This article written by CBA member Ralph Schneider, appeared in the Jan/Feb 2003, #161 issue of the Fouling Shot.
Those of us who experiment with cast bullet lubricants can often do preliminary testing by first sizing several bullets “dry,” then wiping the experimental lube on them with a wooden or plastic paddle. But this is a mess, and seating such bullets usually leaves the bullet seating die in need of dismantling and cleaning. Another possibility is to melt the lube and pour it into the reservoir of a lubrisizer, let it cool, then size and lubricate the bullets in the normal way — but there is at least the distant possibility that pouring hot lube into a cold lubrisizer could summon the demon of differential expansion into being and crack the casting.
But a third possibility exists: mold the lubricant into sticks such as those typified by commercial bullet lubes. These are usually about 1” in diameter and 4” long, with a hole through the center to admit a threaded rod that enables a pis-ton to apply pressure to the lube in the reservoir and force it into the sizing/lubricating die. It is reasonably easy to make molds that will form such sticks; what follows has been abstracted from an online discussion of Felix Lube, and then modified somewhat.
Overview: The basic mold parts are 1” I.D. PVC pipe, PVC pipe caps to fit, and 3/8” rod. Use drywall (or similar) screws to attach the caps, open-end up, to a board. With a 3/8” bit, drill through the centers of the caps and about 1/2” into the wood. Cut the PVC pipe into sections 5” or 6” long, and cut 3/8” O.D. rod into sections about 8” long to form center shafts. Insert the pipe sections into the caps (Don’t glue them in place!) and insert the 3/8” rod sec-tions into the center-drilled bases. In case the upper ends of the rods are not centered in the pipes, prepare a number of 1” long sections of 1” diameter dowel rod that have been center-drilled to accept the 3/8” rods. Also, go to your bolt box and find a flat washer with a 3/8” I.D. and a 1” O.D. Finally, prepare a length of 1/2” I.D. pipe (about 8”-9” long), and put a pipe cap on one end. These last two items are tools for pushing the lube sticks out of the molds.
Construction Details and Refinements:
A 2” X 4” board works well; cut it long enough to easily accommodate the bases of the number of molds you want to make. When you drill the pipe caps to accept the drywall screws, it is well to countersink the holes in the caps and also to mark and drill smaller pilot holes in the wood. Number 6 screws work well for attaching the pipe caps to the 2X4; use 2 or 3 screws per cap, evenly spaced around the inside edge of the cap. When center-drilling the PVC caps with the 3/8” bit, use a drill press (to be sure the holes are vertical), and lower the drill bit very slowly to keep it from “grabbing” in the PVC and distorting the holes. The PVC pipe can be a tight fit in the caps; it may be necessary to use a file or a belt sander to taper the outside diameter of the ends of the pipe sections so that they are an easy slide fit into the caps. Aluminum rod works well for the 3/8” center shaft; it is smooth-sided for easy removal, and it can even be heated to help in that process. The 1” dowel sections may not be a very close fit in the pipe sections; it is possible to build the diameters of the dowel sections up by using multiple winds of masking tape — the stuff eventually sets up like iron. You may want to use 1/2” strips of masking tape to create “collars” around the upper ends of the dowel sections to keep them from slipping too far into the pipes. The 1/2” pusher pipe can be easily made of a length of rigid cop-per pipe; attach the pipe cap by soldering or with epoxy. The basic mold parts can also be made of copper pipe and pipe caps — with appropriate changes in screw head sizes, since copper caps have less interior space; in some parts of the construction process, copper can be easier to work with than PVC.
Those of us who experiment with cast bullet lubricants can often do preliminary testing by first sizing several bullets “dry,” then wiping the experimental lube on them with a wooden or plastic paddle. But this is a mess, and seating such bullets usually leaves the bullet seating die in need of dismantling and cleaning. Another possibility is to melt the lube and pour it into the reservoir of a lubrisizer, let it cool, then size and lubricate the bullets in the normal way — but there is at least the distant possibility that pouring hot lube into a cold lubrisizer could summon the demon of differential expansion into being and crack the casting.
But a third possibility exists: mold the lubricant into sticks such as those typified by commercial bullet lubes. These are usually about 1” in diameter and 4” long, with a hole through the center to admit a threaded rod that enables a pis-ton to apply pressure to the lube in the reservoir and force it into the sizing/lubricating die. It is reasonably easy to make molds that will form such sticks; what follows has been abstracted from an online discussion of Felix Lube, and then modified somewhat.
Overview: The basic mold parts are 1” I.D. PVC pipe, PVC pipe caps to fit, and 3/8” rod. Use drywall (or similar) screws to attach the caps, open-end up, to a board. With a 3/8” bit, drill through the centers of the caps and about 1/2” into the wood. Cut the PVC pipe into sections 5” or 6” long, and cut 3/8” O.D. rod into sections about 8” long to form center shafts. Insert the pipe sections into the caps (Don’t glue them in place!) and insert the 3/8” rod sec-tions into the center-drilled bases. In case the upper ends of the rods are not centered in the pipes, prepare a number of 1” long sections of 1” diameter dowel rod that have been center-drilled to accept the 3/8” rods. Also, go to your bolt box and find a flat washer with a 3/8” I.D. and a 1” O.D. Finally, prepare a length of 1/2” I.D. pipe (about 8”-9” long), and put a pipe cap on one end. These last two items are tools for pushing the lube sticks out of the molds.
Construction Details and Refinements:
A 2” X 4” board works well; cut it long enough to easily accommodate the bases of the number of molds you want to make. When you drill the pipe caps to accept the drywall screws, it is well to countersink the holes in the caps and also to mark and drill smaller pilot holes in the wood. Number 6 screws work well for attaching the pipe caps to the 2X4; use 2 or 3 screws per cap, evenly spaced around the inside edge of the cap. When center-drilling the PVC caps with the 3/8” bit, use a drill press (to be sure the holes are vertical), and lower the drill bit very slowly to keep it from “grabbing” in the PVC and distorting the holes. The PVC pipe can be a tight fit in the caps; it may be necessary to use a file or a belt sander to taper the outside diameter of the ends of the pipe sections so that they are an easy slide fit into the caps. Aluminum rod works well for the 3/8” center shaft; it is smooth-sided for easy removal, and it can even be heated to help in that process. The 1” dowel sections may not be a very close fit in the pipe sections; it is possible to build the diameters of the dowel sections up by using multiple winds of masking tape — the stuff eventually sets up like iron. You may want to use 1/2” strips of masking tape to create “collars” around the upper ends of the dowel sections to keep them from slipping too far into the pipes. The 1/2” pusher pipe can be easily made of a length of rigid cop-per pipe; attach the pipe cap by soldering or with epoxy. The basic mold parts can also be made of copper pipe and pipe caps — with appropriate changes in screw head sizes, since copper caps have less interior space; in some parts of the construction process, copper can be easier to work with than PVC.
Foreground, copper pipe moulds, background, PVC pipe moulds Using the Molds:
Melt the lube slowly, preferably in a double boiler arrangement — a small pan inside a larger pan with a canning ring or other spacer between them works well. Pour the melted lube into the molds to about 4” deep; if the upper ends of the rods are not centered in the pipes, immediately insert the prepared dowel sections into the tops of the pipes, but don’t shove them all the way in, since you want to be able to remove them. Let the lube set up. When the lube has cooled somewhat, twist a PVC pipe away from its cap, but be sure that the 3/8” rod stays in the lube; if it is removed prematurely, an attempt to push the lube out of the mold may collapse the lube into the center hole; but this is mostly a problem with soft lubes.
Melt the lube slowly, preferably in a double boiler arrangement — a small pan inside a larger pan with a canning ring or other spacer between them works well. Pour the melted lube into the molds to about 4” deep; if the upper ends of the rods are not centered in the pipes, immediately insert the prepared dowel sections into the tops of the pipes, but don’t shove them all the way in, since you want to be able to remove them. Let the lube set up. When the lube has cooled somewhat, twist a PVC pipe away from its cap, but be sure that the 3/8” rod stays in the lube; if it is removed prematurely, an attempt to push the lube out of the mold may collapse the lube into the center hole; but this is mostly a problem with soft lubes.
Next, insert the washer into the upper end of the tube and over the 3/8” rod, slide the 1/2” “pusher” pipe over the rod, and use it to push the lube stick out of the mold. Harder lubes (particularly those that require heating of the lubrisizer) can be removed from the molds fairly quickly. Softer lubes need more time to set up. Softer lubes may also leave more of a mess in the molds, requiring more cleanup if you’re fastidious or just don’t want one lube batch to contaminate the next one. Depending on the hardness and consistency of the lube,and on the degree of “set up,” it may even be necessary to heat the pipe with a hair dryer before pushing the lube stick out of the mold. Finally, hold the cooled lube stickin one hand and use the other to twist the rod out of the stick. And there you go. Depending on how long you plan to wait before you use the lube sticks, it might be wise to wrap them in wax paper for storage.
Details of the mounting method are shown here. If solid sticks are desired, plug the center holes in the caps (or don’t drill them at all), and use a 1” disk rather than a washer to assist in pushing the sticks out of the molds. Also, you’ll notice that some lubes will shrink when cooling, creating a cavity in the top of the lube stick. This is not a functional problem, but if it is cosmetically important (as it might be if you intend to sell lube sticks or put them in Christmas stockings), let some cool-ing take place, then pour in a bit more lube to fill in the cavities.
Now, all we need is an intelligently designed lubri-sizer that could enable us to change lube types without going through the incredible mess and bother of cleaning out the old lube first. Some enterprising manufacturer ought to be able to design one with a removable lube reservoir and a short (easily cleanable) lube path to the sizing die chamber. I know I’d stand in line to purchase such a piece of equipment.
Now, all we need is an intelligently designed lubri-sizer that could enable us to change lube types without going through the incredible mess and bother of cleaning out the old lube first. Some enterprising manufacturer ought to be able to design one with a removable lube reservoir and a short (easily cleanable) lube path to the sizing die chamber. I know I’d stand in line to purchase such a piece of equipment.
