making Rebel Red) but the final product looked like a chocolate pudding jelly fish.

I had previously successfully made FWFL but I guess ATF and MMO are more delicate than castor and mineral. Guess I need something that melts easier.

In your opinion what should I do? I looked in my stash for steric acid and found I had bought everything.

1. Grate and screen the Ivory to get rid of the big pieces

2. Use Steric Acid (same amount as Ivory??)

3. Use Sodium Stearate (same amount as Ivory??)

4. Use Cetyl Alcohol (same amount as Ivory??)

Thanks in Advance!

[runfiverun]

you are using the stearate as a binder and hardener i assume.
any of them will do the job.
you will use a bit less stearic acid ,tsp v.s. tbs, than ivory soap as it is more a binder/firmer than a lubricant [the stearate is a lube] and is more concentrated.
sodium stearate will be more of a lube/and binding agent for some oils.
and the cetyl alcohol will bind with the b-wax, and dry it out.
which will firm it up that way, but you will be losing flexibility.
it will also plasticise parrafin wax [not a bad thing]
remember that lube is simple a carrier,lube,and binder/ viscosity modifier.
but each part has to play a role with the others, felix's lube uses castor oil as the lube and the mineral oil-stearate [ivory to bind it in the b- wax and may not be necessary] as the binding agents.
the mineral oil is there to bond with the castor oil so the b-wax will hold it, and the heat is necessary to bind the two together.
other oils may or may not need the heat.
my main lube is b-wax/parrafin-white lith [lithium stearate] moly [not grease] anhydrous lanolin
carnuba, and atf [tranny fluid]
my easy to make does a good job for most everything lube is alox b-wax and carnuba with some lanolin in it.
i make it with two sticks of 60-40 b-wax and xlox and one stick of carnuba red melted together with some lanolin added as it cools.
it has done everything from revolvers through 2400 fps in the 30-30,308 and 358 winchester.

[Hip's Ax]

Thanks Run, I am strictly interested in the binding aspect of these materials. I would rather control hardness with other ingredients and from what you have stated it sounds like the sodium stearate is what I should be trying first.
Thanks!