No More Johnson's Paste Wax
- Thread starter Ben
- Start date
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Yeah, but it smells smells nice. My mother made me use it on the desk and dresser in my bedroom. She said it covered up the "gym socks and dead animal smell"!
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Was going to make some of Ben's Liquid Lube and rememeber they don't make Johnson's Paste Wax anymore. Did a little searching and found a long article about JPW. At the end was this and thought it might be helpful
Briwax has been the go-to brand for furniture finishing supplies for over a century. This thick paste wax retains its firmness and is easy to apply. It should be considered an alternative to Johnson’s paste wax.
Minwax is also an excellent alternative to Johnson’s paste wax. Minwax can be used very quickly and does not leave a tacky surface. It is also an affordable and maintenance-free product.
I did a search and found Briwax. But they don't make a liquid version. Then I stumbled upon something that jogged my memory. Collnite Insulator wax. Not sure why they call it that. It was one of those urban legend waxes for cars. My wife's late cousin swore by the stuff. I think I have a bottle in my garage. Gotta go look. It might be a good replacement for Johnson's Liquid Wax.
Alternative To Johnson Paste Wax
Johnson’s Paste Wax contains the following product ingredients:- PETROLEUM DISTILLATES. …
- PARAFFIN. …
- Synthetic wax
- 1,2,4-TRIMETHYLBENZENE. …
- NYFD C.
- Mineral spirits are odorless.
- Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax
Briwax has been the go-to brand for furniture finishing supplies for over a century. This thick paste wax retains its firmness and is easy to apply. It should be considered an alternative to Johnson’s paste wax.
Minwax is also an excellent alternative to Johnson’s paste wax. Minwax can be used very quickly and does not leave a tacky surface. It is also an affordable and maintenance-free product.
I did a search and found Briwax. But they don't make a liquid version. Then I stumbled upon something that jogged my memory. Collnite Insulator wax. Not sure why they call it that. It was one of those urban legend waxes for cars. My wife's late cousin swore by the stuff. I think I have a bottle in my garage. Gotta go look. It might be a good replacement for Johnson's Liquid Wax.
Last edited:
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Well, with the oversize .32-40 project, I've been thinking about liquid lube to avoid the need for a special sizing die. So, today, I had a lucid moment and decided to try something.
I took a chunk of my BP lube, which is Paul Matthews and worked great when I was shooting BPCR silhouette, and put it in a container with some acetone and kept mixing until it dissolved. Took a bit to dissolve, but eventually made a nice milky yellow high viscosity liquid.
Put some .22 cast bullets from the .218 Bee in a plastic container, drizzled some over the bullets and then put the lid on a swirled them around. Dumped them out on a paper towel to let the acetone flash off. Did not take long and had some nicely and evenly lubed bullets. I then tried it with a few 270 gr .38 cal bullets and also came out decent. Need to make a lot more to lube a large batch (60 or so) bullets but that's not a big deal. Need to find a bigger plastic bottle that the acetone won't dissolve. Using an eye drops bottle for the test batch.
Here's some pics.
Pretty sure you can tell which are lubed and which are not. But for the uninitiated, the shiny ones on the left are not lubed. First pic is .22 cal and second is .38 cal.
I think I'm going to bring the little squirt bottle of lube and the mixing container with me to the club and breech seat the as-cast bullets my friend is bringing tomorrow to try in my oversized bore .32-40. If she shoots well and there is no problem with leading, this lube may be the way to go. Sure beats sitting at the bench and running them thru the Lubrasizer.
Years ago, I took a Tupperware container and modified it to hold in the chuck of my lathe and turn slowly on the backgears as a case tumbler. That might just be the way to lube a larger number of bullets. I also have a commercial tumbling container that is rubber covered and probably used to run on a set of rollers. Have no idea where it came from. That works in the lathe as well.
I took a chunk of my BP lube, which is Paul Matthews and worked great when I was shooting BPCR silhouette, and put it in a container with some acetone and kept mixing until it dissolved. Took a bit to dissolve, but eventually made a nice milky yellow high viscosity liquid.
Put some .22 cast bullets from the .218 Bee in a plastic container, drizzled some over the bullets and then put the lid on a swirled them around. Dumped them out on a paper towel to let the acetone flash off. Did not take long and had some nicely and evenly lubed bullets. I then tried it with a few 270 gr .38 cal bullets and also came out decent. Need to make a lot more to lube a large batch (60 or so) bullets but that's not a big deal. Need to find a bigger plastic bottle that the acetone won't dissolve. Using an eye drops bottle for the test batch.
Here's some pics.
Pretty sure you can tell which are lubed and which are not. But for the uninitiated, the shiny ones on the left are not lubed. First pic is .22 cal and second is .38 cal.
I think I'm going to bring the little squirt bottle of lube and the mixing container with me to the club and breech seat the as-cast bullets my friend is bringing tomorrow to try in my oversized bore .32-40. If she shoots well and there is no problem with leading, this lube may be the way to go. Sure beats sitting at the bench and running them thru the Lubrasizer.
Years ago, I took a Tupperware container and modified it to hold in the chuck of my lathe and turn slowly on the backgears as a case tumbler. That might just be the way to lube a larger number of bullets. I also have a commercial tumbling container that is rubber covered and probably used to run on a set of rollers. Have no idea where it came from. That works in the lathe as well.
Ian
Notorious member
Yes!
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Snake, you can do the same basic thing with Lee's Mule Snot or a lot of other lubes, thin it out I mean for a tumble lube. It's always worth a try. Some seems to work good, others suck. Pressure/FPS seem to make the success/fail line move in different guns.
This will make enough liquid bullet lube for about " a bazillion cast bullets ".
( by the way, these items are available )
https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/bll-bens-liquid-lube.6306/
( by the way, these items are available )
https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/bll-bens-liquid-lube.6306/
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Thank you, Ben. I assume by good luck you mean excellent accuracy in a rifle. When you consider what we spend on stuff, the price of the lube ingredients is peanuts.
I do have a very basic question. When you tumble lube with a liquid lube, the entire bullet gets lubed. I realize that .22 RF bullets are totally lubed. I'm getting comments at the club that lube on the nose is a bad thing. I'm not convinced. I tend to believe that the velocity down the bore and in flight pretty much strips or greatly smooths any lube on the nose so it has zero effect on accuracy. What are your thoughts on this?
Given the oversize bore in my rifle, and nobody makes a bullet sizing die in .328, being able to liquid lube would be a major benefit. So, I'm hoping I can take that path. Otherwise, I'm going to machine a customer sizing die and use my NRA 50/50 lube, which has worked great in my 03.
I do have a very basic question. When you tumble lube with a liquid lube, the entire bullet gets lubed. I realize that .22 RF bullets are totally lubed. I'm getting comments at the club that lube on the nose is a bad thing. I'm not convinced. I tend to believe that the velocity down the bore and in flight pretty much strips or greatly smooths any lube on the nose so it has zero effect on accuracy. What are your thoughts on this?
Given the oversize bore in my rifle, and nobody makes a bullet sizing die in .328, being able to liquid lube would be a major benefit. So, I'm hoping I can take that path. Otherwise, I'm going to machine a customer sizing die and use my NRA 50/50 lube, which has worked great in my 03.
fiver
Well-Known Member
yep.
i've purposefully lubed the nose on some of my bore riders.
it helped accuracy in many instances.
when i tumble lube.
i lube,dry, size, then lube again.... the second 'lube' is really, really thinned down lube, or just a splash of mineral spirits to get the bands covered again.
tumble lube is just a barrier between the lead and the steel.
i've purposefully lubed the nose on some of my bore riders.
it helped accuracy in many instances.
when i tumble lube.
i lube,dry, size, then lube again.... the second 'lube' is really, really thinned down lube, or just a splash of mineral spirits to get the bands covered again.
tumble lube is just a barrier between the lead and the steel.
Well spoken ! !
