Muffin Pans and Lube?

[Changeling]

When one uses muffin pans as a mold for Lube, does it make any difference if it is steel or non stick coated?
With what they were going for today at Wall mart, I sure don't want to make a mistake!


Yes, I am definitely going to try the local Good Will also, but first I need an answer to the above question.

[SmuvBoGa]

Using the muffin pans for lube cakes should be easy, just fill them up, let them set up, flip the pans over, drop them from approx 6 inch up - everything falls out. Avoid over filling; maybe leave approx 1/4" below tip top of the cups. The lube cakes store great in the little clear plastic strawberry boxes - the slots let them breath & you can stack them on top of the other.

IF IF a "cake" sticks just wave a heat gun across the bottom - pop !

[uncle joe]

get a steel one and let it rust before you use it, they won't stick then. speed up the rusting heat it up really hot then leave it out in the rain for a while. wally world here has some that are little squares, about 3x3x2deep, they would stack really good. if you get this one or another non stick one stay out of the smoke when you burn it off.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Wilton-Bake-It-Better-12-Cavity-Bar-Pan/14691571

[alamogunr]

get a steel one and let it rust before you use it, they won't stick then.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Wilton-Bake-It-Better-12-Cavity-Bar-Pan/14691571

I would think that rust would be the last thing you would want on your lube mold. I've never tried it so I may be all wet. When cleaning up raw beeswax I've always used non-stick pans.

John
W.TN

[buck1]

Uncle joe would be correct for lead . They always stick on me putting them in the freezer helps....Buck

[geargnasher]

get a steel one and let it rust before you use it, they won't stick then. speed up the rusting heat it up really hot then leave it out in the rain for a while. wally world here has some that are little squares, about 3x3x2deep, they would stack really good. if you get this one or another non stick one stay out of the smoke when you burn it off.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Wilton-Bake-It-Better-12-Cavity-Bar-Pan/14691571

I'll pile on too. Changling was asking about LUBE moulds, NOT lead moulds.

Most good boolit lubes will stick to muffin tins like you wouldn't believe. Pam doesn't help much. Graphite brushed on with one of SWMBO's old, worn out rouge brushes helps tremendously. The best thing, though, is get the Teflon coated muffin tins (lube isn't hot enough to burn the teflon) and place it in a jumbo cake pan with about an inch of very cold water in it. When the lube hits the cavities it fills them up, but as it cools quickly it shrinks away from the sides leaving a visible gap. When cool, they will literally fall out of the pan.

If you use the tin-plated pans that are kinda rough and just pour the lube in, you will have to freeze it and beat the ingots out from the bottom with a mallet, damaging the cavities. Trust me on this, not fun.

Gear

[chboats]

Just a thought. Why not buy a box of 3oz dixie cups and fill to about 2 oz (one sizer load) when you need one just rip off the paper and re melt. I bought a tube of medical dispenser cup about 25 years ago and they work great.

Carl

[Changeling]

I'll pile on too. Changling was asking about LUBE moulds, NOT lead moulds.

Most good boolit lubes will stick to muffin tins like you wouldn't believe. Pam doesn't help much. Graphite brushed on with one of SWMBO's old, worn out rouge brushes helps tremendously. The best thing, though, is get the Teflon coated muffin tins (lube isn't hot enough to burn the teflon) and place it in a jumbo cake pan with about an inch of very cold water in it. When the lube hits the cavities it fills them up, but as it cools quickly it shrinks away from the sides leaving a visible gap. When cool, they will literally fall out of the pan.

If you use the tin-plated pans that are kinda rough and just pour the lube in, you will have to freeze it and beat the ingots out from the bottom with a mallet, damaging the cavities. Trust me on this, not fun.

Gear

Thanks Gear, thats exactly what I needed to know.

[geargnasher]

Just a thought. Why not buy a box of 3oz dixie cups and fill to about 2 oz (one sizer load) when you need one just rip off the paper and re melt. I bought a tube of medical dispenser cup about 25 years ago and they work great.

Carl

I like that idea, Carl, but I've had trouble using drinking cups before. I'm not sure what kind of medical cups you're talking about, but all of the paraffin-paper cups I've seen have the problem of sticking to the lube, and when you peel the paper off it leaves a bunch of fibers behind. Could you give us some more details on how you got the lube/paper to separate?

I've tried the plastic, 16-oz Dixie cups (the kind you see at keg parties and family reunions) and the lube melts them before it hardens. I even tried cupcake papers as a liner in the muffin tins, but it was worse about adhering to the ingots than the paper cups. Lube just goes right through the cupcake paper. Teflon pans sitting in a tray of cold water can't be beat IMO.

Gear

[uncle joe]

WOOPS sorry, I have a new blind spot in one eye since an accident at work and have noticed that I miss letters sometimes, yep non stick would be better for lube
UJ

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Just rec'd some muffins of lube which probably had Geargnashers treatment, and they look great!

Look like they must have dropped right out!

Can learn a lot from Ol'fellers if ya pay tention! :idea::D:idea:

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot:cbpour:[smilie=w:

[geargnasher]

(mimicking Michael Palin's voice) But I'm thirty-five, I'm not OLD! [smilie=1:

Glad those muffins still look like they had "my" treatment, not the postal monkey treatment. BTW, those were cast in a "tin" plated pan with no release agent, just before I got my Teflon pan, but the cold water trick really works. I actually use the large, SS bar sink in my shop to hold an inch or so of cold water to set the pan in, but I wouldn't recommend that normally since I know somebody will end up reading this and get lube all over the kitchen sink. I won't take responsibility if you end up in the doghouse on account of lube alchemy :wink:

Gear

[Recluse]

I make "lube cakes" when I'm making lube for a few other folks who, for some unfathomable reason, enjoy pain-lubing (*shudder*).

My wife used to get these pre-prepared meals at a place called The Dinner Station. They fix the meals up for you and then put them in microwave-friendly plastic trays--usually about six/eight inches by four to five inches (depending on the meal).

I've got a small stack of them in the shop. Pour the molten lube in, let it cool overnight, turn it over, bend the tray just a little bit, and out pops the lube cake. I've seen similar trays sold at The Dollar Store and at Walmart for cheap.

After I've popped the lube cake out, I put it in a quart-sized Ziploc bag (which I buy at The Dollar Store). They stack very well. Best of all, when you're finished pain-lubing, if you're so inclined, you can remelt the lube and pour it back in the plastic tray, let it cool, and then pop it right back out.

I like Goatlips' method of just leaving the lube, holes and all, in the pan, but that might not work for everyone.

:coffee:

[chboats]

Gear - The cups I have I got at a plastics shop where they use them for measuring and mixing epoxies. I have use them for several lubes such as Felix's and various combinations of bees wax and bullplate and other lubes. Nothing that had to be very hot when poured into the cups. The lube usually just pops out of the cup, but sometimes I have to tear the cup away from the lube.
They have worked for me for many years.

I guess the rule is, use what works best for you.

Carl

[geargnasher]

Ah, that helps. I was thinking the junk paper cups like for condiments at some fast-food joints.

Recluse, if it hadn't already been done, I'm sure you would have been the one to invent the lubrisizer! I'm sure the fellow who did felt the same way you do about "pain" lubing.

Oh, and my lovely bride just mentioned something, and one day she'll wish she didn't, that she has one of those flexy, high-temp silicone pans like some people use for pan lubing except hers is of the MUFFIN variety, medium size with twelve holes! JACKPOT!

Gear

[mold maker]

2 weeks ago the local Wally World had a fair selection of the silicon pans, or so I was told. When I got there the shelves were empty. Clerk said they sold like free money. Must have been a good price on them.

[Thecyberguy]

I got some little plastic cups with lids from the deli. They use them to put condiments in. They are a tad small (about 1.5 fl oz.) but they work great. Pop em in the microwave and pour out the lube.

I asked at the deli and they sold me a bunch for a couple of bucks.

have a good 'un, ~thecyberguy

[Changeling]

I'll pile on too. Changling was asking about LUBE moulds, NOT lead moulds.

Most good boolit lubes will stick to muffin tins like you wouldn't believe. Pam doesn't help much. Graphite brushed on with one of SWMBO's old, worn out rouge brushes helps tremendously. The best thing, though, is get the Teflon coated muffin tins (lube isn't hot enough to burn the teflon) and place it in a jumbo cake pan with about an inch of very cold water in it. When the lube hits the cavities it fills them up, but as it cools quickly it shrinks away from the sides leaving a visible gap. When cool, they will literally fall out of the pan.

If you use the tin-plated pans that are kinda rough and just pour the lube in, you will have to freeze it and beat the ingots out from the bottom with a mallet, damaging the cavities. Trust me on this, not fun.

Gear

Gear just for the sake of knowing, what happens if you use a Teflon coated muffin pan and do not place it in the cold water, just place in a freezer for X amount of time, will they stick?

[geargnasher]

The lube sticks more by contact than by adhesion, like wet paper to glass, so it's better if you can get the lube to shrink away as it cools and becomes solid. If you don't care about introducing that much heat to your freezer, it will work fine just pouring the muffins and sticking it in the freezer as soon as possible. If you let them cool at room temp and solidify, then freeze them, they might not come out as easily because the lube and the pan will shrink together rather than apart.

Gear

[Changeling]

The lube sticks more by contact than by adhesion, like wet paper to glass, so it's better if you can get the lube to shrink away as it cools and becomes solid. If you don't care about introducing that much heat to your freezer, it will work fine just pouring the muffins and sticking it in the freezer as soon as possible. If you let them cool at room temp and solidify, then freeze them, they might not come out as easily because the lube and the pan will shrink together rather than apart.

Gear

I see your point Gear, thanks a lot.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

That Gear feller is making a lot of sense!:-D

Thanks!!!!!!

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Changeling]

That Gear feller is making a lot of sense!:-D

Thanks!!!!!!

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot


OH, he has his moments, especially on those who don't/didn't know what they were doing:wink:


Gear, thought you might want to know, I went to WM today and they had a "Muffin Pan" with these small muffins that were about the size of a silver dollar at the top with a fast taper to somewhat bigger than a quarter at the bottom.
On what looks like a standard muffin pan there is "24" muffin inserts (price $5.00). These appear to be about ideal for bullet lube!

The propaganda on the pan said "Durable Non-Stick" interior. That interested me since there was no mention of Teflon! None of the other Muffin-pans said anything about "Non-Stick", just scratch resistant!

I guess the times are a changing faster and faster, because sure as Hell, if it doesn't say "Teflon" it probably isn't.

Anyway I bought it and will let you know after the lube pour how it works.8-)

[geargnasher]

Dadgummit, my ears are burnin' and now I know why! :kidding:

That should work, just get a deep cookie sheet or pan and fill it with COLD water, at least enough to submerge 2/3 of the muffin moulds, and pour away. They'll be solid and ready to pop out in just a few minutes if they're that small. I use one that makes the Jumbo muffins, I don't remember what they weigh, but it's around 4-6 ounces I think. The smaller ones (have a mould for that too) sure do remelt more easily, just that I make more of a mess trying to fill the little cavities whereas with the big ones I just fill directly from the saucepan in which I cooked the lube.

Gear

[alamogunr]

Several years ago I bought some beeswax from a nice lady in one of the New England states. I don't remember how I got her name and phone #, but when I called she asked what I was going to do with 25 lbs of beeswax. When I told her that it would be used to make lube for cast bullets, she was intrigued. Anyway, when the wax came it was molded in many various shapes including one big block that apparently had been poured in a bundt(sp?) pan. Quite a hunk of wax. I still have that one. Very clean. No evidence of sticking.

John
W.TN

[DanM]

I have been using plastic ice cube trays for molding lube and beeswax. Get them at the dollar store 3/1.50. I tried a coated muffin tray, and it stuck badly. The plastic ice cube trays are easy, just twist a little and the lube cakes fall right out. Trays seem to hold up well....