"Holy Navy wax, Batman!"

[Pistolero]

Ian,
You mentioned that this wax matches the desensetizing/plasticizing agent for 16" shell explosive milspec pretty well.
Do you have a link to that mil spec? Will be discussing a possible GC run with my friend.

It seems worthwhile to contact ICI to see what they say about trying to match a sample of this stuff. Charles says
he has 20 lbs on the shelf, so we should be able to give them a sample if they would be willing to test it for possible
duplication.

Bill

 

[Ian]

Bill, that spec was very, very vague. As I recall what I found was from WWII and only specified some very basic physical properties such as melt point, flexibility, and hardness which matched the wax in question. Beeswax would have met all the requirements as well. I think those specifications were from a time before ASTM standards like needle penetration had been established.

I found some interesting stuff on this site, here's a link to some downloadable files: http://everyspec.com/MIL-SPECS/MIL-SPECS-MIL-W/MIL-W-0020553C_43909/
That's one of the simpler ones, checkout MIL-W-13945D to see just how complicated they make wax specs. Down in section six some rather ambiguous intended uses are outlined.

I also noticed a bunch of different specs for "impregnating microcrystalline wax" but my eyes had already glazed over so I didn't download those for a look.

Basically, this stuff could be anything.

 

[Pistolero]

Ian,

Take a look at Mil-W-12598. High melting point microcrystalline wax for
impregnating porous castings. Melting point minimum 190F, Flash point 550F.

Here is one of the uses for Mil-W-13945D wax. Combustible powder cannister
for large caliber guns.

http://www.google.com/patents/US5052304

 

[Pistolero]

Here is a list of "mil spec waxes in stock" at Dynamation Research.

http://aerospacechemicals.com/inventory/a2473avr.htm

Might be worth looking up these specs to see what they are. At least this
gives us a list of milspec waxes that are available.

 

[Brad]

I am to the point of thinking that what is needed is a wax mixture with a wide range of melt points. Something with a range from 130 to 200 plus would be good. This would give a lube that might get soft with heat but not go liquid but it also would be able to liquefy fast under pressure in the bore.
If melt point is high enough an additive might be needed to help it go liquid fast, something like cetyl esters.

 

[Pistolero]

Some are candelilla waxes;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candelilla_wax

 

[Ian]

I'm with you, Brad, a wide range of melt points with paraffin oils on the low end and microcrystalline waxes on the high end and a good cross-over of both kinds in the middle should do the trick. This wax quest may be the very definition of getting wrapped around the axle when Vaseline (a range of oil and micro-crystalline wax), beeswax, and high-temperature microwax with about 10% paraffin wax like Fiver put in his moly lube (or cetyl esters) to give that middle-modifier/liquid under pressure thing would do the trick nicely. Still, the more individual ingredients we have, the more tolerances can stack and the more difficult it is to repeat the recipe, or for others to duplicate it.

Bill, did you notice the spec for "11 pound slabs"? That's pretty much the form the mystery Navy wax took, might be a clue. The high melt point requirement of some of the waxes listed got my attention too. I'll have to re-check, but as I recall the stuff Charles and I have melts right at 147'F, making it virtually identical to beeswax....except the specific gravity was much less (alcohol/water titration float test) and obviously the flash point is about 200'F higher. I'll have to check out the Dynamation link when I get more time.

As an aside, the wax rinds from Babybell cheese are composed of two different waxes that, when melted together, make a scary-close approximation of the Navy wax with regard to texture, softness, toughness, and "smearability". I think both the soft, sticky, inner sealing wax and outer, non-stick, tough, glossy layer are each blends of paraffin, microwax, and oils. Duck wax also has my interest piqued, though the melt point may be a bit low. I'd like a fairly soft wax with about a 160'F minimum melt point. The higher the wax's melt point and the more microwax is at the top end, the less metal soap needed to bump the "static" melt point and control oil bleed during firing.

 

[Pistolero]

Several had 190F minimum melting point in the spec. If you found it to be 147F, there were
Type I through IV waxes in one spec, with some differing specs.

Bill

 

[fiver]

OH-OHH.
Bill, you wanna be careful this is a slippery slope your standing on.

 

[Pistolero]

Slippery with 11 pound slabs of some 190F melting point candillila wax?

My friend no longer has easy access to a GC, so that is not going to happen, at least
from my side. That is a shame because it would give us a good look at the mix of
molecular weights that we have in the original Navy wax, which would go a long
way to understanding what it is.

 

[Grump]

[snip]
As an aside, the wax rinds from Babybell cheese are composed of two different waxes that, when melted together, make a scary-close approximation of the Navy wax with regard to texture, softness, toughness, and "smearability". I think both the soft, sticky, inner sealing wax and outer, non-stick, tough, glossy layer are each blends of paraffin, microwax, and oils. Duck wax also has my interest piqued, though the melt point may be a bit low. I'd like a fairly soft wax with about a 160'F minimum melt point. The higher the wax's melt point and the more microwax is at the top end, the less metal soap needed to bump the "static" melt point and control oil bleed during firing.

Ian, I was curious about that very same wax a couple of years ago and left some on the car's console in early summer.

Pretty low melt point for our purposes!

I thought that perhaps the red was at least part carnauba, but I don't think so. But the stuff does have a pretty long soft-->slump-->melted range. No even close to a eutectic wax "alloy"!