How hard is "hard".???

[Sully]

When using a lube/sizer such as a Lyman or an RCBS rig....I see they have heaters for use when using "hard" lubes to soften them up so they flow. So...how hard is hard if a person were to make their own lube in sticks.

Hard as a bees wax candle?? Maybe the consistency of say "Crisco"..?? Or..??

Id prefer to NOT have to buy a heater and to brew my own lubes solid enough to stay in a "stick" form...yet soft enough to flow when the pressure is applied to it.

[870TC]

Another option is to make a heater. I used the bottom of a old aluminum fry pan, bolted the sizer to it, then set a used electric clothes iron on it for heat. The small traveler irons work best.

[DragoonDrake]

I recently made a batch of lube for HIGH velocity rifle that I have to hit my sizer with a small propane blow torch for about 45 seconds to get it to flow. After that my heater is able to keep it moving, but I have let it run for an hour before sizing and it would not move. (You should have seen the lube before I softened it up. It was tougher than cat poo on a hot summer day).

[runfiverun]

if you bend it and it breaks it's hard.
if it bends its medium if you try to bend it and get slimey hands it's soft.
the difference could be the carriers or the addition of one or two ingredients making it softer or harder.
the soft gushy stuff will flow under pressure.
the medium may need some heat and more pressure.

[Maven]

Sully, runfiverun put it very well, especially if you factor in ambient temperature. As you are sure to discover when you make your own bullet lube, you can manipulate the recipe a bit to affect the stiffness of the finished product. E.g., one of the advantages of Felix Lube is the recipe's flexibility, meaning you can easily vary the hardness of the finished product.

[Sully]

if you bend it and it breaks it's hard.
if it bends its medium if you try to bend it and get slimey hands it's soft.
the difference could be the carriers or the addition of one or two ingredients making it softer or harder.
the soft gushy stuff will flow under pressure.
the medium may need some heat and more pressure.

Thanks for the input. Thats just the sort of thing I was looking for

[Sully]

Sully, runfiverun put it very well, especially if you factor in ambient temperature. As you are sure to discover when you make your own bullet lube, you can manipulate the recipe a bit to affect the stiffness of the finished product. E.g., one of the advantages of Felix Lube is the recipe's flexibility, meaning you can easily vary the hardness of the finished product.

Gotcha ya! Thanks

[fredj338]

IME, w/o a heater, the lube has to be soft enough to dent it w/ your finger pressure. Harder than that & it needs some kind of heat, even if that is 80deg air temp. WL BAC will flow fine on a warm day but if temps drop below 70, it needs a bit of heat. I think the 50/50 will flow fine at lower tems w/o heat. At least when I had a Lyman, I seem to remember that.

[Sully]

IME, w/o a heater, the lube has to be soft enough to dent it w/ your finger pressure. Harder than that & it needs some kind of heat, even if that is 80deg air temp. WL BAC will flow fine on a warm day but if temps drop below 70, it needs a bit of heat. I think the 50/50 will flow fine at lower tems w/o heat. At least when I had a Lyman, I seem to remember that.

I must have too much paraffin in my mix..? I melted some with bees wax at "close to" a 50/50 mix and then tossed in a LARGE heaping tablespoon full of vasoline.

Poured it into muffin tin to let it cool and its harder than cat **** right now. Had to sit it on top of my "Fry Daddy" to get it to loosen enough to come out of the muffin pan.

So I guess I need to add..??????

[Maven]

Sully, Been there! You need to remelt it and add more vaseline: 1 tbs. at a time until it's the consistency you want.

[Char-Gar]

Well "soft" and "hard" mean different things to different folks are are very hard to describe on the Internet. I can tell you what I do, and if that is helpful good. If not, just disregard.

I have been making my own lube for over 50 years now and have never used a heater of any kind on a lubesize machine.

I uses beeswax and Vaseline at about 65/35 percent proportions. I don't measure, just guess and if it is too hard I just add a little more Vaseline.

Glen Fryxell and others swear by a 50/50 mix of beeswax and moly auto grease. I have tried it and it works fine.

I don't hang around cold, snow and ice so I can't say how my lube work when cold. I do hang around heat, and the lube does not melt and run, even at 110 in the shade.

I have never used paraffin. It doesn't do anything to a lube, but make it harder. Why would I want to do that?

I have also never felt the need to shoot cast bullet over about 2.2 K fps or so. Mostly I stay under 2,000K fps.

[runfiverun]

you could also add some white lith to the mix when you get it warmed up.
about 5% is usually good.
i also only add about 30% paraffin to b-wax.
it mixes better. if you add too much parrafin it will start to fill the holes in the b-wax with paraffin.
which has smaller holes than the b-wax does.
effectively just making a reduced capacity carrier.
vasoline [petroleum jelly] is just another form of parrafin wax.
and be careful about how hot you get your b-wax you will cook the oils and alcohols out of it making it extrememly hard.
you could also try a spoonfull of auto trans fluid, it will help modify the parrafin, and will add softness.

[Sully]

Well "soft" and "hard" mean different things to different folks are are very hard to describe on the Internet. I can tell you what I do, and if that is helpful good. If not, just disregard.

I have been making my own lube for over 50 years now and have never used a heater of any kind on a lubesize machine.

I uses beeswax and Vaseline at about 65/35 percent proportions. I don't measure, just guess and if it is too hard I just add a little more Vaseline.

Glen Fryxell and others swear by a 50/50 mix of beeswax and moly auto grease. I have tried it and it works fine.

I don't hang around cold, snow and ice so I can't say how my lube work when cold. I do hang around heat, and the lube does not melt and run, even at 110 in the shade.

I have never used paraffin. It doesn't do anything to a lube, but make it harder. Why would I want to do that?

I have also never felt the need to shoot cast bullet over about 2.2 K fps or so. Mostly I stay under 2,000K fps.

I think since I already have 1 lb melted down...I might try some moly grease with this batch and see how it turns out. If "solidity" seems right...I'll cast some tubes to try in the resizer/luber Im getting.

[Sully]

you could also add some white lith to the mix when you get it warmed up.
about 5% is usually good.
i also only add about 30% paraffin to b-wax.
it mixes better. if you add too much parrafin it will start to fill the holes in the b-wax with paraffin.
which has smaller holes than the b-wax does.
effectively just making a reduced capacity carrier.
vasoline [petroleum jelly] is just another form of parrafin wax.
and be careful about how hot you get your b-wax you will cook the oils and alcohols out of it making it extrememly hard.
you could also try a spoonfull of auto trans fluid, it will help modify the parrafin, and will add softness.


I'll try that formula on a fresh batch. I do have too much paraffin then (presently) but will be adding some white lith to the batch to get it to soften up for me.

Im only going to cast and reload for 44 mag...and am aiming at "about" 1200-1250 FPS.

BTW...If one should over heat his beeswax...and cook out th oils..etc....what can a person add back in to ..??.. "get oils back into the mix"..? I think you know whats Im meaning.

ALSO...BTW...You guys all have a nice 2011.

[Sully]

Sully, Been there! You need to remelt it and add more vaseline: 1 tbs. at a time until it's the consistency you want.
I think Im going to add in the white lithium grease at this point.. Thanks for the input