Swaging lube. Will anything work

[jonp]

I am going to try my hand at swaging and read a lot of threads on different lubes being used. Everything from Bag Balm to vaseline to Pam to Imperial Sizing Wax to STP.

Is there any difference or will about anything greasy like Crisco work?

[Smokin7mm]

I would not chance my dies on just anything. I use a mix of anhydrous lanolin and caster oil. I was told this by Richard Corbin. I bought a jar of his swaging lube when I first got my equipment. After talking to him about it he told me what it was made of. Warm the lanolin until it melts and add the caster oil (just enough to give you a softer consistancy up to 50/50). I usually use probably more like 70/30 to 60/40 lanolin to caster oil. I have heard of other using many things but both the lanolin and caster oil can be had for pretty reasonable prices and a little goes a long way. my 2¢

Bret

[midnight]

I use a 75/25 mix of anhydrous lanolin and castor oil. I like the lube fairly hard. I read somewhere about not using petroleum based lubricants. You know how a diesel engine works, heat of compression is what lights it off. We get those kind of pressures inside our dies. I don't need little puffs of smoke coming out of my dies.

Bob

[country gent]

There are some very good industrial swaging lubricants being made , we used several diffrent ones in the van plant at campbells for d&i and draw redraw cans ( 2 piece cans) draw back is with these 55 gal drums are about the smallest package. Lanolin and or castor oil works very well and isnt expensive. Lanolin was what was recomended by RCBS in thier swage dies and for sizing reloading.

[hotbrew]

I've been using the lanolin and castor oil mix with no issues. I've also used it for sizing cases and it works for that as well.

hotbrew

[jonp]

I went into two drug stores and could not find either lanolin or caster oil. I may have to get it online

[Pipefitter]

Do a google search for anhydrous lanolin and castor oil, or just order a pint of swage lube from Dave Corbin. I bought a pint 25 years ago, have made many thousand bullets, both jacketed and lead, made many thousand 22rf cases into bullets, and still have about a half pint left. Needless to say a little goes a loooong way. A drop the size of a small pea is enough to derim a couple thousand 22rf cases. A drop the same size on a new case lube pad is enough to resize several thousand pistol cases. Just don't let the wife find out that it makes the best hand lotion and you will have a lifetime supply.

[jmort]

Amazon has both for decent price.

[joesig]

WalMart should have Castor oil. I ordered Lanolin online years ago. Now set for life.

[Short Range]

Just got some lanolin from RandyRat in the Vendor Sponsor section. Great guy to deal with. Now have enough to last,,,,,,,probably longer than I will.

[country gent]

I got my last couple pounds of Anhydrous Lanolin from Nu Scents over the Internet at www.nuscentscandle.com. They sell it by the pound on up.

[aaronraad]

Firstly you want something that will handle the higher pressures involved with swaging, as opposed to typical case resizing. Most case resizing lubricants will effectively combust under the pressure and leave you with the by-products which are not necessarily lubricating.

Secondly you want something you can apply at room temperature, preferably all year round. The less temperature sensitive the lubricant's viscosity is, the more consistently you can apply the same quantity and film thickness.

You can specialise lubricants for different purposes also such as different lubricants for jacket drawing, core swaging and core seating/point forming. You can also go for an all-rounder that will do everything and get satisfactory results.

My preference for jacket drawing is extra light virgin olive oil (ala Norma CC). For core seating and point forming (jacketed) I like formulations with as much bees wax as possible on a lanolin base. I'm still undecided on a lubricant for core swaging, but I've even heard of major manufacturers using straight 20w-50 motor oils to get the job done. Evidently you don't need much lubricant for core swaging, but it's critical to be able to remove it from the core completely before core seating into jackets.

[Utah Shooter]

^^^^ Oh this guy again? Honestly I did not know you used that for jacket drawing Aaron. Every time I open my bucket of jackets to be drawn the coffee can smells like french fries. [smilie=s:

jonp If you want Lanolin you could keep it "local" go to Randy for it. His price is good and product will last a while... Decades perhaps.

As far as what to use and at what stage I think is a better question to be honest. Sure 91 Octane will work in most cars. In a sports car even better than 85 octane but a 2009 civic does not need that much. In my opinion Lanolin is only used when the jacket is being used in the seating and pointing process. Other than that I think it is too much lube.

[jonp]

WalMart, YUCK, for the castor oil and Randy for the lanolin. Sounds like a plan to me.

[aaronraad]

^^^^ Oh this guy again? Honestly I did not know you used that for jacket drawing Aaron. Every time I open my bucket of jackets to be drawn the coffee can smells like french fries. [smilie=s:


I thought the unicorn tears might been a little too obvious. ;)

[jonp]

Ordered some Lanolin from Randy this morning. Castor Oil is not available around here. Is there a substitute or do I have to order online which is no problem. I saw Olive Oil, Coconut and several others.

[plus1hdcp]

Not sure where you live but

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=castor+oil&ic=16_0&Find=Find&search_constraint=0

your closest walmart could most likely order it for you. I think. Good luck in your search.

---
Sorry, I looked more at the link and the majority of items are sold by another vendor but it may still be in your best interest to talk to your local pharmacy and see if they can order for you.

[Utah Shooter]

Ordered some Lanolin from Randy this morning. Castor Oil is not available around here. Is there a substitute or do I have to order online which is no problem. I saw Olive Oil, Coconut and several others.
I went to a leather shop and ended up getting neatsfoot oil.

[fredj338]

Just got some lanolin from RandyRat in the Vendor Sponsor section. Great guy to deal with. Now have enough to last,,,,,,,probably longer than I will.

^^THIS^^^ You can find Castor oil at most drug stores. My local CVS has it.

[onomrbil]

Motor oil for swaging cores. 19 drops for 1,000 22 cal cores. This is from Walt Berger . . .

[clodhopper]

For core sizing, I tried mobil 1 synthetic oil, the die squeaked on ejection. Then tried synthetic 2 stroke motor oil, no squeaking.

[runfiverun]

those are 2 completely different base oils.
one is a pag oil but broken down into smaller molecules with ep additives and detergents.
the other is carbon chains broke down in an alcohol base and then bonded in shorter chains in an ester oil base.

[R.Ph. 380]

^^THIS^^^ You can find Castor oil at most drug stores. My local CVS has it.

Look in the laxative section. Comes in 2 oz and 4oz bottles.

[Houndog]

I use 50/50 mix of ANHYDROUS lanolin and Vaseline and have for over 30 years. I just put equal amounts in a small glass container and heat it in a microwave till it melts (doesn't take much heat to liquify) and pour it into a large vetenary syringe to solidify. The syringe makes an excellant container for the lube AND makes metering it out easy. I use 6 grains of lube for 500 jackets for STEEL dies and 3 grains for the same number of jackets for carbide dies. Anhydrous lanolin and Castor Oil will work just as well.

[PWS]

Anyone know the basic ingredient/s of Imperial Sizing Die Wax? I've got a tin of that and a 6oz bottle of Castor Oil laxative from Hell-Mart and wondered about making a mix of the two.

[DukeInFlorida]

I take a slightly different direction. I use 75/25 Anhydrous Lanolin (75%) from Randy Rat, and Militec-1 synthetic gun lube (25%) from mail order.

I put amounts in a small 35 mm film canister, and spin a small screwdriver blade in a drill motor to mix em together like mixing cake batter. Takes a few minutes for them to fully incorporate. Don't use any heat to do the mixing, that would degrade the quality of the result.

I can use what I end up with for any sizing and swaging needs. The 35 mm film canisters (the plastic type) are perfect for dipping a finger into for applying it. A camera shop will give you all the film canisters you need, if you ask nicely. I have a large case of them.

[runfiverun]

lanolin does have a scorch point.
if you get it much over 150-f you'll find it real quick.

[R.Ph. 380]

lanolin does have a scorch point.
if you get it much over 150-f you'll find it real quick.

That's why you have to use a double boiler, never gets too hot.

[Pipefitter]

lanolin does have a scorch point.
if you get it much over 150-f you'll find it real quick.


In a conversation with Dave Corbin he told me that he mixes his lanolin/castor oil in an old coffee urn.

[Utah Shooter]

pour it into a large vetenary syringe to solidify. The syringe makes an excellant container for the lube AND makes metering it out easy.

There is the diamond in the rough. Thank you for that. Would you suppose using a smaller syringe would help better with metering grains?