Help - I don't want holes in my 2 inch lube sticks

[madman]

The above information should get you a great product. Just my 2cents worth. I make custom Knives and I stabilize my handle materials that I use by adding a polymer to them under vacuum. I place the material in a pressure pot that was used for painting the lid clamps on I have used an old pressure cooker in the past. 1st 1 pressurize the tank to 50 psi this drives the polymer in to the material. I let is sit for a couple of hours. Then I release the pressure and pull a vacuum on it down to 23 to 25 inHG and let it sit like that for 2 days. I have used a bell jar and a set up for doing jewelery casting before you would be amazed at how much air is removed from the liquid and the woods. I would skip the adding the pressure step but you get the basic Idea. As far a vacuum pumps you and use and old refrigerator pump or and old car a/c compressor driven by an electric motor.

[yammerschooner]

You could pour the stick just a bit longer and then cut it off flat to where you want it.

The hole runs all the way through the center, minus about 1.5 inches towards the base of the stick.

The above is the halfway mark of a 7-8 inch stick. I doubt I would get more than 1.5 inches.

I don't know if this will work or not, but try pouring a few inches at a time, allow it to cool some, pour some more and allow it to cool and so on until you have your desired length of lube stick.

This works. It is what I am currently doing. I am looking for something that would turn it into a one shot process and keep the lube from having a tendency to break funny when I cut it.

I got a deep fryer and mixed my lube.have electric conduit cut to lenth and mounted on a board with plastic caps.I pour into the conduit and dont get that.use a hair dryer to warm tubes if their metal.
the factory are extusions they dont use hot wax.they extrude it cold in continuos stick and cut to length.

I wonder if using a nonmetal pvc mold will hurt me with an attempt to warm up the mold. It sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the insight into cold extrusion.

I wonder if a sausage stuffer would work?

Interesting approach. I wonder if that would end up with air in the lube or not. I'll bet I would have to be very particular on lube temp trying this approach.

how `bout pourin straight into sizer??
tilting mold while pouring???

My goal is to have sticks ready to go so I don't have to stop the operation and restart. Here is the machine in action. It may shed some light on why pouring in liquid lube just won't work. The sizer is the second link on this page. http://www.yammerschooner.com/Reload...ng%20Tools.htm

have you checked at www.castingstuff.com ?smelter and lube making. They show a pretty nifty setup. I made mine that way and it works like a charm.
Uwe

The center hole looks to be a benefit on what I saw on there, unless I am missing something. I need to get away from it.

One of the functions of a detergent is to allow oil/grease molecules to be broken up in a way that allows water to chemically combine with them. That's how it gets oil and grease off your hands with water. That's what happens with emulsified oil used by machinists for flood coolant. It starts out as brown as motor oil and turns into something that looks like milk when you add water.

Don't know what's in the lube you mention, it may or may not have anything in it that acts like a detergent. I had that happen to me using a Lyman 450 sizer and regular Alox lube when I didn't get all the water I used to boil it out of the casting. The first part of the stream came out white and airy-looking. Apparently adding pressure to get lube to flow increases this tendency.

You mentioned trapped air and using short sticks of lube, which could trap condensed moisture in your lube. Maybe this isn't your problem, just a suggestion as to the cause of a problem.

Thank you for the enlightenment. This has been a truly educational and enlightening post, and I appreciate it. Thanks.

i don't know how much you make or if it be worth the time to set up but if you pull a vacuum on the wet pour you won't get any bubbles because all the air will be gone.
Maybe make a box caulked tight and a loose top with a gasket on it. use metal nipples, pour as usual but wrap the pipes with gutter heater to make sure they won't harden until all the molds are poured.......unplug the heater and put the cord right in the box (quickest way). just drop the lid on and have a hole in the side of the box tight enough for a shop vac hose end to be forced in. run the vac until they set up. there won't be any air in you sticks.
i do something like this when i make rubber molds and plastic canopies for my r/c planes.

Do you happen to have pictures of this? I would be thoroughly interested in seeing them, as they would seem to address my issue well.

What kind of pariffin percentage are you using? If it is high you can try the old trick that candle makers use to get the air pockets out, really simple too. When you fill your mold leave roughly 1/4 to 1/2 inch at the top. After the lube mix starts to cool and set up stab it with a nail or anything kinda long and sharp. This hole will allow release of the air bubbles and then tap the mold on your work surface to force air up and out. The key is to not do this too soon or too late; you want it to be slushy.

After that is done and the initial pour has set up take some more of your melted lube and finish filling your mold. If you want it to not be noticeable where the first pour finished and the second pour started just be sure that you are just high enough over your lubes melt temp so as to melt just a little of the original pour.

I have no idea how much paraffin is in Jake's purple.

As far as the process you mention, I am currently doing something similar to this, without the tapping. The problem is that while the edges are solid, the inside is very runny. I haven't noticed a moment were only part is slushy. I get the vacuum as it cools from the outside, opening up the center as the cooling material becomes smaller.

Have you tried this lube with less pressure? It sounds as if this could be causing some of your problems.

I've experimented from 20psi, which the luber won't work below, to over 110psi with the same issue.

I like to mix a little Carnuba Red with my BAC so I got a used small sauce pan from a second hand store and use a hot plate to melt the lubes. I then use a funnel made out of the cut off top of a 2-liter pop bottle to fill the lubersizer by pouring it in hot. I get very little air in the lube this way and I can fill it all the way up.

Liquid lube in my setup would be a headache.

The above information should get you a great product. Just my 2cents worth. I make custom Knives and I stabilize my handle materials that I use by adding a polymer to them under vacuum. I place the material in a pressure pot that was used for painting the lid clamps on I have used an old pressure cooker in the past. 1st 1 pressurize the tank to 50 psi this drives the polymer in to the material. I let is sit for a couple of hours. Then I release the pressure and pull a vacuum on it down to 23 to 25 inHG and let it sit like that for 2 days. I have used a bell jar and a set up for doing jewelery casting before you would be amazed at how much air is removed from the liquid and the woods. I would skip the adding the pressure step but you get the basic Idea. As far a vacuum pumps you and use and old refrigerator pump or and old car a/c compressor driven by an electric motor.

Do you happen to have pictures of this? I would be thoroughly interested in seeing them, as they would seem to address my issue well. You seem to have visualized my issue and described a method which would address my stated goals well.











Thank you all for your responses.

[briang]

What about making molds with a large section on top? Like the 2 inch size you want for the length you want, then upside to four or six inches in diameter for a few inches (you can expirement with how much you fill). That way when the two inch part cools it pulls lube from the large portion instead of the center of the stick. After removing them from the mold you can cut off the large portion and remelt and pour them with the next batch.