Clarifying beeswax

[T*O*F]

I've got a pile of beeswax blocks that are yellow and dirty.  I suspect they still contain some honey.  I want to clarify it so that it's white and clean.  I tried boiling water on the stove in a coffee can, but it wouldn't boil.  Will have to try my fish cooker.  The plan is to boil the water, let the beeswax melt in the water, and let it boil a bit.  Any honey should dissolve into the water and dirt should sink to the bottom.  Let it cool and harden and then remove the hardened wax from the top.  This is how I clarify tallow.

How do you do it?

[hanshi]

No expert on this so all I did was put it in really warm water and work it like clay using my hands for the squishing.  I was surprised that it actually worked!

[snapper]

I find that boiling the water actually gets it to hot and I get really small bubbles in the wax.   I dont really like using the water method.  If you can dip it off of the water and use cheese cloth as a filter that helps.

A solar melter is the best IMO.  Cleaner wax that way.  You can make one quick, easy and cheap.  Use cheese cloth as a filter for the solar collector.

I dont mind some bee body pieces and parts in my bullet lube wax.  My theory is that it gives my bullets mystical power of flight.  I dont like that sometimes the bullets will buzz around the targets before going into the target.

Fleener

[Mike Brooks]

I'm big on mystical powers.

[snapper]

No one can prove that my bullets dont have mystical powers.  I have a few bulls eyes to my credit at 1,000 yards.  That is the only thing I can think of to explain it.

Fleener

[T*O*F]

Art,
It seems to me that your lube is white.  My beeswax is a golden yellow which makes me think it's got some honey in it.

[snapper]

golden yellow is nice an pure wax.  My white wax is some of the stuff I did in water. 

Take a bite of your wax and see if it is sweet.

fleener

[iloco]

I use to keep bees and how I melted my wax was a double boiler or you can take a box with about 6 inch sides and lay a piece of glass over the box and set it in the sun with your wax in the box with a piece of metal for the floor of the box. Put a container at the bottom of the box to collect your clean was.
 Link shows a box like I used.
https://www.dadant.com/catalog/extracting/melters/m00505-deluxe-solar-wax-melter-each

You can make one cheaper than what they want for theirs.

[mark esterly]

get a crock pot from a thrift store and melt your wax in it.  you can dip out of it and filter if necessary.  only way to get really white wax is to steal new comb from the bees and that is counter productive unless it's burr comb.  i have even tried to sun bleach it in the solar melter with poor results.  if it's yellow it is good clean wax.

[P.W.Berkuta]

Many years ago I had the opportunity to buy 35 pounds of "dirty" beeswax which had all kind of bee parts in it. I used a turkey fryer with double boiler system to melt down the wax then used burlap to filter out the big parts until very few bee stuff remained. I then switched to cheese cloth to finish the job. It took a while and was a bit messy but the wax that I ended up with was top shelf stuff. One word of caution - I did this outdoors in the summer and the smell of the melting beeswax drew honey bees from all over to the area. I had to watch out and tried not to get stung.

[Daryl]

I find that boiling the water actually gets it to hot and I get really small bubbles in the wax.   I dont really like using the water method.  If you can dip it off of the water and use cheese cloth as a filter that helps.

A solar melter is the best IMO.  Cleaner wax that way.  You can make one quick, easy and cheap.  Use cheese cloth as a filter for the solar collector.

I dont mind some bee body pieces and parts in my bullet lube wax.  My theory is that it gives my bullets mystical power of flight.  I dont like that sometimes the bullets will buzz around the targets before going into the target.

Fleener

Oh yeah - hate the buzzers. Mine usually just buzz off and don' t hit the target.

[Smokey Plainsman]

golden yellow is nice an pure wax.  My white wax is some of the stuff I did in water. 

Take a bite of your wax and see if it is sweet.

fleener

Beeswax is a tremendously caustic and toxic agent!! Isn’t it...??

[T*O*F]

golden yellow is nice an pure wax.

Yeah, but if I make lube out of it people will assume I'm using Bore Butter.   

[snapper]

Beeswax is edible, having similar negligible toxicity to plant waxes, and is approved for food use in most countries

fleener

[Hungry Horse]

Well, if you put enough bees wax in a lube formula to change the color, it will crust up at the breech, and can plug hook breeches. I would not use very much bees wax in an recipe I was working on. Bees wax does not play well with extreme heat, or pressure. Muzzleloader generate both.


  Hungry Horse

[MuskratMike]

I was taught years ago on the 10% rule. No more than 10 percent beeswax mixed with 90 percent pure Neatsfoot oil. If that is too soft for your area you can go up to 20 percent wax but no more. The old story of "less is more".

[Craig Wilcox]

Fleener, your use of the bee parts does give new meaning to being allergic to bee stings.  And ya gotta be careful, 'cause bees can fly backwards!
Back in the '60's we used beeswax to lube our .58 cal Minie balls when at target shoots.  Worked very well, but we did have to use very hot water to clean the barrels afterward.

[snapper]

Until lat year, I was a bee keeper for quite a few years.  Had up to 12 hives.  Still got the equipment, was going to get some new bees this year, but there is a big shortage right now.  I got down to two hives, and got tired of buying bees last year.

I have made my own lube of equal parts of bees wax and crisco with a dash of olive oil as a bullet lube for years.  Use it in ML and BPCR as a bullet lube for GG bullets.

Never had any adverse issues with the wax in my barrels.  Never needed to clean with hot water.

Fleener

[Daryl]

S'pose I might try that, Fleener - I've been using Lyman's BP gold and SPG along with 60:40 Beeswax/Vaseline, all great for a black powder. bullet lube.
Yes, I know Vaseline is a petroleum product, but in this mix for BP bullets, it works just as well as the commercial lubes mentioned.
Perhaps the synthesizing changes the Vaseline somewhat, but it sure works well, as noted.
I used this lube on 10, 200gr. R.E.A.L. bullets in my .45 flinter with 70gr. 2F in a row on paper at 50 meters, no wiping, then loaded a .445" ball and .022" denim patch without problem.
No crusty spots & no hard fouling at all.
I do not use BW in patch lube. I use either WWWF+ a tich of NF Oil for target shooting, or Track's Mink Oil or Neetsfoot oil for hunting.

[snapper]

I dont use bees wax for patch lube either.

I have shot thousands of rounds with my bees wax/crisco lube in more then 12 different rifles. 

Fleener

[Mad Monk]

S'pose I might try that, Fleener - I've been using Lyman's BP gold and SPG along with 60:40 Beeswax/Vaseline, all great for a black powder. bullet lube.
Yes, I know Vaseline is a petroleum product, but in this mix for BP bullets, it works just as well as the commercial lubes mentioned.
Perhaps the synthesizing changes the Vaseline somewhat, but it sure works well, as noted.
I used this lube on 10, 200gr. R.E.A.L. bullets in my .45 flinter with 70gr. 2F in a row on paper at 50 meters, no wiping, then loaded a .445" ball and .022" denim patch without problem.
No crusty spots & no hard fouling at all.
I do not use BW in patch lube. I use either WWWF+ a tich of NF Oil for target shooting, or Track's Mink Oil or Neetsfoot oil for hunting.

Daryl,

Vaseline is a petroleum wax.  The petroleum waxes do not convert to asphalt in the bore when you fire the gun.  Petroleum oils that are converted into thick greases will form asphalt in the bore with black powder.

Bill K.

[Daryl]

TKs Bill- knew there had to be an explanation for that seeming - phenomenon.

[Mike from OK]

I'm big on mystical powers.

I used to have mystical powers... But my therapist took them away.

Mike