Best oil for lube

[Bretwalda]

:hmm: OK...I was thinking this morning in the shower about the use of olive oil in making patch lube and was questioning the fact that it has a very low smoke point and high residue rate when over heat or burn it during cooking. Therefore I beg to ask the question :yakyak:...would we produce better lube by using high smoke point oils such as peanut, cotton seed, grape seed or canola? Or would we be better off with an oil that was hydrogenated to increase the smoke point and to blend into our mix of other fats. I know some of these oils may not be as "traditional" as olive oil, but I was curious to find the best vegetable oil for the application of mixing with other fats and giving us a superior high temp/smoke point lube :stir:

 

[Stumpkiller]

The reason I decided to use castor oil in my lubes is because it is very heat resistant and survives internal combustion engines intact. This occurred to me as I was cleaning the exhaust oil off one of my R/C model airplanes.

One of those head-slap moments.

 

[laney1566]

The reason I decided to use castor oil in my lubes is because it is very heat resistant and survives internal combustion engines intact. This occurred to me as I was cleaning the exhaust oil off one of my R/C model airplanes.

One of those head-slap moments.

SO have you ever blown an rc plane out of the sky? :grin:

 

[Stumpkiller]

No. Though I have disintegrated a few when the ground jumped up unexpectedly.

 

[renovato]

Crisco is popular as a lube too. It's a high smoke point, hydrogenated oil. Realistically though, the oil isn't in the bore long enough to break down too much from heat. That's also why cloth patches survive the inferno so well.

I don't think heat is even the main reason that petroleum oils don't fare well in muzzleloaders. It's the combination of heat and pressure, in the presence of loose carbon that turns it into tar.

 

[brubincam]

-----I also use Crisco---how would synthetic motor oil be--isn't it made from seed oil-----

 

[paulvallandigham]

Synthetic motor oils can work. I know folks who use several different kinds. Mobile One Aircraft Engine Oil comes to mind.

 

[rafterob]

I'm not so sure I would call olive oil "Traditional" at least not in the U.S. It would have been a high priced luxury back in the day of muzzleloaders as well as most vegetable oils. Rendered animal fats were the norm with lard being the most common cooking oil along with beef tallow.

 

[Bretwalda]

I was considering vegetable oils only to be mixed with appropriate animal fats to get a final finished product.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Olive oil was shipped regularly to the colonies in N. America. It was known as " Sweet Oil" back then. It is definitely period correct for any re-enactor of American colonial life. No doubt that when you got inland, fat was rendered for many purposes, and certainly was used for patch lube, too. A lot of " make-do" materials appeared in the New settlements, until transportation could be improved to transport goods back and forth from more established towns.

 

[ssettle]

What about using pure neatsfoot oil, it's a natural oil that come from the shins of cows?