Castor Oil?

[WBG]

A pal was telling me about Castor Oil being used in two stroke Remote Control engines. He said it is commonly used in these high rpm fire breathing engines.
Apparently at high temperatures Castor Oil palmerises and leaves a sticky wax that has short term lube properties in the event of oil stavation.

Being new to casting boolits, it occurred to me that Castor Oil might be used in boolit lubing.
Have any of you tried it?

Thanks, Brian

[bangerjim]

Search engines are your "leeeetle" friend:

http://www.lasc.us/LubeIngredients.htm#castoroil

http://www.sebagosales.com/files/cast%20bullet%20lubes.pdf

http://theswissriflesdotcommessageboard.yuku.com/topic/10710/Castor-oil-as-a-case-lube-when-full-length-sizing#.VjuwrdgcE1I

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/view_topic.php?id=1716&forum_id=59

[berksglh]

My old Yamaha KT100cc gokart engine uses a castor blend to spin 14,500 to 16,000 rpm.

[WBG]

Thanks bangerjim, Good info.in your links, I should have done a leeetle research before I got excited and posted it. Brian

[WBG]

100cc engine at 16,000 rpm. It's impressive that they hold together. Same with the RC engines that don't have bearings, just bushings, I'm told.
Castor Oil must be a good thing. Brian

[bangerjim]

Can you say laxative??????????? My grandmother always had a bottle in the medicine cabinet for those times you "needed a little help"!

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-278/castor-oil-oral/details

banger

[Mytmousemalibu]

100cc engine at 16,000 rpm. It's impressive that they hold together. Same with the RC engines that don't have bearings, just bushings, I'm told.
Castor Oil must be a good thing. Brian

Most of the R/C engines these days are all ball bearing, some even ceramic bearing. The bushing moters are for the most part, a thing of the past. There are still some cheaper engines that are bushed. One of my favorite engines for .40 size planes is the little OS .40FP which unfortunatly is no longer made. What a great little bushed engine! The main benefit of a bushed engine is they are pretty trouble free as far as needing any work internally. The main component of R/C nitro fuel is methanol which is hygroscopic and somewhat corrosive and it will attack the ball bearings and the caster oil gums them up if the engine sits for a while. Thats why little r/c engines you find in antique stores and stuff are usually "seized". Anyway the bearings need changed at times. If they corrode and the engine gets run it sends debris through the engine and usually trashes it.

If you think F1 or Kart engines rev high, there are nitro R/C engines that turn well over 50,000rpm! No thats not a typo either, lol!

[WBG]

Over 50,000rpm. That's fast!. Thanks for the info.

[WBG]

That's where I first heard of it! Grandma's laxative. ( Is this still a bullet lube thread? ) Brian

[geargnasher]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?543-Felix-Lube-the-Short-Version

Gear

[bangerjim]

That's where I first heard of it! Grandma's laxative. ( Is this still a bullet lube thread? ) Brian



:popcorn: [smilie=s:......well........at least it IS a lube!!!!!!!!!!! :bigsmyl2: Just a different kind of tube!

[gunauthor]

I once spoke to a guy who was an aviation mechanic during WW2. He said you don't have to drink the stuff to get the "full effect". He said dipping your arm in a bucket of castor bean oil would do the job (I took him at his word and never tried it). And, for those who have never experienced it, there is nothing to compare with the sound and smell of a racing two stroke running castor oil (and yes, I DID try that).

[WBG]

Gear, Thanks - good thread. Brian

[WBG]

Gunauthor. I'm gonna make a note. I know that all of your above info will serve me well! (chuckle) Brian

[WBG]

bangerjim, This is why I belong to this site! We get to the bottom of things. Brian

[facetious]

:popcorn: [smilie=s:......well........at least it IS a lube!!!!!!!!!!! :bigsmyl2: Just a different kind of tube!

And some of the boolits are crappier then others.

[gwpercle]

I'm sure you've heard of Castrol brand motor oil, used by a lot of racers....
Castor oil is , or was, one of the additives . I guess it still has castor oil in it...who knows.
Everythings all synthetic now....nothing real anymore.

My Grandmother's medicine of choice was Cod Liver Oil......talk about nasty tasting !!!! You didn't ever say " I don't feel good " around that woman...you would get a dose no matter what ailed you.

Gary

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I once spoke to a guy who was an aviation mechanic during WW2. He said you don't have to drink the stuff to get the "full effect". He said dipping your arm in a bucket of castor bean oil would do the job (I took him at his word and never tried it). And, for those who have never experienced it, there is nothing to compare with the sound and smell of a racing two stroke running castor oil (and yes, I DID try that).

It was the standard oil for First World War rotary engines, which differed from the more-or-less modern radial in that the crankshaft was bolted to the aircraft and the rest of the engine whizzed round with the propeller fixed to it. It was a lighter engine than liquid cooled ones, and provided excellent cooling for the valves on the outer ends of the cylinders, in the days before alloy valve steels. Unfortunately throttling the engine made very little difference to its speed, and taxiing or a slow approach had to be done by blipping the ignition on and off, as much as you could do without killing it. In "The Dawn Patrol" you can hear the correct blipping noise while Errol Flynn's radial engine turns willingly at any speed the pilot wanted.

The reason for using castor oil was that its viscosity varied little with extremes of temperature, and although a modern RC engine may run very hot - very very hot in some cases, it sounds like - it is unlikely to be used at heights where it gets far colder than ground level. I think there are probably better mineral alternatives.

The full-sized rotary had a total loss lubrication system, but a quite different one in which most of the oil stayed separate from the fuel, and was sprayed from the unenclosed valves by centrifugal force. This did indeed produce one of the less publicized horrors of First World War aviation.

The Italian fascists used massive non-voluntary doses as an instrument of political reeducation, and they probably got the idea from Gabriele D'Annunzio the poet, who after flying in the war set himself up as tyrant of Fiume, disputed city on the Adriatic coast. During the war he led a squadron of Ansaldo SVAs (a much-underrated aircraft, and surely the fastest of the war) to drop leaflets on Vienna. Although the SVA was water-cooled, it may have been his experience as a pilot that brought castor oil into politics.

[WBG]

Great history from Scotland. I consider myself to be a history buff, but I can see that I am in the presence of greatness! Thanks for adding this fun stuff. Brian

[WBG]

Ok, Ok, I get it. Brian

[frkelly74]

I have used castor oil as a sizing lube and find that it is very effective. But it will totally kill primers if you slop too much in the case.

[gwpercle]

I once spoke to a guy who was an aviation mechanic during WW2. He said you don't have to drink the stuff to get the "full effect". He said dipping your arm in a bucket of castor bean oil would do the job (I took him at his word and never tried it). And, for those who have never experienced it, there is nothing to compare with the sound and smell of a racing two stroke running castor oil (and yes, I DID try that).

Many moons ago, I ran Castrol two-stoke oil in a triple cylinder , 2 stroke , Kawasaki motorcycle , it was the first motorcycle I ever owned and at the time developed more horse power than the car I owned. Stock and street legal ( I rode it to and from work ) , 12.10 second quarter mile time was my best . Won a trophy in that division ! Bike gone but the trophy is still in my reloading pack-rat hole !
Gary

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I did a swap with a ammobrasstrader member for 16 oz of a racing grade 2 cycle castor oil. I still have never tried it. I used the Pharmacy grade castor bean oil for SL68B
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?288713-SL68B-the-quot-all-around-quot-boolit-lube-and-how-to-make-it

[Mytmousemalibu]

Many moons ago, I ran Castrol two-stoke oil in a triple cylinder , 2 stroke , Kawasaki motorcycle , it was the first motorcycle I ever owned and at the time developed more horse power than the car I owned. Stock and street legal ( I rode it to and from work ) , 12.10 second quarter mile time was my best . Won a trophy in that division ! Bike gone but the trophy is still in my reloading pack-rat hole !
Gary

You must have had a Kawasaki H1! I would LOVE to have one now but so does everyone else. Pretty rare & hard to find bike these days. I used to see a number them at the drag strip with a bunch of work done to them, big ole expansion chamber pipes on them, loud like you wouldn't believe! Those bikes were some fast SOB's! That had just stuck with me, the sound of a big, nasty 2-stroke, the smell..... Now I want one!

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I'm sure you've heard of Castrol brand motor oil, used by a lot of racers....
Castor oil is , or was, one of the additives . I guess it still has castor oil in it...who knows.
Everythings all synthetic now....nothing real anymore.

My Grandmother's medicine of choice was Cod Liver Oil......talk about nasty tasting !!!! You didn't ever say " I don't feel good " around that woman...you would get a dose no matter what ailed you.

Gary

It is true about the name Castrol, but I doubt if it is used in their lubricants now. It oxidizes and forms gummy deposits, which didn't much matter in racing engines which would usually be rebuilt after one or two races, or First World War fighter engines, which didn't often last long. Oil seals aren't natural rubber any more, so its property of not attacking them doesn't matter any more.

This thread prompted me to dismantle my two model aero engines which have lain thirty years unused, one primitive diesel and one sleeve-valve glowplug fourstroke. I did indeed find deposits of hard varnish, which fortunately didn't prevent disassembly.

Incidentally the nerve poison ricin is also prepared from the castor oil bean. I don't know how it is prepared, and you probably don't want to know either. But I would steer clear of anyone who offers you some of his own home-grown castor oil, even to dip your arm in.