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

[Russel Nash]

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 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]

Stearic(sp?) Acid. aka Ivory® Soap.

[Russel Nash]

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]

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]

Microcrystalline wax.


Joe

[jdgabbard]

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]

Okay, I'm confused now... I thought Johnson's Paste Wax had carnuba in it.



Thanks for the replies!

[high standard 40]

JPW does have carnauba but the percentage is very low. It's mostly petroleum solvent.

[fredj338]

What about adding paraffin or less moly?

[Hayfield]

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]

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!!!!
Jack

[jhalcott]

Can you "dust" the bullets with Talc or motor mica??

[JesterGrin_1]

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!!!!
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]

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]

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]

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.

[runfiverun]

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]

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]

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]

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 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