Making lube cookie sheets

EdsPlace · February 25, 2009, 06:17:33 AM

What method works for you?

I've read about a number of methods on this board and others. A method that intrigued me was melting the lube and pouring it in a pan of hot water. The reason this sounds attractive is you can control the thickness of the sheet with a little math. I wanted a sheet 1/8" thick. Given a pot diameter, how much lube do you pour in to get the desired result? We want a cylinder of h=0.125". Formula for volume of a cylinder is V=pi*r^2*h, and conversion of inches^3 to ounces is 0.554. Here's what I calculated:

Pot Diameter = 9", lube = 4.41 oz. d = 10"; lube = 5.44 oz.; d = 11", lube = 6.58 oz.; d = 12", lube = 7.83 oz.

I have a 10" pot so I boiled some water and melted lube in the oven at 250 deg. Poured the requisite 5.4 oz. of lube in and let it sit. Haven't checked thickness yet; I'll do that tonight, but looks great!

Wonder if the disk of chicken grease on top of chicken stock will make a decent lube?

BTW, don't try this with pots belonging to the Missus. Buy your own.

Dirty Brass · February 25, 2009, 08:40:17 AM

Formula for volume of a cylinder is V=pi*r^2*h, and conversion of inches^3 to ounces is 0.554. ??

Wow - I had no idea what you were talking about!

Looks like it would work though

Driftwood Johnson · February 25, 2009, 08:26:47 PM

Howdy

I tried the pouring on top of water method once. It was a disaster. Wound up with a messy blob of uneven thickness. It sounds a lot easier to do than it is.

What I used to do was go down to the local hardware store and pick up a couple of painter's mixing sticks for free. I layed a sheet of waxpaper down on a flat surface, then placed a blob of lube on the waxpaper. Then I layed the painter's sticks on either side of the blob, layed down another sheet of waxpaper on top, and borrowed Mrs Johnson's rolling pin. Bridging the two sticks with the rolling pin allowed me to roll the blob of lube out into a flat sheet the same thickness as the painter's sticks.

Fox Creek Kid · February 26, 2009, 04:20:44 AM

There's an even better way IMO to make absolutely perfect grease cookies. Buy a small sheet of Lexan and drill as many holes in it that you can with the bit size you need. I used a 7/16". Drill SLOWLY & use dish soap as lube so as not to break the Lexan. When the holes are drilled lay the Lexan on a sheet of wax paper. Spoon in your lube in each hole. Wait until cool and then using a plastic windshield scraper run it across the Lexan peeling off the excess. Lift Lexan and PRESTO!! Punch out the perfect grease cookies. Thickness is determined by thickness of Lexan sheet. I have a 1/4" sheet and a 3/8" sheet.

EdsPlace · February 26, 2009, 06:32:29 AM

Yep...there's more than one way to skin a cat.

I couldn't ask for a better result than I got - perfectly smooth, perfectly round, and exactly the right thickness. I imagine the results you get are somewhat dependent on the lube formula. What I used was a mix I found on this or another board: parrafin, vaseline, and STP. Next time I make lube, I'll do something all organic, but that's another discussion.

I really can't imagine anything much easier than this. I boil water on the stove, melt lube in the oven at 250 deg., take everything off the heat, pour the lube in a measuring cup, pour that into the water, and set it on the bench until the next day. It lifts right off and is ready to use. Came out smooth as a baby's ....

I loaded my very first .45 colt round last night! I'll post my observations in another post.

Dusty Morningwood · February 27, 2009, 10:22:58 AM

I bought a plastic squeeze bottle of mayonaise and foound that it had a slot spout. I can heat up lube in the bottle and when it is just starting to set up I squeeze it out on wax paper. I put this in the freezer until needed and use the case to cut out the cookie and put a milk carton wd over that and seat bullet.

Leo Tanner · February 27, 2009, 03:23:53 PM

Quote from: EdsPlace on February 25, 2009, 06:17:33 AM

Wonder if the disk of chicken grease on top of chicken stock will make a decent lube?

BTW, don't try this with pots belonging to the Missus. Buy your own.

Yardbird fat has a much lower melting point than deer tallow. Imagine it'd be perty messy stuff even with a high ratio of wax.

Steel Horse Bailey · February 28, 2009, 03:01:04 PM

And it might go rancid faster.

I'm pretty sure that's why the real oldtimer's used deer tallow. It seems to last a loooooooong time.

Dirty Brass · February 28, 2009, 05:08:11 PM

Quote from: Steel Horse Bailey on February 28, 2009, 03:01:04 PM
And it might go rancid faster.

I'm pretty sure that's why the real oldtimer's used deer tallow. It seems to last a loooooooong time.

I don't know what the life expectancy is on tallow/beeswax mix, but I made some after last years hunting season here, and it turned out pretty good ( as far as I know). Very little odor and pretty clear. Guess I got most of the impurities out and almost all the moisture. Got some cases loaded with it, but haven't had a chance to fire em' yet - been busy playin' with my handguns lately....

My other experiment was crisco and beeswax, but that seemed too simple