bullet lube stick mold 2.0

[freebullet]

I found the arbor for my hole saw set finally & also unearthed another long lost piece of 1" i.d. pvc tube. I decided to make a new lube stick mold.




I now had 28 4" tubes. Found a chunk of painted osb in scrap area a (aka my basement). I layed out bored the holes just under the o.d. of the tubes. Used a dremel sanding wheel to final fit each hole. Screwed & glued a base on. Then hit the tubes with cooking spray & put a dollup of 100% silicone in each hole then slid them in and let stand for 3 days. I've used that method to make custom/ obsolete seals for machines and 4x4's it works well & cheap.

I tested every method I could think of to get the sticks out with the old mold. Letting the sticks stand for 1hr worked as well as anything however, there were always 3-4 that were tough to remove despite the tubes being sprayed with cooking spray. I decided to make a pusher outer doodad.

I took an hf 8" c clamp and glued a tube to slide the stick out into. I shortened the screw so it can't smoosh the lube sticks, has a stop, & can have a drill attached for easy lube stick removal.

I'm going to get 5lb of bwax from a friend soon and will probably make some Bens red & ?????????? (Your suggestions here) to test it out.

 

[Brad]

I like the device for removing the lube from the mould. The c clamp is good but modifying it for use with a drill is brilliant.

 

[freebullet]

Thanks.

They always say "if you put the laziest man on the job he'll find the easiest way to do it".

Can't wait to test it out.

 

[Rick]

Yep, pusher outer doodad's are indeed handy. Looks really good, had some thought put into it for sure.

 

[L1A1Rocker]

I like the pusher outer, vid of it in action?

I've had a few stick so I started lining them with waxed paper.

 

[Phil]

Your kit looks good.

I have a mold tube setup on a smaller scale -- 9 tubes. After the lube sets up I put the tubes in the freezer for a couple of hours. I have a wood dowel I insert into the tube against the lube. Holding onto the PVC and dowel with one hand I slam the dowel end onto a hard surface and the lube stick pops out. May not work with all lubes but works well with the ones I have tried.

 

[Ian]

Soap lube ought to work just great in those if it doesn't melt the PVC. I pour the lube at 460-470°F and it shrinks quite a bit when it cools so that should make it easy to get out and also to get the middle rod out (I would cast these for a Lyman reservoir). The lube would definitely need to be frozen to whack it out per Phil's method.

 

[gman]

For mine I counter sunk a hole so my all thread rod goes into the wood block. I place a washer that fits the pvc and rod on the bottom. I have a cap drilled to place on top after filling tube. Keeps rod centered. After cooling I remove pvc tube and screw a nut on the bottom till its up against the washer. Remove the cap and pull the lube out of the mold then slide lube stick off of rod. Works good for me. Thought I would share. This batch of Bens Red I just melt and pour into lubsizer.