Babybel Cheese Wax for lube.

[Bazoo]

I figured I'd share my experiences with using babybel cheese wax for lube. I've read on forums that it is either paraffin or some sort of synthetic paraffin. Seen where others would add it into lube they were making, and I think someone was using it alone for lube.


So...... I figured, i'd give it a try for tumble lubing bullets for 45 automatic. Bullet was Lee .452-230-TC TL version from wheel weights. I melted some wax in my lube makin' pot and put some bullets in it so they would heat too. Got them tumbled good and poured them out. I poured them on paper plates. Anyways they looked alright, I loaded a mag full, and tested them. Fierce leading!

I havent given up on the wax as either a traditional lube, or an ingredient for traditional lube, but it definitely will not work for tumble lube.

~Bazoo

[Oklahoma Rebel]

you need to add something, like 2 stroke oil, and maybe some grease, well, I dunno if that would work for tumble lube, but you cant count on just wax to do anything but lead.

[jdfoxinc]

Great for fluxing.

[Tom W.]

I've tried it just stuffing it into my lubrisizer along with the carnauba red. It didn't hurt anything, but wasn't worth the effort. I can neither recommend nor not recommend it done as I did it. Never tried it straight.....


I have fluxed with it. Just as good as bees wax in that respect...

[Bazoo]

I never thought about fluxing with it, thanks. I always have lots of candle left overs and wax warmer left overs from the wife for fluxing.

[country gent]

Maybe a little lanolin and oil added to it

[Bazoo]

I dont have a traditional lube bullet for my 45 auto, or i'd try pan lubing with it straight. If I ever do, I will report back for others benefit.

[bangerjim]

You sure much eat a LOT of those little rounds of cheese! I bought a bag of it at Costco 6 months ago and over 1/2 is still in the fridge! Not my cup-o-cheeze.

[Bookworm]

I'm one of those that uses the wax for fluxing.
I'll break it into small balls for using in the casting pot, leave it in halves to drop in the rendering pot. Works fine, and it's a product that would have been thrown out.

[mold maker]

It's my understanding that the wax used to be almost totally carnauba wax, but like everything else has been changed by the bean counters, to a plastic wax formula that works great for the cheese, but sucks as a lube. I saved over half a lb before finding this out.

[bangerjim]

I just melted some down and it is total CARP! May work for a flux, but I stick to only bee's wax (pun intended).

Stick with known waxes (paraffin, carnauba, bee's...........even old candles and crayons if you are really hard up) and avoid food grade "stuff" like that red covering on cheeses these days. Used to be carnauba on cheese, liquor bottles and the such. Not anymore.

I quit using witch's brew grease/wax lubes 4 years ago when PC came into the forefront.

[dverna]

I just melted some down and it is total CARP! May work for a flux, but I stick to only bee's wax (pun intended).

Stick with known waxes (paraffin, carnauba, bee's...........even old candles and crayons if you are really hard up) and avoid food grade "stuff" like that red covering on cheeses these days. Used to be carnauba on cheese, liquor bottles and the such. Not anymore.

I quit using witch's brew grease/wax lubes 4 years ago when PC came into the forefront.

I quit using witch's brew when I found LsStuff. Why bother at the price they sell it for!!!

[Nines&Twos]

Even if it worked really good......I’d have to be a cheese eatin’ muther to keep up with my shooting habit. I’d be so stopped up now way I could go shooting. Lol!!!!!

[Tom W.]

I believe it's a micro paraffin, whatever that means...

[RogerDat]

This thread reminds me of sitting around discussing which breakfast cereal or other food stuff packaging made the best gaskets. And if it worked better with a little fibered axle grease, or the red grease smeared into it. That was a loooong time ago but very much the same. Complete with gaskets are not expensive why waste time with raisin bran box and a razor blade?

[Nines&Twos]

I’ve made several gaskets for a Briggs motor from a milk carton. It’ll work just fine in a pinch.

[robg]

Cornflake box gaskets ,have nt used them since the seventies !

[Gewehr-Guy]

Hey I still use cut open and unfolded feed sacks for target backers, lots of nice paper that generally just gets burned, or put under oil leaking tractors . I told my feed rep the feed company should print bullseyes and deer and coyotes on the bag paper, he just looked at me like I was a little off level :razz:.

[randyrat]

Used feed bags as targets, with a target printed on them would be great

I think most of the wax around cheese is a Microcrystalline food grade low melt temp (130-150 F)
I'll stop in a cheese plant some time and ask.

It will work, but you need to make it flow a bit better with some kind of oil, then you need to make it stick to the lead.

Beeswax can be used alone, it has limitations though

[D Crockett]

cheese wax in my book is good for 2 things My son when he was a kid would ask if we could save it to make candles out of and 2 it good for fluxing the pot of lead that is all the uses I have come across that works D Crockett

[bangerjim]

One commercial site for "cheese wax" states:

Contains: Cheese Wax, a formulation of paraffin and microcrystalline wax, and food grade coloring (FD&C Colors).

Google "cheese wax" are be prepared to read until your go cross-eyed. True cheeseheads (people making their own home-brew cheeses) use the waxes to cover their products.

It still does not appear like it is anything we on here have much use for.....other than creating this thread!!!!!! And making many readers hungry for good cheese.

[mold maker]

Much hoop cheese still has the original wax covering. The current Baby Bell covering is different.

[Soundguy]

This thread reminds me of sitting around discussing which breakfast cereal or other food stuff packaging made the best gaskets. And if it worked better with a little fibered axle grease, or the red grease smeared into it. That was a loooong time ago but very much the same. Complete with gaskets are not expensive why waste time with raisin bran box and a razor blade?

I restore antique tractors. Ballpeen hammer, razor and thin paperboard or cardboard are your friends. Many times orphaned models have no parts support beyond in-common bolt on parts. On the units you CAN get gaskets for, sometimes the material is thin junk needing a sealer in areas it should not, some are cheaping out and splitting large gaskets instead of intact ( axle trumpet ), other times you have to buy an entire kit for 20-89$ to get a single needed gasket out of it. Rolling your own is really the only viable option many times. People that look down on that simply haven't 'been there/done that'.

[mdi]

Quite a while ago it was reported the the cheese coating wax and Maker's Mark whiskey sealant wax was mostly carnauba wax. I used some to stiffen up a beeswax/marvels mystery oil lube I was working with. It did make the lube a bit harder...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Used feed bags as targets, with a target printed on them would be great

I think most of the wax around cheese is a Microcrystalline food grade low melt temp (130-150 F)
I'll stop in a cheese plant some time and ask.

It will work, but you need to make it flow a bit better with some kind of oil, then you need to make it stick to the lead.

Beeswax can be used alone, it has limitations though
I agree, "I think most of the wax around cheese is a Microcrystalline food grade low melt temp"

I have saved some wax from a brand of Irish cheddar cheese, it had a pretty thick layer of wax. It's surely not hard like Carnuba Wax is. This cheese was an Aldi's "find", so they only had it in stock for a while. I must have bought five packages before they quit carrying it. Anyway, it was enough wax to save for something?

Microcrystalline-wax has a certain feel to it. It's not brittle like paraffin, it's flexible like warm beeswax...but not sticky like beeswax, it's sort of inbetween Paraffin and beeswax...anyway, this Irish cheese wax felt very similar to Microcrystalline-wax...it's gotta be Microcrystalline-wax.

[Soundguy]

I've seen some YouTube vids a while back. Was a Russian guy pan lubing with red cheese wax and gasoline. I dint recall the caliber but it was big.. Looked like a 400-500 gr 45-70.

[Bazoo]

Pan lubing with wax and gasoline? Thats a new one on me.

I never thought of using the wax for candles. I've not made candles before, but the wife and I both would like to get into it. I've always heard that beeswax would not do well for candles by itself.

I've not used straight beeswax for lube, but i've used a lot of beeswax/crisco lube for standard velocity pistol loads. It was smokey, but it worked in 45 auto and 38s, and some 357s I ran a few years back. I pan lubed with it.

[Soundguy]

Vasolene ..my phone likes to help out. And Change words.

[Bazoo]

That was funny soundguy! Thanks for the clear up. I totally was thinking it was gas, especially since you said the guy was in russia.

[Soundguy]

Now.. I have heard of solvated lubes applied, then letting the solvent flash off, but yeah.. Never with gasoline.

My phone thought it would be funny to let the grey bearded guy look funny. :)

[afish4570]

Take a $1.05 flat black paint from Walmart. Cut a tin can top an bottom out for what ever size can will make a bullseye the size you want, now make your feed bag targets. afish4570

[randyrat]

Felt wealthy one day, so I bought some 10 year old Cheddar Cheese, all I can say is YUM.
This had the black wax covering it. It didn't seem like anything I would use so i tossed it in file 13....Next time I feel wealthy I am going buy some more and I'll test that wax out.

I like the Can and Walmart paint idea!

[bangerjim]

[QUOTE=randyrat;4326019]Felt wealthy one day, so I bought some 10 year old Cheddar Cheese, all I can say is YUM.
This had the black wax covering it. It didn't seem like anything I would use so i tossed it in file 13....Next time I feel wealthy I am going buy some more and I'll test that wax out.

OMG......I have packages of cheddar in my other fridge older than that! It is REALLY good. Remember, REAL cheese is not harmed by mold! Just cut it off and enjoy. The older the better.

If you like aged cheese, buy some now and just “forget” it is in the back of the fridge.....for 10 years. Wax coverings DO help!

[Bazoo]

I am a cheese lover myself. What I do for targets, is save paper plates, and draw dots on them with a sharpie. I normally do a few at a time, so it dont take up much time. Sometimes I let the stack accrue and do them all when Im watching a movie. Figured i'd share.

[Wayne Smith]

Beeswax alone makes wonderful candles - I don't know who told you it didn't - they must have been selling something else. They make candles by rolling beeswax in thin sheets and then rolling those sheets around a wick - easy candle if you can roll the thin sheets in the first place.

I bought my carnuba from RandyRat.

[bangerjim]

I buy my beeswax candles after Hanukah. Stores that carry those religious candles have some left over and usually discount 50-75% to get rid of excess inventory! Bed, Bath, & Beyond is one I check.

[robert12345]

Baby Bell cheese wrappers for bullet lube, now I have heard everything......
.
.
If you want good bullet lube, just buy it;
get lee lube in the hollow stick.

Or,
if you want a harder lube, go for LBT blue.
.
.
If you want to make your own bullet lube, that's easy,
mix bee wax, and cooking oil in a tin can, together on the kitchen stove ,, on low heat.

The best cooking oils to use are high temperature oils like peanut, or avocado..
60% bee wax to 40% oil, or something like that.
.
.
The home made stuff also makes a nice boot grease, and a fine lip balm.

[KVO]

The Baby Bel wax works well as a moderate velocity rifle bullet lube when cut 50/50 with Lee liquid Alox, I use it as a pan lube. Needed a way to use up all those LLA bottles that came with my push through sizers (PC most things these days). It accumulates surprisingly fast when you have toddlers that get a Baby Bel every other morning with breakfast. Works well when cut query Vaseline too, but junk for straight lube as you discovered.

[KVO]

A few 100 yd groups, 16-18gr Alliant 2400 and two different .308 sporters. 217092

[KVO]

217093

[Bazoo]

KVO, thank you for sharing, that is interesting and impressive results.

[KVO]

Bazoo, always glad to share experiences both good and bad. If no one had started tinkering we'd be stuck with slingshots. Or jacketed bullets.

[Bazoo]

Thats exactly why I started this thread, so others could benefit from my experience. I couldnt find much on the use of the wax for lube.

[Catpop]

You sure much eat a LOT of those little rounds of cheese! I bought a bag of it at Costco 6 months ago and over 1/2 is still in the fridge! Not my cup-o-cheeze.
Mine either, I like the sharp yellow cheese! Are mice color blind? Just wondering.

[Bazoo]

I like all sorts of cheese... monterey jack being my favorite, followed closely by mild cheddar.

[Tom W.]

I found out that dairy products are verboten since my last cancer surgery....... and I love cheese. And milk. And ice cream. And cottage cheese and peaches. And..... well you get the picture....

[Bazoo]

Tom, I am truly sorry for you. I love dairy products of all varieties.

[Tom W.]

I'll still get a cheeseburger at Red Robin's every now and again. Like the 3rd of April I get a free one for my birthday. I'll eat it and face the consequences all night tomorrow.......

[kevin c]

I have used the babybel wax for fluxing too. Since I now use randyrat's beeswax, my casting area smells like honey instead of toasted cheese sandwiches.

[Soundguy]

Both would be great!

[Bazoo]

My casting area smells like flowers and mountain rain, as I use pieces of old candles and wax cubes for fluxing. The wife keeps me in good supply of both.

[Roundnoser]

Here is what Babybel has to say about their wax coating: What is Mini Babybel®’s wax made of?
The wax we use to coat our products is made of a blend of paraffin and microcrystalline waxes and colouring, which specifically contains no Bisphenol A. It’s “food safe” and meets very strict regulatory standards.
It poses no health risk if accidentally ingested.

My wife buys those net bags of Babybel cheese, and with two kids in the house, they get devoured pretty fast. I have the family keep the wax and I use it for fluxing. Each one makes a nice marble-sized ball that's perfect for a big pot of lead.

[Bazoo]

Thanks for the addition roundnoser.