First attempt at making 666-1 frustration

[Yodogsandman]

My first attempt at making 666-1 lube today was frustrating! I'm not sure if what I got is right.

Melted the paraffin wax in a soup can placed in a pan of boiling water on the hot plate .

Melted the beeswax in a whole tomato can in the same set up right after the paraffin was melted.

Melted the vaseline in a 1 cup pyrex measuring cup with my hairdryer.

Put 6 oz (3/4 cup) each of paraffin, beeswax and vaseline together in a peach can and heated them on the hot plate while stirring. Once they seemed blended well and heated enough, I stirred in 1 oz (1/3 cup) of finely grated ivory soap. The soap did not melt and did not foam up. The little soap bits just went around and around, floating on top. Let's try this again...

Placed the can back on the hot plate and heated up the mixture some more. Again, while stirring the soap bits, they just floated around on top and wouldn't mix in. OK, so I took the hair dryer to the top of the mix and the soap started to foam. I stirred and stirred but, the foam wouldn't combine with the other ingredients. I took the mix off from the hot plate and continued stirring. Some of the soap seemed to mix in so, I put it back on the hot plate and heated the top again with the hair dryer while I stirred. It foamed up again and I kept stirring. Again, I took it off the heat and kept stirring. It just wouldn't mix together!

Went in the house to warm up and looked for solutions here on the forum. No luck!!

I went back out and about half the mixture was solidifying on the sides of the can so, I mixed it up. I stirred and stirred and got everything to somewhat go together. It looked like tan colored mashed potatoes. It's little lumpy, still.

So, any advise or suggestions? Did I do it right? Does it look right?

[btroj]

Ok, let me tell you how I do it.

Put it the vaseline and paraffin in a pan. Get it melted. Add the soap. It will foam as the heat rises. Keep stirring. It will take a bit to get hot enough to get the foaming en it takes more heat to get the foaming to go away. Stir and stir.

It will smoke a bit after a while. Keep stirring and heating. As the soap melts in it will get a bit thicker. You want to heat and stir just to the point where it is totally liquid. This is around 450 degrees, don't splash or it will burn. I have the scar to prove it.

Remove from the heat and stir. It will start to gel a bit, this is when I add the beeswax as a solid. The residual heat will melt the beeswax and this also keeps the cooling going. Keep stirring until it is a homogenous mix. Once it is all mixed I pour into a foil pan and let it cool.

Yours didn't work because you didn't ahve enough heat to melt the soap. The soap isn't going to dissolve, it must melt.

[RobS]

Heat the Paraffin to melting add in Vaseline and then when a slight smoke starts add in the Ivory soap. I used a hotplate on high as it takes quite a bit of heat to melt in the Ivory soap.

Last step would be to add the beeswax at medium/low heat so as to not scorch it.

I make a similar lube and here are my instructions:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post3039487

[35 shooter]

Could this batch be re-heated slowly and brought up to temp. to get it mixed in and save it?

[btroj]

You can try it. Beeswax doesn't usually like that much heat but what do you have to lose? Even a long, gradual hear may get it melted in.

I say go for it. Even if it chars a bit and turns dark brown it could still work fine as a lube.

[Yodogsandman]

I guess I can try to fix it by heating it as much as it'll take. So, what's it supposed to look like? Anyone have any photos?

It seems so simple the way you guys made it!

[btroj]

Mine looks like yours but with no lumps. Should be pretty much beeswax colored. Knead a hunk in your hands and it is easy to finger lube bullets.

[Yodogsandman]

Well, it smoked a bit and scorched but, I got it mixed in together. I now have black coffee colored lube. Tomorrow we'll see how it looks...

[btroj]

That is the beeswax, it doesn't handle the temps required very well. The paraffin and vaselne can handle the heat but not beeswax, that is why it is added after the stuff is off the heat.

Let us know how it works, might not have hurt it a bit.

[Eutectic]

Brad and Rob have given good advice. The Ivory MUST be heated with the paraffin and Vaseline first as high heat (460°) is required to get the Ivory to melt and incorporate into the wax and oils.... Beeswax last at no hotter than 250° max.

I suggest you make another small batch as instructed above. Then you will have answered your questions on appearance and texture in the process. It will also let you test your dark batch for accuracy against the new smaller batch.

Eutectic

[timberhawk]

Brad and Rob have given good advice. The Ivory MUST be heated with the paraffin and Vaseline first as high heat (460°) is required to get the Ivory to melt and incorporate into the wax and oils.... Beeswax last at no hotter than 250° max.

I suggest you make another small batch as instructed above. Then you will have answered your questions on appearance and texture in the process. It will also let you test your dark batch for accuracy against the new smaller batch.

Eutectic

Eutectic,
You have been working with a 666+1+1. Was that 1% Carnuba and 1% Jojoba Oil.
When do these oils get added to the mix?

[geargnasher]

Congratulations, you made "burnt cat turd" lube!

That's the problem with beeswax, 358F and it starts to fry and smell sour, and the soap won't melt until 460F.


Most el cheapo hot plates are woefully inadequate for making any sort of soap-fortified bullet lube. Most of them are lawyer-proofed to shut off around 400F, or just below the poof point of most cooking oils/fats/greases. I have to use a propane burner to make soap lubes.

Mike (357 Maximum) added the necessary instructions to his "Satan Lube" recipe in the "just the facts" lube sticky, Btroj and Eutectic mentioned essentially the same point: If you combine paraffin, Vaseline, and soap in a lube, you should do just those three together and make certain you get the soap fully melted (the stuff will smoke badly right at the soap's melt point) because if you don't, the soap will precipitate out of solution. Paraffin wax and Ivory soap don't like to mix together for some reason until the soap's matrix is broken down by heat and then reformed as the mixture cools below the soap's "gel point". But it's a catch-22, because when you try to melt in the beeswax after your soap/paraffin/vaseline mixture has gelled, the stuff will be lumpy and the "grease" will never fully incorporate into the beeswax. A few gentle re-meltings/stirrings will help, but the soap can tend to come out and make a foamy head on the mix if you get it much past 250F.

Gear

[Eutectic]

Eutectic,
You have been working with a 666+1+1. Was that 1% Carnuba and 1% Jojoba Oil.
When do these oils get added to the mix?

No..... It was 1% Castor Oil and 1% Jojoba Oil. I added Castor Oil in with the Paraffin and Vaseline to incorporate along in high heat with the Ivory. I added the 1% Jojoba when I added Beeswax during cool down. Gear has a good point about a re-melt smoothing things out. I put finished 666-1 into a double boiler for a half hour stirring occasionally. This will smooth it out pretty nice.

Eutectic

[timberhawk]

No..... It was 1% Castor Oil and 1% Jojoba Oil. I added Castor Oil in with the Paraffin and Vaseline to incorporate along in high heat with the Ivory. I added the 1% Jojoba when I added Beeswax during cool down. Gear has a good point about a re-melt smoothing things out. I put finished 666-1 into a double boiler for a half hour stirring occasionally. This will smooth it out pretty nice.

Eutectic

I've got some stainless steel pans for making lube, but I'll have to buy my own double boiler.
My wife is pretty tolerant of my hobby and puts up with a lot of stuff (no flaming goo at three AM yet), but she'd draw the line on using hers.

[Yodogsandman]

I've determined that I should just start over! Cleaned up (almost) everything and melted and measured out the paraffin and Vaseline. Also measured out the finely grated ivory soap. I'll play with this another day, have to clean up after the latest snow storm, now.

Wrapped up the "cat turd lube" in foil and filed it away in the "someday" file. Don't want the dog to roll around in it when I'm not looking!

This is all great information! Thanks to all of you for sharing your sage advise! I like the idea that it's all in one place to reference, now. I'll report back when I finish up this new batch with photos.

[btroj]

Never judge a lube the day it is made. Mine always seem to change a bit over night and settle in.

[Yodogsandman]

I've got some stainless steel pans for making lube, but I'll have to buy my own double boiler.
My wife is pretty tolerant of my hobby and puts up with a lot of stuff (no flaming goo at three AM yet), but she'd draw the line on using hers.

I hit the yard sales hard last summer and found all kinds of stuff for making lube. Glass Pyrex pans, Metal cookie and cake pans, Pyrex measuring cups, spoons and ladles, a 4 qt pan, delrin cutting boards that I cut up to make a hollow tube jig and a hot plate. All together less than $15. A double boiler's just an old peach can in a pan of boiling water! I also found 2 convection toaster ovens for $11. Gave one oven to my wife ... she owes me the "use" of kitchen utensils now! Just can't let her catch me!

[geargnasher]

Never judge a lube the day it is made. Mine always seem to change a bit over night and settle in.

Speaking of "sage advice", Yodog, there's more of it right there. With heavily-soaped lubes, the test is 24 hours and then about 2-6 months later, see if it turned to slime or not.

There's a lot more behind some of these formulas than many suspect, a lube has to pass a lot of thoughtful tests besides the shooting before the more scrupulous lube cooks turn it loose. Like Ben, he's been keeping his new liquid lube a quiet secret for years until just recently, when he felt it was tested well enough to share. Same with several of the Extreme concoctions, the tests just aren't completed yet, and some take time, like copper strip evaluations.

Gear

[Yodogsandman]

It's been 24 hours now and I can tell that I'd need to plug in the heater. It's 6*F outside. Thr lube I made last night is a little sticky and waxy but has body and responds to the warmth of my fingers. I like it but, want to make it the right way.

[btroj]

You might just be surprised. I find that it doesn't need much heat of the pressure is high enough. Minimal heat at most, just get it to flow.