Author Topic: BEES WAX ?? (Read 2420 times)

ONE HOLE 4570 · « **on:** November 15, 2007, 03:24:02 AM »

Where do you fellas get your bees wax from. I have a 50 & 54 & am trying to shoot conicals. 1:32 for 54 1:28 for 50
Have both real bullet molds for each caliber & a 370 tc maxi. Tried lubbing with bore butter but not getting the groups I want (also melts if it gets too warm). Wanted to try & make up some lube. been using pyrodex P for powder & felt wads under the conicals

What kind of lube formulas do you guys have that won't melt in the heat & give reasonable results with conicals

How many shots before your groups start opening up or do you swab between every shot

crow_feather · « **Reply #1 on:** November 15, 2007, 03:59:19 AM »

I get mine from e-bay. It was good stuff. Pure - not diluted. I use 50% bees wax, 40 % Crisco, and 10 % water soluble machine oil changing the percentages for the weather.

flintlock · « **Reply #2 on:** November 15, 2007, 04:36:50 AM »

I bought a pound from Hobby Lobby this summer, it was about $10...I found a recipe on www.MuzzleloadingForum.com
If I remember right it was 2 parts bees wax, 8 parts caster oil and 1 part Murphys Oil Soap...Melt the bees wax, mix the others
and stir, let cool...You can remelt and add caster oil if you want it to be softer...I have used on patches and they look fine
after shooting...Go to that website and do a search, lots of ML info over there....

darrell8937 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 26, 2007, 03:05:23 PM »

at local craft store. They sell candle making supplies Bees wax is also used in candle making. I have not use it yet though.

beerbelly · « **Reply #4 on:** November 27, 2007, 02:53:49 AM »

I have found thease folks to have the best prices and pure bee's wax.

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/index.php

Beerbelly

simonkenton · « **Reply #5 on:** November 27, 2007, 04:26:58 AM »

Health food stores carry big cakes of pure bees wax. Looks like 1/4 pound, 1/2 pound, and one pound, and maybe bigger.

bub524 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 29, 2007, 07:30:07 AM »

4-5 parts wax and 1/2 part olive oil. Mix it and let it cool. As its cooling you can dip your bullets into it and set them on wax paper. Scrape the excess off the paper and return to the pot. If the mixture is too stiff then heat it up and add a TBS of oil and let it cool do this until the consistancy is where you want it. It also works well for patch lube. Have been doing this for 25+ years. Works for me.

Semisane · « **Reply #7 on:** November 29, 2007, 07:59:33 AM »

Quote

4-5 parts wax and 1/2 part olive oil.

Just HOW do you do that?

bub524 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 29, 2007, 05:47:09 PM »

Quote from: Semisane on November 29, 2007, 07:59:33 AM

Quote
4-5 parts wax and 1/2 part olive oil.

Just HOW do you do that?

If you have your wax poured into and old plastic ice cube tray, use 5 cubes of wax and about 1/2 cube olive oil for a start. Let it set, add more of one or the other and mix to the hardened consistency that suits your needs. I guess it is like rocket science only much different and easier.

Once you find the right mix it works very well and its cheap.

willysjeep134 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 30, 2007, 05:33:42 PM »

I've heard toilet seal rings from the hardware store are mostly beeswax of some sort. I think they go about .98c each at the local Menards. I also bought a pure block about the size of a pound of lard from a hippie shop at a music festival. You may also try getting beeswax candles, pulling the wicks out and melting them down.

forest2 · « **Reply #10 on:** November 30, 2007, 06:55:16 PM »

Hey One Hole,, I get mine from a beekeeper. If yer still readin this thread and still needin some, send me a PM, I'll send ya a # or so, you pay me back postage when ya git it.

P.S. Them toilet rings AIN'T beeswax! They used to be, but you'll have to find a hardware store that hasn't restocked toilet rings for about 25 years to find one made of beeswax

.

dla · « **Reply #11 on:** December 01, 2007, 10:55:58 AM »

Toilet rings are made from Bee's wax. Cheap.

forest2 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 01, 2007, 09:36:29 PM »

Quote from: dla on December 01, 2007, 10:55:58 AM

Toilet rings are made from Bee's wax. Cheap.

Ok. toilet rings are made from bee's wax, I should have known that. You guy's go ahead an make bullet lube an patchin lube from "Cheap" toilet rings. I'll get my beeswax from a my friend the local beekeeper. Good luck.
p.s. Maybe, they might just add some other stuff to them "bee's wax" toilet rings. I'm just guessing though, I don't really know.

DakotaJeff · « **Reply #13 on:** January 19, 2008, 07:36:39 PM »

I tried lubing some t/c maxi balls I just finished casting tonight. Never tried lubing conicals in the past so this was as much an experiment as anything. Anyway, I used a double boiler and melted 1 part bee's wax to 1 part Crisco. After the mixture was melted and mixed, I used a baking tin (no, not the wife's personal cookware), stood the conicals upright and poured in the lube mixture till it filled up the baking tin to the top band on the conicals. Then I set the baking tin out on the back deck (about 20 deg F) and let it cool. An hour later I figured I could just pop out the conicals by breaking apart the "wax cake" and my bullets would be lubed and the excess could be remelted. Well as I quickly found out, upon breaking the "cake" the wax broke away from the bullets as well. Essentially, I had un-lubed bullets. So time for Plan B. I remelted the wax / Crisco mixture and dipped the conicals into the mix one at a time, stood them upright to dry, then redipped them a second time. At least this time I ended up with lubed bullets, although they look terrible

I guess I like the looks of freshly cast lead better.... So I'm wondering, if my bee's wax / crisco mixture too brittle if it is breaking away from the conicals, like it did in Plan A? I'll head to the range tomorrow and give them a try. Would adding some sort of oil to my mixture make the lube more "moldable" and pliable? Thanks for the help.

slayer · « **Reply #14 on:** January 20, 2008, 02:34:33 PM »

Anyone every try SnoSeal for leather? I know it has beeswax, but not sure of the other ingredients and if it get hard in cold weather?

Jack

SuperstitionCoues · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2008, 07:15:21 AM »

Try the local yellow pages for a beekeeper or honey company. Ours had a stall at the local swapmeet. $5 bought me all that I need for the next few years.

Hoyt · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2008, 01:03:59 PM »

I get mine from dadant also.

clodbuster · « **Reply #17 on:** January 23, 2008, 02:17:41 PM »

if you think toilet rings are beeswax try this experiment. Get a small hunk of real beeswax and lay it on a paper plate on a table. Next to it lay a toilet ring. try pushing the heel of your hand on each. Got it?

alleyyooper · « **Reply #18 on:** January 25, 2008, 03:29:51 AM »

What are you paying Dadant a pound for wax? I know bright yellow capping wax is selling for $4.00 a pound on E Bay.

Bright yellow is capping wax.
the medium yellow is from new combs I take from bee removals we do.
the brown wax is from the used comb we take out of removals and frame comb we recycle.

A apiarey is where bees are kept.

Al

forest2 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 25, 2008, 09:55:39 PM »

Now that's the look of natural bee's wax! Thanks for chiming in my apiareyatric friend! I never did find suitable the high pressure filtered stuff. I have been lucky enough to receive a good lot of what you call medium yellow. The texture is firm yet malleable with the fragrance of alfalfa and a bit of apple.
That's the kind of stuff our ancestors used when they found and or raised bee's. All this tissy about special concoctions of bees wax lubes in a mass market of fast sell products; csheech,,if guy's could just slow down a bit, read the archives,,and find folks like yourself locally,, how ever, those little 1 pound bricks for $4ea + shipping!? Gadds!

alleyyooper · « **Reply #20 on:** January 27, 2008, 03:52:24 AM »

Our wax smells like honey.
It is expencive but it is used for many things and the girls only make so much a year. Many hobby bee keepers keep what they get to make lip bulms, skin creams body lotions and candles. Also makes one of the best waxes for fine wood furniture there is.

Al

Ironwood · « **Reply #21 on:** January 27, 2008, 04:32:21 AM »

Dakota Jeff, You might want to add just a tad of olive oil to your mixture. Also the hotter you have the wax the thinner each coat will be. I dip mine one at a time and place on a piece of wax paper. Usually I want the lube to be soft enough so it will stay in the grooves when the bullet is started. I usually remove the lube from the base of the bullets by rubbing the base on one of those paper blue shop towels from Wal-Marts.

I have a small flat bottomed microwave safe bowl that I use to melt the lube. It doesn't take very much lube to lube 50, .50 caliber REAL bullets. Here's a 320 grain REAL bullet I recovered after being discharged with a CO2 discharger.

Sourdough · « **Reply #22 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:12:40 PM »

Some, not all, toilet rings are pure beeswax. I've used them, the pure ones for 40 years. I was a Plumber and they were easy to get. Back when I started using beeswax a tiolet ring cost just a few cents apiece. I got them by the case. Also used them to make string lube for my Bowstrings.

Some people have a problem with them because they are TOILET RINGS. But until the plumber takes it to the job site and opens the box, they have never been near a toilet. Till then they are just as clean and sanitary as any of the stuff you buy at the craft store. Same stuff coming from the same supplier, just molded, and packaged differently that's all.

captchee · « **Reply #23 on:** February 29, 2008, 02:53:03 AM »

you have to watch the toilet bowl rings as many are not bees wax anymore but a synthetic. So read the labels and get the ones that say 100% bees wax .
I use about the same mix as others here but I add in alittle Windex to the mix makes clean up real easy