Tumble Lubing--Made Easy & Mess-Free

[troy_mclure]

mines returning to liquid in the heat localy. any advise?

cook it more?

[SciFiJim]

So does mine. Use it like it is. You would have to heat it to liquid anyway. It will dry.

[zuke]

The first time I cooked it , it came out too thin.
The second time when it cooled it bacame a solid block.
The third time it was great!

[pls1911]

A very late comment on a great post:
the JPW/LLA or just thinned LLA works well.
To minimize reclamation efforts to recover & recycle remaining lube on wax paper, I simply place bullets in a funnel with an exit tube smaler than bullet size, or larger one with awasher in the hole. ( Don't let the bullets plug flow...)
I flood the bullets in the funnel being lubricated and eliminate the submersion by simply draining the excess lube back into the origenal container with the use of another funnel.

After the lot drains for a moment, then stand on end per the normal process.

Normally there's not enough on the wax paper to recover, but as much lube on the slugs as any other method provides.

[maddog2020]

can the car wax New Finish be used instead of Johnson paste wax?

[Recluse]

can the car wax New Finish be used instead of Johnson paste wax?

Two totally and completely different products.

Not sure I'd use car wax (abrasives) on boolits whizzing through my barrel.

[CiDirkona]

I found tubs of Johnson's Paste Wax at my local Home Depot for $5.68. If you go to HomeDepot.com, you can search the site and see if your 'local store' has any in stock via their 'find my local store' thingy.

[Recluse]

I found tubs of Johnson's Paste Wax at my local Home Depot for $5.68. If you go to HomeDepot.com, you can search the site and see if your 'local store' has any in stock via their 'find my local store' thingy.

I've heard from several casters who have experimented using Trewax in lieu of JPW (due to availability issues) and they've had very good success as well.

Trewax has a higher concentration of carnauba and paraffin according to its sheet, so less time would need to be spent cooking off the solvents. This, in turn, would affect how you measure out your ingredients.

I always measure my ingredients after the JPW has been cooked down, then put the mix together by volume. Because I live in a warmer climate, I have left out almost all of the mineral spirits for a "summer blend."

Suppose I could call it a 47.5/47.5/5 mix?

The only purpose of the mineral spirits is to make the LLA/JPW blend manageable for viscosity. Lot of our brother casters who live in the colder northern climates need that added viscosity.

[CiDirkona]

Well, it's warm enough here in Tucson that I've so far left out the 'cooking off' part out all together. I figure leaving the lid off (and covered with a piece of window screen) for a day or two of monsoon weather might cook a good amount of solvent out of the can without the work/time/electicity. Of course, I can always cook it down if that doesn't work -- or just buy it done right form Glen when he gets it on the market.

[alamogunr]

I've heard from several casters who have experimented using Trewax in lieu of JPW (due to availability issues) and they've had very good success as well.

Trewax has a higher concentration of carnauba and paraffin according to its sheet, so less time would need to be spent cooking off the solvents. This, in turn, would affect how you measure out your ingredients.

I just looked up Trewax. I guess the clear paste wax is what you are referring to. I can't seem to access the ingredients but the description mentions carnauba so I may try it.

By the way, I just added "carnauba" to the spelling dictionary, since the word seems to show up here regularly.

John
W.TN

[alamogunr]

I've heard from several casters who have experimented using Trewax in lieu of JPW (due to availability issues) and they've had very good success as well.

Trewax has a higher concentration of carnauba and paraffin according to its sheet, so less time would need to be spent cooking off the solvents. This, in turn, would affect how you measure out your ingredients.

I just looked up Trewax. I guess the clear paste wax is what you are referring to. I can't seem to access the ingredients but the description mentions carnauba so I may try it.

Some are having trouble locating JPW. I found it at Home Depot. Or at least I found the shelf location. They said to check back in about a week. They should have some then.

By the way, I just added "carnauba" to the spelling dictionary, since the word seems to show up here regularly.

John
W.TN

[CiDirkona]

Too much?

[zuke]

Is that the first tumble? Look's kinda thin to me.

[Lonerider]

This has been a great read - gone thru all 10 pages. Thanks Recluse! Can't wait to give this a try. I have used straight Lee's alox and like a lot of folks, used to much. Seems it took forever, before solidify with out stickiness.

I wondering if anyone have used 'Bag Balm' for a substitue, until a supply of J P Wax is found?

What rancher/farmer, worth their salt, don't have a green, square container of Bag Balm laying around some where in their barns/stalls or in the kitchen?

I sure enjoy the humor.

Lonerider

[Elkins45]

Too much?

Looks kinda thin and uneven to me, but I'm judging it by 100% LLA standards. Is that LLA or a paste wax mix?

I have found that I get a more uniform and even coating when using the Recluse 45/45/10 mix if I let them dry in the tumbling container and agitate them every couple of minutes. When I just dump them out onto a plastic sheet most of the lube runs off and the top surfaces appear almost completely bare.

[Recluse]

Too much?

What kind of lube are you using? It looks like it's not mixed well.

When you cook off the JPW and blend in the LLA and stir/mix thoroughly, you shouldn't have the dark spots (LLA) visible on the boolits. If you used straight LLA or a blend that is majority LLA, you have plenty on the boolits.

Good rule of thumb with tumble-lubing is "If you can see it the lube on the boolit, you've got plenty on it." MY rule of thumb is "If you can easily see the lube, you've used too much."

[cptkeybrd]

I use Recluse formula but leave out the MS. I cook the JPW quite a bit but not too hot. The batch I got was gray and slushy. I called Johnsons and told them that, they sent me a free can. Anyway I use it 50/50 and pour into two Lee alox containers I had. The mix gets like pudding. I just put the bottle. with the pour spout open, in the microwave for 45 seconds and it goes liquid. I shake it up and draw the letter W on top of 100 bullets in a butter tub. That gives me a lite coat that dries in 30 min. I then run them through the lee sizer and then give a second coat the same way. The bullets have a very smooth coating not chunky and very even and lite. If I am shooting hot loads I then put them through the lubrisizer for some white label lube.
Works great. Thanks Recluse and hope this helps some of you.
;>}

[CiDirkona]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

That was 50/50ish. I cooked a can of of JPW down to 1/5 of it's original volume (right in its own can) and then used half of that can with half of a bottle of Alox. It was still a little bit stick and didn't dry nearly as cleanly, evenly or firmly as I wanted, so I've added a bit more JPW and acquired/mixed in some mineral spirits as well for the next go around.

First batch loaded:


Side by side with my typical D***** load:

[CiDirkona]

Has anyone used this wax?

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/st...rid=googlebase

[WallyM3]

Yes, yes and yes.

But in that bar form, they are best used on/with buffing wheels.

White diamond is what is broadly used for polishing quality smoking pipe stems. The carnauba wax is a finish buff. Tripoly is used for soft metals and for polishing metals on a wheel.

I have used White diamond to bring back badly oxidized pipe stems to a rear new finish.