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Thread: Lanolin in lube

  1. #1
    Boolit Master


    foesgth's Avatar
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    Lanolin in lube

    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.
    Remember the Law of Probability - The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Me Too...I use Carnuba...Maybe I need to wake up as well???

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    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.
    Last edited by Cosmic_Charlie; 03-15-2022 at 10:38 AM.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master Castaway's Avatar
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    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.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by foesgth View Post
    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.
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  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy dave roelle's Avatar
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    one of the best extreme pressure lubricants available

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    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%.

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by racepres View Post
    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.

    Quote Originally Posted by greenjoytj View Post
    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.

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  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
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    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.

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