Who has experience with Soy Wax?

[Southern Son]

I have been using what MATTHEWS calls No 2 Lube, Beeswax, Neutrogena soap and Neatsfoot oil. I would have liked to use his No 1 (using Murphys Oil Soap instead of the Neutrogena Soap, but I can't for the life of me find any Murphy's Oil Soap).

I have recently found a small quantity of Soy Wax. If I need, the lady who gave me this Soy Was could get me more at about the same price as what I have to pay for beeswax. Does anybody have any experience with Soy Wax? It seems quite sticky and very greasy, I intend to try it as a substitute for the beeswax, but if others have tried it and it is crap, then I don't think I will waste my money on it.

[felix]

Soy wax is not a natural substance. It is like Castor wax in that its base oil is bombarded with hydrogen to convert all or some of the oil into a wax. The result is a tremendous increase in viscosity (and final lube hardness in most cases). Therefore, when using these type of ingredients, use them as lube augmenters only. Stick with beeswax as the base lube carrier for this reason. Also, beeswax is unique in the wax kingdom in that it can hold other ingredients, including water (think BP), within itself more easily than any other wax, especially after cooking. The best natural wax for lube, the slickies part, has been lanolin for quite some time. ... felix

[Southern Son]

Thanks for that Felix, your right about the viscosity, when I first handled it how slick it was really struck me, but if it wont hold together with the other ingredients, then it is no good, really. I have been thinking about using lanolin for a while, but the only stuff I can get around here has been converted into either a really heavy grease (great for protecting anything metal, it is so sticky it just isn't funny), or it has been made into some type of liquid so that it can be sprayed on. After it is sprayed on, the carrier evaporates and leaves behind the grease. Would either of these forms of lanolin be anygood, or do I need to get that natural stuff from the natural health hippy types?

[felix]

SS, anhydrous lanolin is what you want. Drug store, walmart, etc. But... try making the lube with beeswax, soywax (minor amounts to where sticky becomes noticeable), and then thinning with any salad oil in the pantry to make it go through the luber machine at 72 degrees. If the stuff melts too fast sitting on paper placed in a sunny spot, or seperates into layers after making and cooling it, remix the lube adding sodium stearate (Ivory bar soap grated into dust) just barely enough to make the lube work entirely. ... felix

[Southern Son]

Felix,
Mate, thinning the lube so that it will run through a luber machine is a waste of time, I dip or pan lube becuase I don't have a luber (would like one but my missus says that food is more important). And at 72 degrees, around here it would be OK in winter, but in summer we get 40 degrees celcius, regularly, so it would probably melt of the bullets on the line. I will look into the anhydrous lanolin, but there are no Walmarts in Oz and I don't know what else you buy in a Drug Store, but if my missus found out I was going there, I would have some explaining to do. Thanks mate.

[sav300]

SS.try the chemist or medical suppliers.Health food shops maybe?
Lanolin was used for nurseing mothers when breat feeding. Hope this helps.

[13Echo]

Good grief. As many sheep as there are in OZ lanolin should be plentiful

[Southern Son]

Sav300, KURRI KURRI, she be getting a bit cool down there about now, thanks for the tip, the chemist here in Dysart don't have much of a selection, I have to take one of my dogs to Mackay next week (did it's knee in and I have to pay for another operation, now I know why I got the dog for free).

13Echo, the problem isn't getting lanolin, it is getting unprocessed lanolin. I have lanoguard 3000 in my cabinet, it is a good grease for fishing reels, it sticks to everything and just won't wash off, and I have lanoguard sprayon, which is great for protecting guns. A couple of squirts on a rag, wipe it over the gun and the next day when you handle the gun, you can feel a thin layer of grease, it is sticky, it don't wipe off without using WD40 or some type of solvent, it is easy on the timber and you can even wipe it onto a leather sling, it will do the leather good. But the last time I tried to mix it with other stuff, it just refused to mis, somethings it layered and separated, the rest it just turned into a lumpy gunk (that's a high tech term, "lumpy gunk", my old science teacher would be proud).

[montana_charlie]

SS, anhydrous lanolin is what you want.

I have lanoguard 3000 in my cabinet, it is a good grease for fishing reels, it sticks to everything and just won't wash off,
'Anhydrous' just means all of the water has been removed.
What's left is a substance very much like your description of the Lanoguard 3000.

The stuff is sold on eBay all of the time, and here is a sale that includes a good picture of what the stuff looks like.
http://cgi.ebay.com/lanolin-Butter-8oz-Premium-Anhydrous-Lotion-Soap-Hair_W0QQitemZ180216962346QQihZ008QQcategoryZ48094 QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

As for getting it to mix with other lube ingredients...that is a subject I am not equipped to speak on.

CM

[Arnie]

I have tried soy wax and it was very brittle and crumbly compared to bees wax.Arnie

[martinibelgian]

In Oz, I remember BA Wallace had very good results with Lanotec grease, which apparently was close to all Lanolin. It worked in his 577-450, and if it will work in that cartridge, most others will just sail through.
FWIW, I use paraffin and lanolin as lube, and it works just fine - dropped the beeswax some time ago.

[Nardoo]

Southern,
my BP lube is:

4 parts bees wax
1 part olive oil
1 part lanolin grease (Lanoguard 3000)
1/2 part lux soap flakes
(all measuements by weight)

It shoots in my 45/70 and 45/90 as well as any bought lube and all ingredients can be found in Oz. Adjust the lanolin level to control lube hardness. Any lanolin grease seems to be fine - I have also used one of the Lanotech range but forget which one.

Nardoo

[Jack Brabham]

I'm using Soy Wax as the carrier for Lecithin and Meadow Foam Oil with excellent results. The lube is roughly 2 parts liquid volume melted soy wax, one part lecithin, and one part MFO, with a bit of hard beeswax thrown in to firm it up for my lubrisizor.

This lube is being used with bullets with very small grease grooves and patching with cutting fluid between shots.


Jack

[Hip's Ax]

Where did you find the Lecithin?

[montana_charlie]

Everytime I see someone ask a 'where did can I find' question, I plug the name into the search box at eBay.
You get 68 hits (right now) for Lecithin.
CM

[Southern Son]

Nardoo,
Thanks for that lube recipe, I will give it a try soon (as soon as I get a chance to do something other than work).

[DonH]

[QUOTE=Southern Son;343481. I have been thinking about using lanolin for a while, but the only stuff I can get around here has been converted into either a really heavy grease (great for protecting anything metal, it is so sticky it just isn't funny), or it has been made into some type of liquid so that it can be sprayed on. [/QUOTE]

Getting anhydrous lanolin is not a problem. Look up the website for Majestic Mountain Sage (soap/candle making supplies) and order the stuff online. I wanted to order a pound from them but noticed the shipping was about as much as the product so ordered 2 pounds. That was probably six years ago and i still have plenty of lanolin. BTW, the same company has most of the other ingredients commonly used in lube-making, esp. the black powder types of lube.

[Hip's Ax]

Everytime I see someone ask a 'where did can I find' question, I plug the name into the search box at eBay.
You get 68 hits (right now) for Lecithin.
CM

Yeah, I did that. Its all vitimin pills and granular health supplements. I was hoping he had a source for reasonable amounts of the brown grease used in industry.

[Springfield]

7 parts beeswax to 5 parts shortening to 1 part safflower oil. I used to put in some lanolin but it didn't seem to add anything and was the most expensive ingredient. I tried some mixes with soy wax but it was too slippery and didin't stick to the bullets well, and was very brittle, even in small amounts. Also lowered teh melt temperature too much.

[4060MAY]

Felix\Is this the right lecithin?
http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=IN0055&sid=GOOGLE&TID=GL033119&gclid=CO3oyem5kpQCFQqdnAodKzRGeg&bhcd2=1214494822