Felix Lube - the Short Version

[Alex]

Now, I'm new to this forum and REALLY don't want to offend anyone. But, at the ripe old age of 56 I am finally self-confident enough to disclose that I CAN BE rather lazy sometimes. I've been casting boolits for over 30 years now and have always used commercial boolit lubes (goes back to the lazy thing). However, being of Scottish descent, every time I drop a boolit from a mould or run one thru a sizing die, my mind is unconsciously calculating the cost down to the last erg of energy I expend. My time being the most expensive constituent of the process. Consequently, poring thru 100's of pages of boolit lube recipes does not qualify as time well spent. Which brings me to the point of my current rant. Can someone direct me to a homemade boolit lube that works well on boolits of appropriate hardness from 35 to 45 caliber not exceeding 1250 FPS using 2400, Unique, Bullseye, Hi-Skor 700X, HP-38, TiteGroup, and W231. Something that does not require a PHD in Nuclear Psychology with a minor in Chinese geometry? Oh yeah, and it can't cost as much as the proposed new healthcare system. I will be eternally grateful and sing your praises unto my dying breath.

Alex


Life is tough. Life is tougher if you're stupid. ~ John Wayne

[robertbank]

Go to the first post in this thread and make yourself some Felix lube. Works for me from 9MM to .30-06. It is all I use for 9MM, .40cal and .45acp. Did I mention .45LC as well.

Take Care

Bob

[Lloyd Smale]

ive made many differnt lubes but if quality and price and lazyness are all factored in its hard to beat just buying lube from white lable lube company. You cant make it much cheaper if any.

Now, I'm new to this forum and REALLY don't want to offend anyone. But, at the ripe old age of 56 I am finally self-confident enough to disclose that I CAN BE rather lazy sometimes. I've been casting boolits for over 30 years now and have always used commercial boolit lubes (goes back to the lazy thing). However, being of Scottish descent, every time I drop a boolit from a mould or run one thru a sizing die, my mind is unconsciously calculating the cost down to the last erg of energy I expend. My time being the most expensive constituent of the process. Consequently, poring thru 100's of pages of boolit lube recipes does not qualify as time well spent. Which brings me to the point of my current rant. Can someone direct me to a homemade boolit lube that works well on boolits of appropriate hardness from 35 to 45 caliber not exceeding 1250 FPS using 2400, Unique, Bullseye, Hi-Skor 700X, HP-38, TiteGroup, and W231. Something that does not require a PHD in Nuclear Psychology with a minor in Chinese geometry? Oh yeah, and it can't cost as much as the proposed new healthcare system. I will be eternally grateful and sing your praises unto my dying breath.

Alex


Life is tough. Life is tougher if you're stupid. ~ John Wayne

[Alex]

Go to the first post in this thread and make yourself some Felix lube. Works for me from 9MM to .30-06. It is all I use for 9MM, .40cal and .45acp. Did I mention .45LC as well.

Take Care

Bob

Robert,
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I read the first post in this thread. Right up to the part where I stand there for 30 minutes stirring a pot of simmering lube. Please don't think me crass or shallow, but for that to be reasonable to me would require that I was lubing about 10,000 boolits. Just gathering the materials would require sufficient effort that I wouldn't consider standing there for 30 minutes. It's a 20-minute drive to the nearest town of any measurable size for me to even look for all the ingredients.

Thanks again,
Alex

[robertbank]

Well the next time you go to that town you should be good to go. Either that or just order off the internet a commercial load and subtract the savings of your time from the cost of the commercial lube.

Take Care

Bob

[Alex]

ive made many differnt lubes but if quality and price and lazyness are all factored in its hard to beat just buying lube from white lable lube company. You cant make it much cheaper if any.

Lloyd,
Thanks so much for the tip on WLL. I read all the testimonials, went to Lars website, and yeah, I think this is definitely the way to go for me. Less than half the price of other commercial lubes, plus, I don't have to stir it for 30 minutes. Anything that cuts my reloading time is time I can spend sending boolits downrange. That's a VERY GOOD THING. As I stated in my first post, my time is the most precious part of any project I choose to involve myself in. So, thanks again. As they say in Scotland "Slainte" (pronounced "sloncha", meaning "good health" or "to your health")

Alex

Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. ~ One of many Marine Corp mottos

[ghh3rd]

Made my first batch of Felix Lube, and think it came out Ok. Cooked up a 6oz batch of Mineral/Castor oil so I'll have more pre-made for next time.

Grated half a bar of Ivory soap and put it in a air tight container. Measured out a rounded tablespoon of it and weighed it -- 73gr.

The soap foamed and melted completely. I let it heat for a few more minutes to ensure that any water in the soap evaporated.

Used 1 tbl spoon Lansinoh "nipple cream" for my Lanolin.

After pouring final product into a Glad disposable container and letting it sit, no layers. I removed the lid after about 5 minutes, and there was no condensation, so I'm sure there is no trace of water in the lube.

The lube is pliable but firm, and looks creamy.

I'll give it a try on my next batch of boolits.

Randy


I think

[joel0407]

Help...

My castor and mineral oil keeps seperating.

Should I cook longer or add more stearate?

[felix]

Cook longer, at a temp that does not smoke, but hot enough to drive off steam. Some stearates have too much glycerin and that must be broken down which takes time without destroying the "oils". On the other hand, glycerin content is not damaging to muzzle loading black powder applications. ... felix

[Marlin Hunter]

Cook longer, at a temp that does not smoke, but hot enough to drive off steam. Some stearates have too much glycerin and that must be broken down which takes time without destroying the "oils". On the other hand, glycerin content is not damaging to muzzle loading black powder applications. ... felix

Would grating the soap and drying it in an oven before putting it in the mix help out with water removal?

[geargnasher]

Would grating the soap and drying it in an oven before putting it in the mix help out with water removal?

Yes, but so will leaving it on top of the refrigerator for a week.

The issue I have with getting the Ivory to dissolve is really an issue of the glycols it contains. Glycerine is a by-product of the soap itself and is often refined out (as it must be in Biodiesel fuel derived from animal fat or plant oils). Ivory seems to contain quite a bit, and it makes sense since glycerine is an effective emollient and adds to its qualities as a bath soap. Glycerine has some qualities that would be desirable in a boolit lube, but being extremely hygroscopic really throws a wrench into making it blend with oils and tends to make it undesirable for smokeless powder applications because of corrosion issues.

Sooooo, if you can't get your Ivory to melt completely, strain out the clear lumps because it is glycerine, you don't want it in you lube, and it has a higher boiling point than the poof point of your beeswax. Remember it is the stearate you want from the soap, the water (that is dissolved in glycerine) boils off in a few seconds, and the glycerine that is left behind can be strained. The Stearate dissolves in to the mix within a few minutes.

Gear

[Marlin Hunter]

I made my first batch of Felix lube. I started by pre-mixing the Castor oil, oil, and soap in one container and melting the Bees wax in another. The two oils mixed easily, but the soap took a long time to melt and thoroughly mix with the oils. I think it was about 2 hours cook time. I grated the soap about a month ago and put it in a pan on top of my water heater to dry out. I think it helped, because I got very little foam. The smaller pieces and fine powder mixed quickly but the longer strands is what took so long to mix. After soap was finally mixed with the oils, I poured it into the melted bees wax. I also added some carnauba wax to shine the bore. I burned something on the inside bottom of the wax container. I think it might be the bees wax but I'm not sure. I didn't burn the bottom of the oil and soap container. I noticed that the entire mix started to jell at about 200*F, and solidified about 145*F. I think this batch should work for either hot or cold weather. It was sticky to touch, but it didn't make my hands sticky. I don't think it will work for pan lubing: It's too soft. Next time I will have to make the soap chips smaller. I added a green crayon, but the color is still a light carmel brown. I can't see any green color whatsoever.

Thanks for the recipe Felix

[keebo52]

Just found some stearic acid at a local craft store. Can I use it in place of the ivory soap? If so, how much per batch?

[felix]

Yes, same amount. Can make the lube a little better for a winter lube in that the melting point will not be raised as with sodium stearate. ... felix

[Mk42gunner]

When I made my first batch of FWFL, I found a bar of Ivory soap that I know I had for at least three years. Instead of trying to grate it like cheese; I scraped it with a knife blade, and got pwoder that melted into the oil mixture easily.

My version has worked on everything from .32 Long to .45 LC in handguns and with .308 amd .30-06 in rifles.


Robert

[GabbyM]

Baby oil or intestinal lubricant laxative ?

Does it make any difference which type of mineral oil you use. The pure mineral oil lacks the perfume in baby oil. Still stinks adequately when cooking but nothing like that baby oil.

2nd question: How important is straining the mixed lube to remove glycerin lumps?

[keebo52]

Yes, same amount. Can make the lube a little better for a winter lube in that the melting point will not be raised as with sodium stearate. ... felix

Thanks for the quick answer, Mr. Felix. I'll give it a try.

[geargnasher]

Baby oil or intestinal lubricant laxative ?

Does it make any difference which type of mineral oil you use. The pure mineral oil lacks the perfume in baby oil. Still stinks adequately when cooking but nothing like that baby oil.

2nd question: How important is straining the mixed lube to remove glycerin lumps?

My two cents, FWIW

1st answer, IME not much, I've used Dexron III, 2-cycle engine premix, etc. I think the unscented laxative stuff should be just fine.

2nd answer, (since I'm the OCD nut that mentioned straining) it depends upon how obsessive you are. The lumps seem to settle to the bottom when cooling, and there might be a difference in lube consistency there. As far as performance I doubt you'd know the difference shooting it.

Gear

[32-44]

Hi
I am new in this forum but I follow since a long time the lube recipes.
I have made some Felix lube with good results but remain the question what is the usefulness of the mineral oil ?
Is it to help castor oil to polymerize or contribute to lubing?
Thanks for answers
32-44

[geargnasher]

Hi
I am new in this forum but I follow since a long time the lube recipes.
I have made some Felix lube with good results but remain the question what is the usefulness of the mineral oil ?
Is it to help castor oil to polymerize or contribute to lubing?
Thanks for answers
32-44

Mineral oil is a hydrocarbon donor to the castor as I understand it. The castor is the 'real' lube in the recipe.

Gear