Originally Posted by
satbuilder
Anybody have any experience with this stuff?
A guy at a spin class was telling me about it last night. Sounds interesting.
I've done it in the past. It's not very convenient and, as others have pointed out, there is a fire hazard. A double boiler cuts down on the fire hazard somewhat but you are still working with a liquid flammable material. Hot wax is also a burn hazard.
One point that people tend to miss is that waxed based lubricants are doing essentially the same thing but the wax has been made "molten" at room temperature by using a solvent. Once the solvent evaporates...yes, the solvent is flammable but there is a lot less of it than a pan of hot wax...the wax is left in place and is coating the metal. Less mess and easier to apply.
Originally Posted by
rydabent
Wax is not a lubricant.
Based on what? Certainly not by the dictionary definition. And certainly not chemistry. A lubricant is a substance that is used to reduce friction. That can include a wide variety of chemicals that aren't even related to the hydrocarbon...or "oil"... that is commonly thought of as a lubricant. Water is a lubricant since it reduces friction. Hydrocarbons derived from petroleum from hexane (six carbon chain) to hentriacontane (31 carbon chain) can be lubricants. Teflon, which is a fluorocarbon polymer, is a "lubricant" and isn't liquid in any form. Fatty acids rendered from animal products and from plants are lubricants as well. Soap is a lubricant and is an integral part of any "grease". Graphite is a lubricant. Molybedenum disulfide is a lubricant and it isn't even carbon based.
The problem is that you are thinking that only "oils" are lubricants. Nothing is further from the truth.