Tumble Lubing--Made Easy & Mess-Free

[res45]

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.

http://www.trewax.com/cgi-bin/catego...?category=msds

[alamogunr]

Quote:
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.

http://www.trewax.com/cgi-bin/catego...?category=msds

MSDS doesn't list ingredients either(except for solvents). It has been awhile since I read MSDS on a regular basis but I don't think that it has what we are looking for.

John
W.TN

[Hip's Ax]

http://www.trewax.com/cgi-bin/catego...?category=msds

I've been looking into this too. JPW seems to be mineral spirits, parafin and carnauba, Trewax seems to be mineral spirits & carnauba but I can't figure out what the rest of the wax is and Briwax seems to be Toluene, beeswax and carnauba. Minwax seems to be such cheap basic fodder I doubt it worth bothering with.

[Thecyberguy]

Thanks for the info guys...

RECLUSE...

said "I melt the JPW, then "cook off" the solvents until I get a very viscal, thin liquid. On my griddle/hot plate, I set the temperature knob to 350F."

How long does that take to accomplish? How do I now when it is "done"?

[2wheelDuke]

Thanks for the info guys...

RECLUSE...

said "I melt the JPW, then "cook off" the solvents until I get a very viscal, thin liquid. On my griddle/hot plate, I set the temperature knob to 350F."

How long does that take to accomplish? How do I now when it is "done"?

Careful with that. I tried making up a batch today, and I found out that the flash point isn't all that high.

Fortunately I had a piece of metal nearby that I sealed the pot with to snuff the flames. It didn't seem to hurt my mix at least.

[CiDirkona]

I kept melting my dishsoap bottle when heating it with a heat gun, so I tried something new. I emptied my dishsoap of 45/45/10 into a old coolwhip container. When solidified, it was the consistency of thick peanut butter. I then just scoop out a tiny bit of the paste with a baby spoon or the end of a bullet and drop it in the Glad food container. I hit that with a heat gun as the food container is heat safe, and both preheat and melt the 45/45/10 at the same time. Works like a charm and even less mess than using the 45/45/10 as a liquid!

[BouseBill]

Howdy Guy, IIRC on a previous post RECLUSE stated he cooked the JPW for 15 minutes. As 2wheelDuke said be careful with getting it too hot, I started directly on the burner and after a few minutes decided to make a double boiler with another pot. I cooked mine for about 20 minutes this morning. We'll see how it turns out later today. With the heat here in Arid-zonia I hope it will solidify somewhat anyway
P.S. do it outside

[Dannix]

Welcome to the forum BouseBill!

[BouseBill]

Thanks Dannix, I coulda swore I posted an introduction, but guess I didn't, can't find it anyway/anywhere.

RECLUSE, question on the JPW/LLA? I cooked the JPW for a good 20 minutes and mixed the LLA at a 50/50 ratio, figured here in Arizona the problem would not be a failure to melt but a failure to congeal. As a test yesterday after mixing and bottling I put it in the fridge. Yep good congealing, pretty solid actually. Took it out of the fridge and left it on the counter over-night. Kinda runny, like chocolate milk this morning.
Should I try cooking longer or is the Arizona heat just too much for the wax base you think?

Bill

[Recluse]

RECLUSE, question on the JPW/LLA? I cooked the JPW for a good 20 minutes and mixed the LLA at a 50/50 ratio, figured here in Arizona the problem would not be a failure to melt but a failure to congeal. As a test yesterday after mixing and bottling I put it in the fridge. Yep good congealing, pretty solid actually. Took it out of the fridge and left it on the counter over-night. Kinda runny, like chocolate milk this morning.
Should I try cooking longer or is the Arizona heat just too much for the wax base you think?

Bill

Texas heat does the same thing to my batches.

Remember: If the lube is sludgy or solidified prior to tumble-lubing, you have to heat it up and you want it fairly viscous. The single biggest mistake in tumble-lubing is made by applying too much lube and that generally happens because the lube is too thick when being applied. This is especially true when using straight LLA.

Also remember that two light coats of this blend works far better than trying one heavy coat. My routine is to lube, size, lube, load, shoot.

And again, I heat the lube up to where it is warm to the touch before I squirt some out to lube the boolits. If the lube "congealed" up nicely when in the fridge, sounds like all is well.

[alamogunr]

I guess I will have to put mine in the refrigerator to see if I get the same result. Mine is very thin even though my shop is air conditioned. I keep the temp at around 80-85º. Still feels cool when coming in from 100º outside.

John
W.TN

[BouseBill]

John, yeppers put it in the fridge and see what happens, it should congeal. I have to wait a few days before I can cast more bullets, we'll see how it works then

[SciFiJim]

I did the fridge thing with mine. I kept track of it with an infrared thermometer as it warmed. It went from pudding to liquid between 70 and 75 degrees.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Just got done whipping me up a little batch of LLA/ JPW. I never knew that LLA was so awful till I started coming here. Now I'm on the road to recovery. My reasoning for trying it was, I think it is wise to use components I can obtain 3 blocks away ie wax at hardware store. VS ordering online. Plus I can say my lube is semi-homemade. Which is pretty cool.

[PineTreeGreen]

I also posted over on the"45/45/10 Tumble Lube for production"thread.
I made a batch the other day and it seperated into layers with a darker liquid on top. I added about a teaspoon of carnauba flakes while cooking. Does this need more cooking?

[Recluse]

I also posted over on the"45/45/10 Tumble Lube for production"thread.
I made a batch the other day and it seperated into layers with a darker liquid on top. I added about a teaspoon of carnauba flakes while cooking. Does this need more cooking?

Well this one has me scratching my head as I've never had that happen.

When did you add the mineral spirits? I add that minute amount while the LLA and JPW is still very warm and on the griddle/hot plate (which has been turned off by this point) and stir, stir and stir.

You also may have overcooked the JPW, leaving nothing to suspend the carnauba or blend in the alox.

I'm guessing at this point because like I said, A) it's never happened to me before, and B) I'm definitely not a chemist--Felix and a few others are the chemical gurus.

You might shoot Felix a PM and pick his brain a bit. If it's about lube, Felix knows it.

[pjh421]

Recluse, that is quite possibly the best tumble-lube instruction ever published.

I was going to suggest we make a sticky out of Kelbro's thread, as the Mule Snot question gets asked a lot, but THIS is EXACTLY what we all needed as reference. Mod's agree?

I use exactly the same formula (except I use blue painter's masking tape for relabeling the bottle!) for my high-volume pistol needs, shoots very well and functions flawlessly with my equipment. This non-sticky formula even works in a progressive press with boolit feeding tube.

Gear

I wonder if this lube would allow cast boolits to function in a bullet feeder such as the GSI?

Paul

[Recluse]

I wonder if this lube would allow cast boolits to function in a bullet feeder such as the GSI?

Paul

Not familiar with the GSI--any pictures or info on it? I've never used a bullet feeder in almost forty years of reloading, but don't see where this lube process would be inhibiting to it.

[PineTreeGreen]

Well this one has me scratching my head as I've never had that happen.

When did you add the mineral spirits? I add that minute amount while the LLA and JPW is still very warm and on the griddle/hot plate (which has been turned off by this point) and stir, stir and stir.

You also may have overcooked the JPW, leaving nothing to suspend the carnauba or blend in the alox.

I'm guessing at this point because like I said, A) it's never happened to me before, and B) I'm definitely not a chemist--Felix and a few others are the chemical gurus.

You might shoot Felix a PM and pick his brain a bit. If it's about lube, Felix knows it.

When I left the note the other day,I had not added the MS. I put it back on the heat and cooked it down a little more,then added the MS and now it has a label "Hershey's Select" since it looks like chocolate. It looks like I'm ready to try it on boolits.

[alamogunr]

I never got around to putting my mix in the refrigerator. It separated on its own. So, the other day I got out the double boiler, dumped the first mix in and added more Alox 606-55, JPW and an estimated amount of mineral spirits. Heated it all up and stirred well. It sure looked thin enough so I poured it up into a container and put in the refrigerator. I thought to look at it a couple of days later and everything was still mixed.

I removed it from the refrigerator and let it set in the shop for a couple more days and it did not turn liquid. I put it back in the double boiler and added more mineral spirits. It still isn't liquid at room temp. but if I heat the boolets slightly I think it will work.

The problem with knowing how much mineral spirits is due to my using the Alox 606-55. It supposedly is the same as LLA except it is a thick paste. I will get there eventually.

Another thread is discussing an alternative to LLA/JPW. I wish them luck but I doubt that I will be buying any since I have that 5 gallon bucket of Alox 606-55. If I can interest my sons in casting, that bucket will serve my grandchildren if they are interested. Sometimes obsessive/compulsive behavior is not a good thing, even if connected with casting/reloading.

John
W.TN