Genuine Super-Duper Lube

[AZbpBurner]

As a kid, I flew an assortment of gas engine model planes. Fuel was nitromethane and castor oil. A friends' older brother had some kind of 2-stroke dirt bike. He mixed castor oil with gasoline to run it.

A few weeks ago, a lady at work was selling some home made hand cream and one of the ingredients was a little castor oil, which does the same thing as Jojoba in that kind of stuff, but is way cheaper.

For decades I've used a blend of tallow + beeswax for ball lube & patch lube in my cap & balls and all other rifles. Vary the proportion to make it stiffer or softer and to suit the outdoors temperature. Castor oil is the ideal hi-temp lube, it doesn't scorch or burn at elevated engine temperatures and has a higher burn temp than olive oil.

I thought I'd try some and filled up a little range bottle with castor oil. Just a few drops on the patch, and it loads balls easily, resists fouling build up better than tallow blends, and doesn't need a recipe to make up seasonal varieties.

It works great on ball mold lubrication points, too. I just got a brand new Lee ball mold, and after cleaning it up for first use, lubed it with a little castor oil - no scorching or burn off, and works the mold sprue smooth. I've cast about 100 so far today, and am waiting for the refilled pot to heat back up so I can cast a bunch more.

I hate to admit that it may replace my tallow + beeswax blend, but it just might - for most uses.

Haven't tried it as a lock lube yet, but since it doesn't gum up or break down at hi temp, it may be a better choice than even 3 in 1 oil I now usually use.

 

[BrownBear]

Boy, you brought a funny memory back to mind....

Back in the 50's before synthetic oils were found as additives to jet fuel, castor oil was used. Created quite a boom market there for a few years.

My uncle planted a bunch on his farm, and come harvest time he was short handed. Lots of raking and shoveling to do, the way they were handled back in those days.

He hired my younger brother and I off the ranch to do lots of that raking and shoveling, filling our ears with stories about what hot and dusty work it was and how he couldn't get his lazy hands off the tractors to do it. Puffed up with young male pride, we waded in with rakes and shovels. Sure was dusty and hot, like he promised.

But he left out part of the story....

Breathing all that castor bean dust worked just as well as spoons full of the oil on young digestive tracts! Cleaned us out like white tornadoes, that's for sure. But we kept on shoveling between trips to the bushes! :rotf:

 

[Zonie]

A few years ago I did a test where I was trying to prove/disprove the old adage about not using machine oil with black powder.

In my tests I included castor oil which is noted in the picture below.

Using BLACK POWDER


Using PYRODEX


As folks will see, the castor oil made a lot of black powder fouling which didn't wipe off easily with water.

I think the reason for this is due to the viscosity of the oil. At least mine was quite thick.

As you mentioned, castor oil is used in model airplane engines, dissolved in alcohol.

I think if I was going to use castor oil as a patch lube I would thin it down considerably with some denatured alcohol so it wouldn't make a thick layer like it did during my test.

 

[Wes/Tex]

It was the lube of choice during WWI for rotary engines and they operated under very high temps in a cold environment. The only known comments about the effect of such use is by Quentin Reynolds, c.1920.

"There is another, not exactly dangerous but annoying and debilitating experience suffered by nearly all pilots. Because ordinary crude oil congealed in the cold of high altitude, castor oil was used to lubricate the engines. The fumes, of course, traveled directly from the engine to the pilot in his open cockpit, and a one hour inhalation of such fumes had the same effect on the human system as would a direct dosage of 3 or 4 spoon fulls of the stuff. This was one of the perils of 1914 wartime flying avoided in the memories of the pilots and left tactfully unmentioned in all known histories of aerial fighting. Eventually, most pilots developed an immunity to the embarrassing effects of the castor oil fumes; those who didn't, drank huge quantities of blackberry brandy.....before, during and after flying. and so far as I know, not a single casualty resulted from the castor oil or its rugged antidote."

Word to the wise...don't sniff or drink! :wink: :rotf: *

 

[Claude Mathis]

A friends' older brother had some kind of 2-stroke dirt bike. He mixed castor oil with gasoline to run it.

Could it have been Castrol mixed with the gas?

 

[bpd303]

Nope, we used to mix castor oil with alcohol for our racing motorcycles. The stuff would make your eyes water when running.

 

[buford87]

The recipe for moose snot and moose juice both contain castor oil as an important part of the contents. Watch yer top knot...........

 

[Ken Cormier]

When I was a kid an said you were to sick to go to church. My Gram should come running with with the castor oil if you took it you did not have to go to church. :rotf: :rotf:

 

[AZbpBurner]

A friends' older brother had some kind of 2-stroke dirt bike. He mixed castor oil with gasoline to run it.

Could it have been Castrol mixed with the gas?

Nope, it was the same Caster Bean Oil that we used in the model plane engines. In fact I think the first batch of it came from him ... when he wasn't looking. There's no mistaking the smell of caster oil in your exhaust.

 

[AZbpBurner]

A few years ago I did a test where I was trying to prove/disprove the old adage about not using machine oil with black powder.

In my tests I included castor oil which is noted in the picture below.

Using BLACK POWDER


Using PYRODEX


As folks will see, the castor oil made a lot of black powder fouling which didn't wipe off easily with water.

I think the reason for this is due to the viscosity of the oil. At least mine was quite thick.

As you mentioned, castor oil is used in model airplane engines, dissolved in alcohol.

I think if I was going to use castor oil as a patch lube I would thin it down considerably with some denatured alcohol so it wouldn't make a thick layer like it did during my test.

Good idea - I just filled up a little bottle with DA to accompany the Caster Oil bottle - it IS more viscous than Olive Oil, but I was planning to just work a light application into the patch material rather than have it wet the barrel - it may work best cut with Denatured Alcohol. Otherwise, I've got a whole bottle of some great laxative.

 

[azmntman]

fergit the denatured alcohol....use crown and it'll relax all of ya! :shocked2:

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Hanukkah to all

 

[RonRC]

It was the lube of choice during WWI for rotary engines and they operated under very high temps in a cold environment. The only known comments about the effect of such use is by Quentin Reynolds, c.1920.

"There is another, not exactly dangerous but annoying and debilitating experience suffered by nearly all pilots. Because ordinary crude oil congealed in the cold of high altitude, castor oil was used to lubricate the engines. The fumes, of course, traveled directly from the engine to the pilot in his open cockpit, and a one hour inhalation of such fumes had the same effect on the human system as would a direct dosage of 3 or 4 spoon fulls of the stuff. This was one of the perils of 1914 wartime flying avoided in the memories of the pilots and left tactfully unmentioned in all known histories of aerial fighting. Eventually, most pilots developed an immunity to the embarrassing effects of the castor oil fumes; those who didn't, drank huge quantities of blackberry brandy.....before, during and after flying. and so far as I know, not a single casualty resulted from the castor oil or its rugged antidote."

Word to the wise...don't sniff or drink! :wink: :rotf: *

 

[Wes/Tex]

Great for cooling the cylinders. Terrible when you tried to turn against the torque of the rotating engine.
Ron

Even more terrible when you tossed an odd part and the whole thing went kah-flooey! :wink: :haha:

 

[RonRC]

Can you imagine seeing a cylinder go flying off with the centrifugal force? I can hear the pilot observing his engine come apart and uttering: "Oh my goodness, I am gobsmacked!" Or "Gott in Himmel!" :grin:
The aerodrome in Warrenton, VA back in the 70s had a WWI, rotary Le Rhone engine still in its crate. The replica WWI aircraft there substituted more modern radial engines for safety and dependability.
Ron

 

[RonRC]

Sorry for the digression. I got carried away with the WWI aircraft topic.
Ron

 

[mooman76]

Not per topic but I found it interesting anyway.

 

[Wes/Tex]

This can always go to the "Non Muzzleloading" section if we want to babble on about the subject.

 

[RonRC]

Can the Baron in the avatar photo come along? :grin:
Ron

 

[longcruise]

Zonie, I have used it mixed with denatured alcohol. The alcohol functions as a carrier and leaves a lightly an evenly lubed patch when it evaporates. In that respect it is much like the NAPA moose milk that leaves a lightly lubed patch when the water evaporates.

The odd thing about it is the fired patches are still a bit oily but they are also.kinda crispy. Works fine though no better than many other lubes I've tried.

 

[wulf]

When I first started driving on the track, I heard
about the benefits of caster oil with the gas.
After the heat was over I heard about it in the
pits from the other drivers...more of a recommendation than a threat. I stopped.