Lipstick brands?

[mahkagari]

Trying not to make assumptions or regret not asking the question I thought was too dumb.

Any particular brands of lipstick that work better or worse for inletting compound? I wouldn't even know where to begin to ask what my wife has in her scraps between non-oily for penetration or whatnot.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Sorry, I don't use lip stick of any kind or brand, not even to put it on a pig.

dollar store candles for me, maybe an old tin alcohol lamp when I find one, but no lip stick.

 

[ZUG]

Trying not to make assumptions or regret not asking the question I thought was too dumb.

Any particular brands of lipstick that work better or worse for inletting compound? I wouldn't even know where to begin to ask what my wife has in her scraps between non-oily for penetration or whatnot.

I suggest you use the SAME brand & color your wife uses or she will think you are "stepping out" on her when she finds some of that "lipstick" on your shirt :grin: .

 

[necchi]

Simple, don't use lipstick.
Use candle soot or an oil lamp with the wick turned high for soot like ApprenticeBuilder says.

Lipstick might come in handy for metal on metal stuff and/or modern plastic/composite stocks but it can make a huge nearly unrepairable mess on wood.

Candle soot works on everything and is easily cleaned.

 

[Billnpatti]

Any El Cheapo lipstick will get the job done. I buy mine at Dollar General. If I am working on a dark wood or metal, I will pick one of the light colors. For lighter woods or bright metal, I find that darker shades seem to work best. Believe me, there are shades of lipstick that you wouldn't believe. There is even both white and black lipstick as well as any color of red you can think of. No need to buy the expensive stuff because the El Cheapo lipstick works just as well as the expensive stuff for inletting.
Right after Halloween, you can find zombie costume makeup on sale and it will work. If your wife has some lipstick that she isn't going to use, grab it! It will work fine.

A word of caution....do not try to remove it from wood with a solvent. What will happen is you will drive it into the wood and it may become impossible to sand out. You need to remove it from wood by mechanical means such as sanding, scraping or cutting away with a knife or chisel. On the exterior of the stock, it is usually best to first wipe off as much as you can with a paper towel or rag and then lightly scrape with a sharp scraper and then sand with fine sandpaper. This is true for anything that you use for inletting whether it be lipstick, lampblack or what have you.

 

[Col. Batguano]

That is exactly right. Many folks use inletting black as well, but that has the same problem. Once you cut the offending marked spot away, you MUST evacuate it from the area, or it will smear to some spot that didn't need to be marked. Burned soot doesn't have the same propensity to smear as a carrier-borne marking agent, and, you won't have to compete with the pig to apply it.

Of course, the soot makes for dirty working conditions, and gets in the air (and in your lungs), but it cleans up pretty easily too.

 

[nhmoose]

The free Avon sample sizes were my favorites.

 

[Zonie]

IMO, Billnpatti and Col. Batguano both gave good advice.

Buying the same brand and color as the lipstick your wife uses is asking for trouble.

If she sees it you'll hear the old, "YOU'VE BEEN INTO MY STUFF AGAIN!" :cursing:

By buying the cheapest stuff you can find in a color she would never use, you'll be spared the verbal abuse.

Remember when you use it, you want the very thinnest coating of it you can get.

That way it won't be as apt to get all over everything.

Also, a thin coating won't have enough oil in it to soak into the wood. Any slight oiling or remaining color can easily be sanded off.

Also, after carefully removing the metal part, don't just look at the wood to see if the lipstick transfered. Look at the coating that is left on the metal part.
That will often show you things to look for that you might otherwise overlook.

Also, use some common judgement.
Expect some of the lipstick to get wiped off of the edges as you install the metal part.
Often, these areas don't need to have any material removed so ignore it if you want to keep a good tight fit between the metal and the wood where they meet.

 

[jefair1]

I use a carbide sight blacker. It coats the parts very well.

 

[MSW]

way in the long ago, i got a little tub of transfer colour. if you go this route, be sure to put it on as thin as is possible. the stuff is very difficult to remove from wood (as is lipstick.

if i had it to do over again, i'd go with the lamp black.


good luck with your build

 

[Zonie]

I'm sure there are many here who are experts at using lamp black.

When I first started building ML rifles I tried it.

I used a candle and although it would lay down a nice layer of carbon I never really liked the idea of having a open flame burning anywhere near the loose wood chips that were close at hand.

It also didn't take me long to figure out that blacking brass parts like butt plates and side plates, the inlet thimble and patch boxes quickly heated up the part to the point that it could burn my fingers. Brass is an excellent conductor for heat and even if the area being blackened was some distance away from my fingers it didn't take long for the whole thing to get hot.

That's when I decided to buy a small container of inletting black and I've never been sorry I made that decision.

The comment about applying a thin coating is all too true.
I use a tiny paint brush made for painting model cars and the like and only just "touch" the surface of the compound with the bristles.
That is more than enough to blacken most of the inside of a butt plate.

That small container has lasted thru over 14 rifle builds and it still isn't close to being empty.

 

[Black Hand]

I've used Inletting Black with great success for my 20 or so builds. You just need to remember that very little goes a long way - I use an acid brush with the bristles trimmed short (stiffer) and just enough inletting black to give a black haze. Most people use far too much and complain it gets everywhere - easy to remove with Simple Green or Windex. I also wear latex/nitrile gloves when inletting which minimizes the impact on my hands.

 

[Vaino]

Didn't think that this topic could be so complicated. Lipstick brand, various sources of "soot" and whatever else is used for "spotting" is really not that complicated....use whatever you will.

I've never used lipstick, "soot" or the infamous "black" that many complain "gets all over the place". Because from previous experience, Permatex Prussian Blue seemed the logical choice and after a few builds, my choice was correct...w/ one change. I mix it w/ 1/3 blue high temp wheel bearing grease. This mixture isn't absorbed into the wood to any extent and has never req'd "special" cleaning before staining. It just seems to disappear after sanding, scraping and whiskering.....Fred