My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been thinking about lubing them with hot wax.
The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax?
How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)?
My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been thinking about lubing them with hot wax.
The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax?
How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)?
Parafin is easy to obtain from the grocery store, hardware store etc.
My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been thinking about lubing them with hot wax.
The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax?
How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)?
Parafin is easy to obtain from the grocery store, hardware store etc.
My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been thinking about lubing them with hot wax.
The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax?
How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)?
Parafin is easy to obtain from the grocery store, hardware store etc.
The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How suitable would these be for chains?
Back when I XC skied, I used department store canning paraffin for glide wax. AFAICT, it's the same stuff - but, like Phil Wood Tenacious Oil, it's sold in cuter containers for a higher price.
Quoted message said:
Would some other additive added during the melt process help matters?
Yes. Until I started adding about 5% motor oil (or sometimes, gear oil) to my wax, it got sqeaky immediately after getting rained on. The oil fixed that.
Quoted message said:
What about candle wax?
I haven't tried it, but what I've read hasn't been encouraging. Why go with something that's more costly and not as well-reputed?
Quoted message said:
How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)?
Properly done wax/oil mix will take care of the clean part. I don't do squeaky.
The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax?
I've been using parrafin wax with a shot of motor oil for years w/o problem. This wax is frequently sold as 'canning wax'. Candle wax constains stearic acid that helps the candles stay firm during hot weather and also release cleanly from a mold. Candle wax will not lube the chain properly and will flake off.
Wax is a miserable lubricant, if a lubricant at all, but it does keep the chain from squeeking and wearing out...as long as it doesn't get wet.
[email hidden] wrote: > Hi All, > > My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and > old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These > are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice > and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice > old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been > thinking about lubing them with hot wax. > > The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How > suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added > during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax? > > How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)? > Parafin is easy to obtain from the grocery store, hardware store etc.
Not around here. Nobody has it.
Also sold as "canning wax", have you tried that?
I haven't done an exhaustive search yet. The hardware store didn't have any, and to complicate matters here in Norway "parafin" means kerosene.
I'll give canning wax a shot, but in general the selection of various things at supermarkets here is quite a bit more limited than in the US. I will be pleasantly surprised if the supermarket has any. Where else would someone get paraffin?
bill wrote: > [email hidden] wrote: > > Hi All, > > > > My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and > > old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These > > are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice > > and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice > > old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been > > thinking about lubing them with hot wax. > > > > The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How > > suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added > > during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax? > > > > How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)? > > > Parafin is easy to obtain from the grocery store, hardware store etc.
Not around here. Nobody has it.
Also sold as "canning wax", have you tried that?
I haven't done an exhaustive search yet. The hardware store didn't have any, and to complicate matters here in Norway "parafin" means kerosene.
I'll give canning wax a shot, but in general the selection of various things at supermarkets here is quite a bit more limited than in the US.
Any place that sells home canning supplies ("Mason" jars, etc.) will likely have canning wax (under whatever name may be used in your locale).
Quoted message said:
I will be pleasantly surprised if the supermarket has any. Where else would someone get paraffin?
Back when I XC skied, I used department store canning paraffin for glide wax. AFAICT, it's the same stuff - but, like Phil Wood Tenacious Oil, it's sold in cuter containers for a higher price.
Maybe it was the same stuff back then, and *maybe* the simplest, cheapest bulk ski pre wax is the same nowadays -- which you can get for about $20/lb. But most ski wax that you'll ski on is not the same as canning stuff. It's typically flourinated and available in different hardnesses.
-- JT **************************** Remove "remove" to reply Visit http://www.jt10000.com ****************************
My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been thinking about lubing them with hot wax.
The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax?
How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)?
White Lightning is simpler than a DIY mix and works OK.
I find that when I use oil and wipe the chain religiously (not in a confessional, silly) afterwards, the drivetrain stays clean as well.
With new chains, I just wipe the outside dry with mineral spirits, and they're good for near a thousand miles, as the factory goop stays put on the inside better than any concoction I can whip up.
[email hidden] wrote: > bill wrote: > > [email hidden] wrote: > > > Hi All, > > > > > > My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and > > > old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These > > > are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice > > > and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice > > > old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been > > > thinking about lubing them with hot wax. > > > > > > The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How > > > suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added > > > during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax? > > > > > > How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)? > > > > > Parafin is easy to obtain from the grocery store, hardware store etc. > > Not around here. Nobody has it. > >
Also sold as "canning wax", have you tried that?
I haven't done an exhaustive search yet. The hardware store didn't have any, and to complicate matters here in Norway "parafin" means kerosene.
I'll give canning wax a shot, but in general the selection of various things at supermarkets here is quite a bit more limited than in the US.
Any place that sells home canning supplies ("Mason" jars, etc.) will likely have canning wax (under whatever name may be used in your locale).
The supermarket didn't have any, and the woman there said that nobody uses wax for that anymore. But they did have a good selection of candles and some of the more expensive ones are pure paraffin wax, so I'm in business!
My eBay fever has broken, and I have now a whole bunch of nice NOS and old used stuff to give my vintage rides the love they deserve. These are now exclusively good weather bikes, and I want to keep them nice and shiny. In particular I want the chains and freewheels (nice old-school gold finishes!) to stay super clean. To that end I have been thinking about lubing them with hot wax.
The only wax I have easy access to is ski glider of various grades. How suitable would these be for chains? Would some other additive added during the melt process help matters? What about candle wax?
How best to keep my drivetrain squeaky clean (booo...)?
White Lightning is simpler than a DIY mix and works OK.
No place to get it. I'd like to use that on my regular bike.
Quoted message said:
I find that when I use oil and wipe the chain religiously (not in a confessional, silly) afterwards, the drivetrain stays clean as well.
With new chains, I just wipe the outside dry with mineral spirits, and they're good for near a thousand miles, as the factory goop stays put on the inside better than any concoction I can whip up.
I've tried that on my regular bike, but it gets grimey right away. Not bad enugh to care on my regular bike, but for these "show" bikes I want things super clean.
I think it is a combination of studded tires on asphalt, and pulverized gravel that makes things so grimey around here.
How bout toilet bowl rings- the wax donut that they put under the toilet when seating it... Hardware store item... Pat
I don't know ... that's very sticky stuff, sort of like XC skiing klister. I imagine it would get very filthy very quickly!
- Frank Krygowski
The hardware store is closed now, so I couldn't run down there to get one. They won't have one anyway, so I just pulled my toilet to have a look. Too sticky is right!
How bout toilet bowl rings- the wax donut that they put under the toilet when seating it... Hardware store item... Pat
I don't know ... that's very sticky stuff, sort of like XC skiing klister. I imagine it would get very filthy very quickly!
- Frank Krygowski
The hardware store is closed now, so I couldn't run down there to get one. They won't have one anyway, so I just pulled my toilet to have a look. Too sticky is right!
patrick mitchel wrote: > How bout toilet bowl rings- the wax donut that they put under the toilet > when seating it... Hardware store item... Pat
I don't know ... that's very sticky stuff, sort of like XC skiing klister. I imagine it would get very filthy very quickly!
- Frank Krygowski
The hardware store is closed now, so I couldn't run down there to get one. They won't have one anyway, so I just pulled my toilet to have a look. Too sticky is right!
Wow. I admire your dedication!
I'm laying groundwork as insurance for a future insanity plea!
I was of course just kidding, but I recall from back in the days when I did monkey with toilet donuts that they were rather sticky and had a brownish color. Not the white I expected of paraffin.
