Overcooked my lube??

[DLCTEX]

Yesterday I was sizing and lubing some boolits for 45-70 and my lubesizer ran dry. I had some half 50/50 and half Carnuba red that was too little to fill the reservoir so I added half a Caernuba red stick to the jar and nuked it. The half and half melted quikly and the Red was still solid, so I nuked it some more. and cut the red in smaller peices. I finally got it melted enough to pour in the reservoir and left it to cool until tonight. After sizing a few boolits I suddenly got ribbons of lube about the consistency of vaseline. All of the lube added last night was the same and was a mess to get out. I went with straight Carnuba red in the stick form this time. The only thing that occurs to me is that maybe I overcooked the mix in trying to get the Red to melt. Any other guesses? Also the little that was left in the jar was of the same consistency as the lube in the reservoir.:?:

[waksupi]

If it is separating, try adding some grated Ivory or home made soap.

[fredj338]

I feel a MW is a poor way to melt lube, to uneven heat. A cheap little 1qt crock works great, set on low it will eventually melt any lube & not burn it.

[DLCTEX]

I think my mistake was to add the Red Carnuba to the melted mixture. I should have kept it separate until all melted.

[runfiverun]

carnuba red has a pretty high melt point. b-wax is 170 and red is more like 200
i melt it separately then add the b-wax or other lube and finish melting.

[lar45]

That's very interesting. You wouldn't happen to have any pics of it would you?
Just for clarification, was the lube in the jar visibly seperated into softer and harder layers?
All of the ingredients should have mixed together easily.

Was it my 50-50 mixed with Carnauba Red?
Carnauba Red melts around 165F and my 50-50 melts a little below that. BAC is about a half-half mix of 50-50 and C-Red and combined melts around 162F. The Beeswax that I've been useing melts around 145, but being a natural product can vary from place to place.
I have some lube samples from about 6 years ago that have been left open sitting on a paper at my desk and are still the same consistency, so they seem to be fairly stable over time.

A double boiler is a good way to melt wax and can be had fairly cheap at a thrift store.
<--Not yelling, just stressing importance --> IF YOU STAND THERE AND WATCH IT... lube can be melted fairly quickly over a low flame from a gas range. You need to stay there and watch it to make sure it doesn't scorch or start to smoke. The smoke from Alox can be rather harsh. The wife will be sure to get annoyed if the kitchen smells like burnt lube for more than a couple days.

The quickest way I've found to empty a luber-sizer is to take it all apart and set the body on an old cookie sheet, then put in the oven on low. I prop one end up so it all runs out. You can also scrape up the lube and save for later use. I use a sharpie to mark my lube cookie sheets "NO FOOD"

[DLCTEX]

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[DLCTEX]

It was your 50/50 and Red Carnuba and it wasn't separated before pouring into the lubesizer. It's still a soft brownish goo. I really am liking the Straight Red Carnuba. I warm the lubesizer with a hair dryer at present.

[Sonnypie]

I can only imagine what your popcorn is going to taste like from that microwave. :shock:

http://www.mrdevious.com/forum/Smileys/default/barf.gif

[DLCTEX]

I have a microwave for my reloading room, and I'm allergic to corn so no problem with off flavored popcorn.

[DLCTEX]

I added some of RandyRat's carnuba flakes to the lube and firmed it up fine.

[runfiverun]

so you pretty much had a too soft mixture?
hmm, some ivory soap flakes would have firmed it up.
i like to make my lubes and let them sit covered for a couple of weeks so i can predict any bleeding, and the final consistency.
i have seen some very soft lubes that were almost brittle in two weeks time.

[DLCTEX]

This has been sitting covered for a month and there are no signs of drying.

[runfiverun]

sounds good to go then.