felix lube

[ubetcha]

I,m about to mix up some FWFL and reading through the different posts on the subject,my question is, the size block of beeswax is thought to be about 7 or 8 oz.Now is that by weight or melted volume.I have a block of wax that measures 2 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 1" and weighs 5 oz.I,m thinking that the amount of beeswax is approx the same considering the slight dimension difference,but why the weight difference. I did not check it's melted volume.I will be ordering some bee wax from randyrat very soon so I may wait to use his wax.Mine is fresh from a hobby bee keeper.I don't know if that would make a difference through

[shooting on a shoestring]

Don't wait. Do it. The amount of beeswax isn't super critical. Its like casting, you can always remelt and modify later. I don't weigh my beeswax, just use a ruler to get close and cook. Do be careful reheating after you add the lanolin. If you get it too hot, you'll breakdown the lanolin, not the end of the world, but its better if you just barely melt it when you reheat.

Also, be sure to cook the oils together well. Look at the clock and time the 1/2 hour. It always seem long to me, but thats the critical part. I let mine smoke slightly and stir it constantly for the 1/2 hour. Works great for me.

You'll like your results.

[stubshaft]

As stated above the amount of beeswax is not critical cooking the oils IS. You have to achieve a homogenous mixture and it will seem like you are stirring forever but the results are well worth it.

Randyrats wax is awesome it smells good enough to eat.

[jonk]

My only criticism of it is that after making a big batch a few years ago, it is getting softer with age and quite tacky. It's good stuff otherwise though!

[ubetcha]

Another lube I was consideering making was a lube recomended by Ed Harris on the Cast Bullet Assoc . 1 part ATF to 3-4 parts yellow beeswax.
3 parts for pan lubing and 4 parts for luber/sizer.Suppose to work at velocitys approching 2000fps.I may still make it and do some testing.

[geargnasher]

I precook a large batch of the castor/mineral oil and store it in a glass bottle. When I'm ready to make a batch of lube, I shake the bottle well (the oils separate over time) and measure out three tablespoons. If you cook the oils per the recipe you might find that some final volume is lost to evaporation after 30 minutes and the lube might be too hard. I usually make quadruple batches, but a single batch would contain seven ounces of Randyrat's hard, yellow beeswax to three tablespoons of the pre-polymerized oils, a heaping tablespoon of dry, powdered Ivory soap, a teaspoon of carnauba wax flakes, and a tablespoon of lanolin added to the final mix when cooled to the point it is barely liquid. This comes out a bit stiffer than typical NRA 50/50, but not much. IIRC lanolin scorches at around 160 degrees and beeswax is nearly solid at 140-something, so you have to be careful adding the lanolin, since it loses it's "tacky" properties once it's burnt.

Gear

[ubetcha]

Well I made my batch of Felix lube and right now everything seems ok.I,m just letting it sit for awhile to see if there is some separation with the ingediances like I have read about.I notice some light spots in the lube,it's been sitting almost a week now,but I don't know what it might be.I will let it sit longer and see what happens.The lube turned out to be like the consistance of a stick of lyman alox 50/50 lube.Not real hard and not real soft.I took the chuck of lube and bent it in half.Didn't beak,just kind of bent

[felix]

Smash the light spots with your fingers and hand mix into the lube. Saves time when dealing with small batches. Large batches require remelting and stirring more. Keep in mind making lube is no different than making lead alloys like at home when various proportions are suspect. Feed stock should always be suspect. No two lots of anything are identical. ... felix