Felix Lube - the Short Version

waksupi · 04-11-2005, 10:38 PM

Ken, you may want to make this into a sticky topic.

This is something that needed to follow us from the old board, for new members to use. I've made the formula corrections Corky had pointed out, to this rendition.

Felix Lube formula

2 Tablespoons mineral oil
1 Tablespoon castor oil
1 Tablespoon Ivory, or homemade soap (grated)
1 Tablespoon Lanolin
Beeswax - Piece approximately 3 1/2" X 3 1/2" X 1 "

Heat mineral (baby) oil until it starts to smoke.

Add castor oil, and stir continuously for 1/2 hour.

Sliver the soap, and stir into the mixture a little at a time, until melted.

Add the beeswax before the lanolin, and then when that is melted, reduce or remove the heat and add the lanolin, thus not running any risk of burning or scorching the lanolin.

1 teaspoon of carnuba wax can be added to give a shiny bore. This can be found on the seal of Makers Mark whiskey, or the red wax on cheese from the supermarket.

Once made, let cool. This can be remelted in a microwave, and poured into the lubrisizer.

MARCORVET · 04-12-2005, 12:13 AM

I have 2 questions:

1. Is this a hard lube?

2. Is this lube for smokeless or black?

Willbird · 04-12-2005, 04:47 AM

Maybe I'm too Anal, but I willbe glad when I have the formula distilled down better than that.

"Beeswax aprox X" by Y" made my first batch way too hard.

also how much sodium stearate for those that will use it instead of soap ?

And for the question,the lube can be soft or hard as you choose to make it,if too soft add parafine wax, if too hard add vaseline (re-melt to add either)

My final end result it decently hard, but softens as you work it,much like 50-50 beeswax/alox but not quite as soft to begin with

Bill

Maven · 04-12-2005, 06:40 AM

Marcorvet, Although you can use it for black powder & Pyro., it's not as good as Emmert's or some of the proprietary types. In other words, it is an excellent smokeless powder lube.

Bill, I try to adjust the hardness so that it will flow through my Lyman lube-sizer @ 50 deg. without using the external heater or if so, only briefly.

All, If you use Ivory Soap (bars), a cheese grater helps reduce it to manageable slivers in short order. It's much easier to measure when in that form. ...Maven

Finn45 · 04-12-2005, 09:21 AM

I was a bit lost in the beginning with those measures. I noticed that using actual teaspoons and tablespoons is not very accurate; some teaspoons are relatively small compared to ones from old days etc. I figured out that one tablespoon is three teaspoons, so there's easy relation. I found out (from old cooking book) that teaspoon is 5 milliliters and tablespoon 15 milliliters. Then I figured out how much 3Â½x3Â½x1" block of beeswax is by volume, it's 12.25 cubic inches and converted it to more familiar form which happened to be very close to 2 deciliters. Now I use cheap plastic household metering cups marked "1t=5ml" and "1T=15ml" and stainless 1 deciliter metering cup for adding beeswax, which is melted in separate kettle during the oil cooking. Maybe original measures will make too hard lube or too soft lube, but at least it's easy to make changes and keep things in control. You'll find that US teaspoons and tablespoons are very close to 5 and 15 milliliters (also 1:3 hehe), but of course You use US based system. You can convert beeswax measure also to more handier unit for You. This calculator helps alot:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/volume.htm

gzig5 · 04-12-2005, 09:27 AM

By rough guesstimate, it looks like about 1 1/2 - 2 cups?

If I wanted to make a big batch, is it a linear relationship for all the ingrediants?

Greg

sundog · 04-12-2005, 09:32 AM

Haw-haw-haw. That's a good'un! Way to go Finn. We now have MFWFL - Metric Felix World Famous Lube. Guaranteed to work in the finest 6, 6.5, 7, 8, and 9.3 mm rifles ever produced! I'm stopping on my way home to get a set of metric measures so I can make some METRIC BOOLIT LUBE as I was just getting ready to cast and load a bunch of 8x57 and 7.7 Jap. This has got to be one of the greatest discoveries of all time. You're a jewel, Finn, a real jewel! sundog

felix · 04-12-2005, 09:44 AM

Greg, if you could hold the temps and pressures for a big batch like you could a small batch, then the results would be close to being the same. But that's almost impossible without lab grade equipment. Besides that, there is no guarantee that your feed stock to make up the larger batch will be the same as when you made the lube before on the kitchen stove. So, the answer is NO, unless you are lucky. But then, life is too short to not have different batches of lube to play with, and that's the best excuse in existance. ... felix

StarMetal · 04-12-2005, 09:49 AM

Sundog

Tell me about your 7.7 Jap. I have one and it is the short rifle version, which isn't too short in my book. I've been neglecting it alot lately. I mostly shoot the Lyman 314299 out of it. Nailed me a deer with it using the 174 gr Hornadys which by the way shoot darn good out my rifle. Definately in the two inch group and under at 100 yds with the issue sights. I'm using sized and trimmed 30-06 brass in mine, haven't gotten around to buying any of the Graf's 7.7 brass for it yet.

Joe

felix · 04-12-2005, 10:08 AM

Bill, it would be nice if the powder manufacturers could make consistant batches, and if they did, the cost to us would approximate the cost of prescription drugs. I don't think we should even consider making equivalent batches for fear of failure. It's part of the hobby to try different powders, lubes, primers, boolit designs and compositions. Shooting BR for real is no hobby for me anymore, and I have finally, finally discovered that perfect equipment and conditions never mated with my ability to read those conditions faithfully when on the line. ... felix

Willbird · 04-12-2005, 10:38 AM

Well Felix, the powder mfg. come darned close

, or rather I should say they are pretty picky about which lots they sell us as the cannister grade of that particular powder.

On the lube, I have resolved to figuire out a weight for the beeswax that results in a lube that is jussst a tad too soft. And aquire a yard sale deep fryer this summer and make batches that fit in there OK, and just store it in said cooking device, that should last me awile between batches.

any ideas on how much sodium stearate to use ??

Bill

carpetman · 04-12-2005, 12:09 PM

Only the old geezers will remember when coffee cans had metal lids that fit back onto the can after opening. The can had an opener attached. This opener was a tee shaped key that had a slot and the can had a strip that was inserted into the slot. You then wound the key and it unpeeled the strip opening the can. The lid had a lip so that it set back over the can. With a one pound size can you could dab a little grease on the bottom,throw in a pork chop,slice up some potatoes and easily carry this in a pack. Build fire and place the can in the coals (punch hole or two in lid to release steam)and in minutes had a meal ready to eat out of the can. Then came the plastic lid. Couldn't cook with that. But the plastic lid had one very good purpose. Military guys have to attach name plates and their ribbons etc to their uniforms. These things can sag. You cut a backing, a gasket if you will, the size of the item being attached. This gasket goes on the inside of the shirt and being clear plastic,doesnt show and sweat doesn't bother it. Makes the attached item lie flat. Now, not only are they making the lid out of plastic,but the can itself. That brings me to my reason for posting this. With the old metal can, I could cook up a batch of FWFBL and when done put the plastic lid on it and store it in my cooking container. Cant do that with a plastic can. So my question is can anyone name a useful purpose the plastic can has over the old metal ones?

wills · 04-12-2005, 12:36 PM

We may still be able to get coffee in metal cans if we buy the cheap generic grocery store brands. No telling what it might taste like. Have you ever tried lewak coffee?
http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/.../easter24.html

carpetman · 04-12-2005, 01:02 PM

Wills,I did see your post before you edited it. I do understand your total frustration over plastic coffee cans. Not to worry,there is help available. Dr Phil will soon have a seminar offering help for those on the brink from plastic coffee can syndrome.(PCCS) It will require both you and your spouse to attend as it is a family dysfunction.

Finn45 · 04-12-2005, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sundog

METRIC BOOLIT LUBE

Heheheheheeeee. I didn't see it that way but it must be something, hehe. Altough this particular metric version has been producing good results with non-metric calibers for some reason. I'll found out later how it does with metric caliber in Russian based Finnish conversion of Belgian originated or something like that rifle... Oh my this is killing me...

felix · 04-12-2005, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willbird

any ideas on how much sodium stearate to use?...
Bill

Just enough sodium stearate to prevent obvious layering of the different ingredients upon cooling.

Sodium stearate is the most questionable ingredient because of impurities, either from a manufacturer as the "pure" chemical which it ain't ever going to be, or as scraped from a soap bar. I think the purest I was ever going to pay for from a manufacturer was something under 65 percent. Ivory and most homemade simple soaps have that amount. But, every soap batch I have ever made, or bought as Ivory, has been significantly different in the amount needed to glue the lube constituents. ... felix

Willbird · 04-12-2005, 05:47 PM

So probably the 1 tabelespoon of sodium stearate I used may have been too much ?? Is that why even tho I measured my beeswax to the .0001" my batch initially came out way too hard ??

Bill

gregg · 04-13-2005, 07:55 PM

I THINK my Bees Wax was 8 oz. for the batch ????

utk · 04-14-2005, 07:51 AM

I measured and weighed my block of beeswax and calculated the density. It came out close to 1.
So, unless American bees are different from Swedish, a 3.5 x 3.5 x 1 piece of beeswax should weigh approximately 7 oz. (Could very well be 8 oz, I just made a rough density calculation. Or American bees produce heavier beeswax).
Start with a slightly smaller piece and add more, if not hard enough.

utk

utk · 04-15-2005, 10:28 AM

It has been said that Baby Oil, Mineral Oil or ATF can be used for Felix Lube.
I checked two brands of Baby Oil in the Supermarket, they both contain "Liquid Paraffin".
Do your baby oil bottles say the same thing as here in Sweden?

And, (question to Felix) is liquid paraffin a "mineral oil" suitable for lubemaking?

So far I've done fine (with my limited experience) with ATF, but would Baby Oil be better?

utk

04-11-2005, 10:38 PM	#1
waksupi Moderator and trusted loob groove dealer Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Somers, Montana Posts: 6,032	Felix Lube - the Short Version Ken, you may want to make this into a sticky topic. This is something that needed to follow us from the old board, for new members to use. I've made the formula corrections Corky had pointed out, to this rendition. Felix Lube formula 2 Tablespoons mineral oil 1 Tablespoon castor oil 1 Tablespoon Ivory, or homemade soap (grated) 1 Tablespoon Lanolin Beeswax - Piece approximately 3 1/2" X 3 1/2" X 1 " Heat mineral (baby) oil until it starts to smoke. Add castor oil, and stir continuously for 1/2 hour. Sliver the soap, and stir into the mixture a little at a time, until melted. Add the beeswax before the lanolin, and then when that is melted, reduce or remove the heat and add the lanolin, thus not running any risk of burning or scorching the lanolin. 1 teaspoon of carnuba wax can be added to give a shiny bore. This can be found on the seal of Makers Mark whiskey, or the red wax on cheese from the supermarket. Once made, let cool. This can be remelted in a microwave, and poured into the lubrisizer. Last edited by waksupi; 04-11-2005 at 10:40 PM. Reason: spelling correction

04-12-2005, 12:13 AM	#2
MARCORVET Boolit Bub Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: MACON, GA Posts: 39	2 Questions I have 2 questions: 1. Is this a hard lube? 2. Is this lube for smokeless or black? __________________ ONE SHOT, ONE KILL! SEMPER FI

04-12-2005, 04:47 AM	#3
Willbird I'm A Honcho! Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: NW Ohio, almost as N and W as you can be :-) Posts: 2,171	Maybe I'm too Anal, but I willbe glad when I have the formula distilled down better than that. "Beeswax aprox X" by Y" made my first batch way too hard. also how much sodium stearate for those that will use it instead of soap ? And for the question,the lube can be soft or hard as you choose to make it,if too soft add parafine wax, if too hard add vaseline (re-melt to add either) My final end result it decently hard, but softens as you work it,much like 50-50 beeswax/alox but not quite as soft to begin with Bill __________________ Both ends WHAT a player

04-12-2005, 09:27 AM	#6
gzig5 Boolit Buddy Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 62	How much does this recipe make? By rough guesstimate, it looks like about 1 1/2 - 2 cups? If I wanted to make a big batch, is it a linear relationship for all the ingrediants? Greg

04-12-2005, 09:44 AM	#8
felix Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: fort smith ar Posts: 7,288	Greg, if you could hold the temps and pressures for a big batch like you could a small batch, then the results would be close to being the same. But that's almost impossible without lab grade equipment. Besides that, there is no guarantee that your feed stock to make up the larger batch will be the same as when you made the lube before on the kitchen stove. So, the answer is NO, unless you are lucky. But then, life is too short to not have different batches of lube to play with, and that's the best excuse in existance. ... felix __________________ felix

04-12-2005, 06:40 AM	#4
Maven Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,787	Marcorvet, Although you can use it for black powder & Pyro., it's not as good as Emmert's or some of the proprietary types. In other words, it is an excellent smokeless powder lube. Bill, I try to adjust the hardness so that it will flow through my Lyman lube-sizer @ 50 deg. without using the external heater or if so, only briefly. All, If you use Ivory Soap (bars), a cheese grater helps reduce it to manageable slivers in short order. It's much easier to measure when in that form. ...Maven

04-12-2005, 09:21 AM	#5
Finn45 Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 357	I was a bit lost in the beginning with those measures. I noticed that using actual teaspoons and tablespoons is not very accurate; some teaspoons are relatively small compared to ones from old days etc. I figured out that one tablespoon is three teaspoons, so there's easy relation. I found out (from old cooking book) that teaspoon is 5 milliliters and tablespoon 15 milliliters. Then I figured out how much 3Â½x3Â½x1" block of beeswax is by volume, it's 12.25 cubic inches and converted it to more familiar form which happened to be very close to 2 deciliters. Now I use cheap plastic household metering cups marked "1t=5ml" and "1T=15ml" and stainless 1 deciliter metering cup for adding beeswax, which is melted in separate kettle during the oil cooking. Maybe original measures will make too hard lube or too soft lube, but at least it's easy to make changes and keep things in control. You'll find that US teaspoons and tablespoons are very close to 5 and 15 milliliters (also 1:3 hehe), but of course You use US based system. You can convert beeswax measure also to more handier unit for You. This calculator helps alot: http://www.onlineconversion.com/volume.htm

04-12-2005, 09:32 AM	#7
sundog Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Koweta Mission, Oklahoma Posts: 3,059	Haw-haw-haw. That's a good'un! Way to go Finn. We now have MFWFL - Metric Felix World Famous Lube. Guaranteed to work in the finest 6, 6.5, 7, 8, and 9.3 mm rifles ever produced! I'm stopping on my way home to get a set of metric measures so I can make some METRIC BOOLIT LUBE as I was just getting ready to cast and load a bunch of 8x57 and 7.7 Jap. This has got to be one of the greatest discoveries of all time. You're a jewel, Finn, a real jewel! sundog

04-12-2005, 09:49 AM	#9
StarMetal Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3,521	Sundog Tell me about your 7.7 Jap. I have one and it is the short rifle version, which isn't too short in my book. I've been neglecting it alot lately. I mostly shoot the Lyman 314299 out of it. Nailed me a deer with it using the 174 gr Hornadys which by the way shoot darn good out my rifle. Definately in the two inch group and under at 100 yds with the issue sights. I'm using sized and trimmed 30-06 brass in mine, haven't gotten around to buying any of the Graf's 7.7 brass for it yet. Joe __________________ Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.

04-12-2005, 10:08 AM	#10
felix Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: fort smith ar Posts: 7,288	Bill, it would be nice if the powder manufacturers could make consistant batches, and if they did, the cost to us would approximate the cost of prescription drugs. I don't think we should even consider making equivalent batches for fear of failure. It's part of the hobby to try different powders, lubes, primers, boolit designs and compositions. Shooting BR for real is no hobby for me anymore, and I have finally, finally discovered that perfect equipment and conditions never mated with my ability to read those conditions faithfully when on the line. ... felix __________________ felix

04-12-2005, 10:38 AM	#11
Willbird I'm A Honcho! Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: NW Ohio, almost as N and W as you can be :-) Posts: 2,171	Well Felix, the powder mfg. come darned close , or rather I should say they are pretty picky about which lots they sell us as the cannister grade of that particular powder. On the lube, I have resolved to figuire out a weight for the beeswax that results in a lube that is jussst a tad too soft. And aquire a yard sale deep fryer this summer and make batches that fit in there OK, and just store it in said cooking device, that should last me awile between batches. any ideas on how much sodium stearate to use ?? Bill __________________ Both ends WHAT a player

04-12-2005, 12:09 PM	#12
carpetman Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Angelo,Texas Posts: 3,958	Only the old geezers will remember when coffee cans had metal lids that fit back onto the can after opening. The can had an opener attached. This opener was a tee shaped key that had a slot and the can had a strip that was inserted into the slot. You then wound the key and it unpeeled the strip opening the can. The lid had a lip so that it set back over the can. With a one pound size can you could dab a little grease on the bottom,throw in a pork chop,slice up some potatoes and easily carry this in a pack. Build fire and place the can in the coals (punch hole or two in lid to release steam)and in minutes had a meal ready to eat out of the can. Then came the plastic lid. Couldn't cook with that. But the plastic lid had one very good purpose. Military guys have to attach name plates and their ribbons etc to their uniforms. These things can sag. You cut a backing, a gasket if you will, the size of the item being attached. This gasket goes on the inside of the shirt and being clear plastic,doesnt show and sweat doesn't bother it. Makes the attached item lie flat. Now, not only are they making the lid out of plastic,but the can itself. That brings me to my reason for posting this. With the old metal can, I could cook up a batch of FWFBL and when done put the plastic lid on it and store it in my cooking container. Cant do that with a plastic can. So my question is can anyone name a useful purpose the plastic can has over the old metal ones?

04-12-2005, 12:36 PM	#13
wills Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: La Grange,Texas Posts: 2,094	We may still be able to get coffee in metal cans if we buy the cheap generic grocery store brands. No telling what it might taste like. Have you ever tried lewak coffee? http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/.../easter24.html Last edited by wills; 04-12-2005 at 01:21 PM.

04-12-2005, 01:02 PM	#14
carpetman Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Angelo,Texas Posts: 3,958	Wills,I did see your post before you edited it. I do understand your total frustration over plastic coffee cans. Not to worry,there is help available. Dr Phil will soon have a seminar offering help for those on the brink from plastic coffee can syndrome.(PCCS) It will require both you and your spouse to attend as it is a family dysfunction.

04-12-2005, 05:47 PM	#17
Willbird I'm A Honcho! Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: NW Ohio, almost as N and W as you can be :-) Posts: 2,171	So probably the 1 tabelespoon of sodium stearate I used may have been too much ?? Is that why even tho I measured my beeswax to the .0001" my batch initially came out way too hard ?? Bill __________________ Both ends WHAT a player

04-13-2005, 07:55 PM	#18
gregg Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: sd Posts: 365	I THINK my Bees Wax was 8 oz. for the batch ????

04-14-2005, 07:51 AM	#19
utk Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 351	I measured and weighed my block of beeswax and calculated the density. It came out close to 1. So, unless American bees are different from Swedish, a 3.5 x 3.5 x 1 piece of beeswax should weigh approximately 7 oz. (Could very well be 8 oz, I just made a rough density calculation. Or American bees produce heavier beeswax). Start with a slightly smaller piece and add more, if not hard enough. utk Last edited by utk; 04-14-2005 at 07:53 AM.

04-15-2005, 10:28 AM	#20
utk Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 351	Oils for Felix Lube It has been said that Baby Oil, Mineral Oil or ATF can be used for Felix Lube. I checked two brands of Baby Oil in the Supermarket, they both contain "Liquid Paraffin". Do your baby oil bottles say the same thing as here in Sweden? And, (question to Felix) is liquid paraffin a "mineral oil" suitable for lubemaking? So far I've done fine (with my limited experience) with ATF, but would Baby Oil be better? utk