A Gift From a Client

[FISH4BUGS]

I know nothing about bullet lube except buying it 20 tubes at a time from Magma Engineering. Been doing that for years to run through the Star Sizer. Since I shoot full auto and cast my own, and burn up a lot of reloads, I have always wondered about making my own lube. I think that would be the final piece of ammunition self sufficiency.
My casting and reloading style is to set up and cast, size and lube all winter, reload in the spring, and I wind up doing 3-5000 per caliber. Pop them into the closet and move on to the next caliber. I can use up 5 or more tubes of Magma lube in a single caliber run.
I was doing my sales pitch to a potential customer and as we talked one of the attorneys said they were a beekeeper. I asked if she sold beeswax and she said "...as a matter of fact I have 20 maybe 30 lbs or so of raw wax I would be happy to give you".
Now I know that beeswax is the base ingredient in bullet lube. I reacted just like someone offered me a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights. Of COURSE I said I would gladly take her up on it. She asked what I was going to use it for and I told her I was going to make my own cast bullet lube.
Clearly she does not approve of guns. She kind of frowned and asked what I did with the bullets. I told her that I murdered paper targets and tin cans. She reluctantly said OK.
So on my next visit she will have 20-30 lbs or so of raw beeswax.
How do you refine it and get it to nice pure beeswax? Do I need to do anything other than heat it up slowly? How do I strain out the debris?
I have the burner to do it and will scare up a pan.
I will start trying out my own home made lube. I have looked at some of the recipes and they look way too fancy for me. Duplicating the Magma Red or Blue would be fine with me.
So how does this beeswax refining work?
Thanks for helping me out.

[43PU]

I always just put water and wax in a crock pot on low and let the wax melt, then turn off the crock pot and the wax will solidify and you can pick it right up

[Yodogsandman]

Good score!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...fining-beeswax

[swamp]

I melt and strain thru a paper towel. The paper towels I save for a friend to use as fire starters.
swamp

[woodbutcher]

Hi fish4bugs.Does she belong to the ACLU ?
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[nicholst55]

I'll bet if you had told her that you **HUNT** with them boolits, she would have found a different attorney.

[edler7]

Candles! You always make candles and cast fishing sinkers.

[country gent]

I wrap the beeswax in cheese cloth several layers and water melt the cheese cloth strains the inpuites and settles to the botom with the crud contained with in the wax floats on the water and solidifies. I render beef tallow the same way. This works for me a big used slow cooker setting out side works well for this and the bigger ones can be bought cheap at garage sales.

[victorfox]

Candles! You always make candles and cast fishing sinkers.

Exactly, tell everyone you make candles for the wife so she let you fish happily and bingo, you just scored something else... What a world of fools we live in uh?

[randyrat]

Couple different methods

1)Melt the wax and strain it through cotton. The cotton can't be too tightly woven or the wax won't flow through it. You need 2 pots and a screen colander/ strainer to hold the cotton cloth. Keep the temp low or you will burn the wax. This method takes some practice and the right equipment.

2) melt the wax in water, plenty of water, it will protect against burning the beeswax..Let it cool, pick the wax out and then strain it or melt it again with clean water if needed. The wax will float on top and all the crud will be on the bottom. Scrape the bottom of the chunk and the rest should be clean.

To cut wax, just let it cool, score it, lay it on an uneven surface and tap it. You also could freeze it and hit it with a hammer.

What ever you don't splatter it on good cloths, eye brows, eye lashes, arm hair, mustaches. If you do I'll pay for the video if you tape it. For Gods sake, don't do it in the kitchen. (I'd pay a premium for that video)

[runfiverun]

magma's lube is micro-wax with a titch [@3%] of carnuba wax, and some red/blue die thrown in for good measure.
Bees-wax is it's polar opposite.
for your high heat use I'd recommend you also use @3% carnuba wax.
BAC type lubes handle the heat well and are fairly similar to magma's lube.
easy to make too melt the wax pour some alox in and some carnuba then pour out to cool.
some will use 50-50 wax & alox I don't like that much alox so I cut it down to about 20% and substitute a couple tsp's of vasoline.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

some also mix beeswax/ molylube 50/50 I forget but he is an auther at the lasc website

[floydboy]

To clean the wax get a pot about 6-8 inches deep with the sides tapering in slightly at the bottom. Put about 2-3 inches of water in it and bring to a boil. Add dirty wax a little at a time. Don't let the boil get so vigorous that you splash the wax out. It will catch fire. The wax will float on top of the hot water. You want the wax to be about 3 inches thick. That is easy to manage and cut into smaller chunks later. After all the wax has melted and agitated enough for the crud to fall into the water turn the heat off and let the wax solidify. After it cools for a day it will shrink enough you can turn it over the wax will come out with a little coaxing. The bottom of the wax will have a very thin layer of crud adhered to it. Just scrap it off down to clean wax and save it for the next melt. You may have to repeat this a time or two to get pure wax but it is the easiest and best method for pure wax. Cut your chunks into manageable sizes and mix with other ingredients.

Good luck...Floyd

[Hip's Ax]

I went thorough this myself a few years ago. Here was my account back then, see link. As far as a lube recipe if fit and alloy are correct the lube can be surprisingly simple. The complicated formulas are usually for high speed hard alloy applications.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...lds&highlight=

[Oklahoma Rebel]

sounds like the easiest way is to melt it and strain through a paper towel, like someone said, or maybe an old handkerchief, by the way , what temp does beeswax melt at?

[wistlepig1]

Candles! You always make candles and cast fishing sinkers.

That's what I say!

[gwpercle]

Beeswax melts at 143 to 150 degrees F.
At 185 degrees F it will start to discolor
It's flash point is 400 degrees F. Hit that and it bursts into flame...and that's not good.

Refining raw wax is messy, and could be dangerous....do it outside. I had trouble getting it to go through a T-shirt material strainer. I finally made a fine metal screen mesh strainer and used a hair dryer to help it flow through the metal screen. Now I just buy my wax already cleaned....too much trouble for the few pounds I need.
Keep a watch on temperature, you don't want to discolor (burn) the wax and heaven forbid you don't want to have a flash fire.
Gary

[wistlepig1]

FYI, Here is a solar melter for bee wax. I helped a friend build one with a few Mods. He is happy with it .
http://blog.corujas.net/building-a-solar-wax-melter