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Thread: Made more Ben's Red today

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Made more Ben's Red today

    I made more Ben's Red today.

    The usual formula :

    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

    DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MIX THESE INGREDIENTS TOGETHER INSIDE YOUR HOME !

    Here is the Lucas Red and Tacky about to be melted :





    Once all the components above are melted and mixed together, they were poured into a silicon baking pan.



    When the lube reached room temp., I moved the silicon baking pan to the deep freezer for 1 hour.

    The Ben's Red lube ingots came out of the mold with no problems at all :







    Here are links that should answer any questions shooters might have about making Ben's Red. *My comments & experiences and those who have experienced problems ( and the advice to correct their problems ) are included in the links below *:

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=bens+red

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=bens+red

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=bens+red

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=bens+red


    Considering the continued rising cost of bullet lubes at MidWay,see link below:

    http://www.midwayusa.com/product/712...e-stick-hollow

    This lube that I made today will provide a lot of clean & accurate cast bullet shooting for me for many months to come.

    I melt my lube and pour it into my lube sizers. These lube ingots can be cut easily with a utility knife and added to my lube pouring " soup can ".

    Please watch the You Tube video of liquid lube being poured into my two lube sizers.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ5n6...ature=youtu.be

    Thanks,
    Ben
    Last edited by Ben; 11-22-2014 at 12:24 PM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master Ole's Avatar
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    Thank you for the recipe Ben.

    I have used your lube (modified) for pan lubing and it works great for me. From what I've used it for, I just have to cut it with some lube I already had to get it to flow well around the bullets in the pan. Ben's red doesn't work for a pan lube well with my setup.


  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ole View Post
    Thank you for the recipe Ben.

    I have used your lube (modified) for pan lubing and it works great for me. From what I've used it for, I just have to cut it with some lube I already had to get it to flow well around the bullets in the pan. Ben's red doesn't work for a pan lube well with my setup.

    I've found that the flow properties ( viscosity ) of lube made by cast bullet shooters varies greatly . Pan lube users want the lube to be softer & flow better, shooters in hot climates want just the opposite.

    It is impossible for one lube recipe to please all expectations.

    Each individual will have to " adjust " the lube viscosity to his own liking.

    More beeswax added to the melt will make the lube harder, more Lucas Red and Tacky added will make the lube softer and make it flow better.

    Ben
    Last edited by Ben; 09-29-2012 at 06:18 AM.

  4. #4
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    Being able to "tweak" a lube to one's specific preferences is one of the great things about making your own. This formula is on of the few that can be adjusted quite a bit without negatively affecting the performance of the lube itself.

    I would like to see a "sticky" made of this. Ben, I know in the past you've outlined the process and tools you use to make your lube, how you mark your container with volume indicators, and a few other tidbits/tutorials in other threads. It would be great if you could sort of consolidate the creme-de-la-creme into this thread and perhaps we can implore the staff to make this a permanent fixture. What do you think?

    Gear

  5. #5
    Boolit Master

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    Ben,

    I've read nothing but great things about your formula and I'm considering making a batch. Have you run the numbers to see what a batch costs you and how much it yields? (Yes, that's the accountant/cheapskate in me showing through.)

  6. #6
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    14.5 oz Lucas Red'n'Tacky grease ~ $8
    1 bottle STP Oil treatment~ $5
    1 can JPW~ $8
    1 quart Dexron III/Mercon ATF ~ $3
    Beeswax per 3 pounds shipped ~ $18 from Randyrat

    So a little less than two tubes grease would be needed to make abatch of lube using three pounds of wax, that comes right to $50 for about five pounds of Ben's Red.

    Since standard lube sticks are, if memory serves me, 1.5 oz, and lubes are going for nearly $5 a stick these days plus shipping, and the sample batch amount I put up here yields 80 ounces of lube, or about 53 hollow sticks of lube, that's over $250 worth of lube for fifty bucks, some yard sale kitchen utensils, and a little of your time. So basically you make Ben's Red for 20% of the cost of regular lube, an 80% savings. The satisfaction of brewing your own? As they say, PRICELESS.

    Gear

  7. #7
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Not just making your own, being able to make it work for you!

    Make it harder or softer. Make it better for pan lubing, make it less heat sensitive, make it better in the cold.

    Yep, making your own is great.

  8. #8
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    ben has posted the directions for making this lube before.
    and i have said this before.
    for the love of god please follow the directions he posted for making this lube then make your changes.
    on the long term bens red thread i posted another way to make this lube.
    either way will work.
    but don't just melt the stuff in a glop at 150* and stir for a minute because that will not work.

  9. #9
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    +1 Run. One thing I've learned here is most people don't seem to read and follow directions very well, which results in a lot of questions and confusion. Perhaps it has not been impressed upon them enough how much following the recipe and the directions MATTERS.

    Gear

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by runfiverun View Post
    ben has posted the directions for making this lube before.
    and i have said this before.
    for the love of god please follow the directions he posted for making this lube then make your changes.
    on the long term bens red thread i posted another way to make this lube.
    either way will work.
    but don't just melt the stuff in a glop at 150* and stir for a minute because that will not work.
    I've been wanting to say that for months.
    Looks like I won't have to say it now.

    Grateful for your " To the point & concise comments".

    People contact me after mixing 29 things in 17 different ways ( totally contrary to the directions ) and want to know why their lube that they have made didn't turn out well...? ?

    If you can pass a 3rd grade Science test, you can easily make Ben's Red. It just isn't that hard.

    I certainly don't mind helping people by answering any questions that I can, but if a person can't ( or won't ) follow simple directions, well...........
    Last edited by Ben; 09-27-2012 at 01:39 PM.

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Gear :

    Here are links that should answer any questions shooters might have about making Ben's Red. My comments & experiences and those who have experienced problems ( and the advice to correct their problems ) are included in the links below :

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=bens+red

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=81031

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=bens+red

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=bens+red

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=bens+red
    Last edited by Ben; 09-27-2012 at 11:05 AM.

  12. #12
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    if they really wanna know why it don't work that way they could spend about 12 hours reading the quest for the ultimate lube thread.
    there is so much information in there that reading the links alone would take another 20 hours to sift through.
    then the experimentation phase would take another year or two.

    the proper cooking of the ingredients is what ties this whole thing together properly.

    ben's red is very,very similar to my E-purple and L-purple lubes.
    but i make thim with lithium and aluminum stearates and the cooking is quite bit more involved.
    this is about the simplest way to get everything pre-made for you and have the hidden benefits of added oxidizers, long chain petroleum molecules, and enough tacky blended in right from the factory.
    you can substitute a couple of different ingredients,but can you predict the outcome?
    changing the stp out to something more lith based could result in a long stringy, extremly tacky, hard- soft spotted lube.
    been there done that....

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by runfiverun View Post
    if they really wanna know why it don't work that way they could spend about 12 hours reading the quest for the ultimate lube thread.
    there is so much information in there that reading the links alone would take another 20 hours to sift through.
    then the experimentation phase would take another year or two.

    the proper cooking of the ingredients is what ties this whole thing together properly.

    ben's red is very,very similar to my E-purple and L-purple lubes.
    but i make thim with lithium and aluminum stearates and the cooking is quite bit more involved.
    this is about the simplest way to get everything pre-made for you and have the hidden benefits of added oxidizers, long chain petroleum molecules, and enough tacky blended in right from the factory.
    you can substitute a couple of different ingredients,but can you predict the outcome?
    changing the stp out to something more lith based could result in a long stringy, extremly tacky, hard- soft spotted lube.
    been there done that....
    Thank you very much for your input and comments.
    I hope all of this will be a help to those interested in Ben's Red.

    Ben

  14. #14
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    This lube is a very good lube....easy to make and very adaptable to situations for different calibers. ( i think thats what i was meaning)
    I've bet I've got enough made up to lube 100k of boolits.

    It's very easy to make, just a little time...45 min to be exact, a conscience effort to watch and maintain the melting and combining process, and you'll have a lube that works excellent for almost every situation and caliber out there.

    I've used it on everything in the hangun loads from hot loads on the 500 to pimple loads on the 38sp with excellent results.

    You can easily tweak this lube to less tacky or more tacky by simply adding more JPW. I like mine to be a loittle more tacky after doing a few experiments with loads, so I added more JPW and a tad bit more Lucas R&T with good results that got me to what I was wanting.

    IMO it's best to make a small batch per Bens directions, try it out, and if it's not up to what you're looking for try experimenting with it.
    Thats the one of many nice things about this forum, something like this recipe of Bens Red from Ben, was provided to all of us in this community to try and instructions on making was feely given out at no cost.
    Ben gave us a recipe to try out and see if we like or not. If it's not exactly what any of us weere looking for, we can experiment and post on here our results, so that someone else might come along and see the post and give it a shot and find it's what they were looking for.
    One of the nice things of us all being a family on here.

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master
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    41 mag fan,

    Those are kind words, many thanks.
    I know that you've always had great results out of Ben's Red.

    I've never wanted to make a penny from the lube recipe.
    It is free to all who would want to make it and use the lube .
    If you make it and enjoy its use, wonderful.
    If you make it and find it isn't what you're looking for, move
    on down the road...........

    I shot some Ben's Red today out of my Tikka.

    How does it look like it is doing ?



    Last edited by Ben; 10-01-2012 at 10:38 PM.

  16. #16
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    Gearnasher,

    Just FYI, found Red & Tacky at Home Depot for $5.95.

    GMT210

  17. #17
    Boolit Master Idaho Mule's Avatar
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    Ben, run, and gear, you guys are the Best!! I am new, been a lurker for a while and finally got in. Thanks to you and all the others for sharing so much knowledge, I have learned so much from this site and absolutely love it. Will start on a batch of Ben,s Red soon.

  18. #18
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    I don't want to search all over but there is one problem with the recipe not stated.
    It is in percentages but what is not said is whether it is by weight or volume.
    I found the grease for $5.88.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master
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    In Bens original thread on this lube he showed that he measures by volume.

    I made mine measured by weight. It works very well, maybe a bit softer Han I normally like. I haven't changed the hardness because it is working.

    I think the density of each item is similar enough that either by weight or volume gives about the same result.

  20. #20
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    The SG of waxes and oils are all less than one, beeswax being the most dense and the paraffin/napthenics in JPW being the lightest. We're talking less than five percent variance in mass/volume between all the ingredients, with the largest variance being with the beeswax, which will be in higher concentration if you measure by volume.

    As a side note, "white" lithium greases, particularly those containing zinc oxide and organometallic zinc compounds, tend to be heavier than water (one).

    Gear

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