Moly lube seperated in sizer??

[wadcutter]

When I started up my 4500 sizer this year I found the grease had separated from the beeswax. At the bottom it was all grease and mostly wax at the top. If I recall correctly, it was a batch of 2:1 beeswax and moly grease. I generally cast in the summer and size in the winter, so the moly lube has been sitting in my 4500 sizer for nearly a year. The lube from the same batch I had poured into tubes and coffee cans a year ago had not separated. The bullets I lubed last winter also look fine.

Did I do something wrong? Why would the mixer separate only in the sizer? The heater was off of course and I release the pressure when I'm done using it.

[runfiverun]

moly lubes [greases] tend to go thixotropic under pressure.
this doesn't mean it separated it just got super soft and more liquid like [probably turned a more silver color too] when you were using it.

the moly that lyman uses is also a very fine grind of the metallic it doesn't really fall out even if the lube is melted.
it's the base that gives you the separation, and lyman doesn't use a grease to mix their lube they use the powder and blend it into their base wax.
i'm thinking you have something else in there, or an added oil got in the mix.

[wadcutter]

It's not silvery. I'm starting to recall I tried some red Lucas grease based lube last winter. Maybe that was it.

Yes, I know I need to keep better notes.

[runfiverun]

the paratack in the red and tacky would grab and cling [which is what it was designed to do] anything along the way.
but the base [mineral] oils in it would of course pull at the other lube too.[out of the wax]

you didn't get to the drop point of the greases it just leached out some of the oil.
which is fairly normal if you don't add more stearate and over burden the wax with the oils in the grease.
look in a tub of wheel bearing grease sometime you'll see the oil on top of the grease and it has more stearate than a normal chassis grease.

[wadcutter]

Thanks a lot for the information.

[gwpercle]

It might be your ratio. I have some lube , made in 1978 , 3 parts beeswax to 1 part lithium grease ( Red-N-Tacky is lithium grease ).
I'm still using the stuff and it has not separated or hardened . So it could be the 2 to 1 ratio, not enough beeswax and too much grease. This mix would be very soft and sticky.
The instructions I got with my recipe said if the 3 to 1 mix was too soft to harden it with just a little paraffin wax.

You might try adding some more beeswax and remixing. I keep wondering how long this 1978 lube is going to stay useable , when I bought it , the maker was charging $10.00 for 20 sticks, including postage, so I bought 40 sticks . I've tried other lubes but this stuff is still my favorite for cast boolits. After the maker stopped making lube , I wanted some more, he sent me the recipe and instructions to make it myself.
Gary

[wadcutter]

Yes, I'll thicken it up a bit and see how it does.

I actually did a lot of testing at elevated (150F) to see which lubes were stable and this one did fine. The coffee cans sitting in my attic also are fine. I suppose it's the effect of constant pressure that made it separate.

It's also possible I just forgot what I left in the sizer.

[greenjoytj]

I have a hand pump grease gun loaded with a cartridge of Lucas Red-N-Tacky.
I store the grease gun hanging on the garage wall in a plastic bag with several pieces of paper towel. A watery pink light oil is constantly oozing from every thread and is blotted up by the paper towels in the bag.
Lucas Red-N-Tacky separates while loaded in the grease gun in the heat of summer.
Still is a great bolt grease for my rifles.

[jimofaz]

Hi wadcutter,
Per chance, did you fill your 4500 lubesizer with melted lube? I recall a moly separation issue I had with a pan lube I was playing with for BPCR a few years ago. if I did not keep it well stirred, the moly particles tended to sink to the bottom.
Jim