Lanolin in lube

[foesgth]

My grandpa told me the only stupid question is the one you don't ask...so here goes.

What does adding lanolin do in a lube. I make Gatofeo lube and they say to use lamb tallow because it has lanolin. Why do I want lanolin. I must have slept that day in class.

[racepres]

Me Too...I use Carnuba...Maybe I need to wake up as well???

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Adds a smidge of tackyness and some flexibility ( runfiverun's comment from the simple lube recipie). Helps it stay in the lube grooves. He was talking about felix lube.

[Castaway]

I’ve never read that Gato Feo lube has lanolin in it. He doesn’t make that claim and there’s none called for it in the recipe. The tallow doesn’t contain lanolin, just processed fat, not processed wool where the lanolin would be. One stated reason for mutton tallow is it is not as subject to going rancid as are other tallows.

[Winger Ed.]

they say to use lamb tallow because it has lanolin. .

Lanolin comes from the wool.
It's not fat or tallow, but basically condensed sheep sweat extracted from boiling the wool.

[dave roelle]

one of the best extreme pressure lubricants available

[greenjoytj]

Check out the Wikipedia write up regarding lanolin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin

I have been putting lanolin in my Emmerts bullet lube and my latest batch has increased the lanolin content from 5% to 14.5%.

[Green Frog]

Me Too...I use Carnuba...Maybe I need to wake up as well???

No. Carnauba is the opposite of lanolin. It tends to be hard and brittle. Also it doesn’t stick by itself, but I add it for its (other) positive characteristics.


Check out the Wikipedia write up regarding lanolin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin

I have been putting lanolin in my Emmerts bullet lube and my latest batch has increased the lanolin content from 5% to 14.5%.

^^^ This ^^^. Lanolin is soft and tacky. A little goes a long way. The most I use in any of my home brewed lubes is 40% in my proprietary Frog Guano. That makes an expensive lube but is quite nice for Schuetzen. I also add a little (5%?) to my version of Emmert’s as suggested by Dale53. As stated above, I add Carnauba for the extra hardness, also I like its polishing characteristic.

Froggie

[Good Cheer]

Lanolin, olive oil and beeswax lube seems to do just about everything I need doing. Doesn't keep me from adding other things to try out though.