What do you fellas prefer?

I tried Pam cooking spray on a few rifles and man was that a no-no. Not to mention the mess, epoxy will still stick to the metal in some instances and that makes for a fun disassembly.

How do you fellas like the paste wax like Johnson's?

Also how thin do you prefer it? Of course a very thin amount will make the best contact aftrewards but how much do you like to buff it down. I worry about removing too much and having the epoxy stick.

Thanks,

Reloader

I just tried wax for the first time earlier this month, had been using Brownell's release agent, and various cooking sprays in the past.

I used Mother's Carnauba Paste Wax in the red tin - it worked so well that I don't know that I'll ever go back to the others.

I used three coats, polished it up to the point you couldn't see it anymore - tested it on a chunk of metal that I'd just parkerized as a test piece, worked like a charm.

Reloader, I've tried to talk people out of using Pam for a release agent but it's hard to get people to listen. Maybe I'll have an ally now.
Buy a can of the Brownells spray Acraglas release agent. It's not cheap but it works- always and is very easy to use. I've used Carnuba wax before also but it's not nearly as easy to use as the Brownells spray.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.as...&title=ACRA-RELEASE?

It's $19.97 that you will be glad you spent................DJ

floor wax...
jeffe

I remember the fellow [in gunsmithing school !!] who forgot the release agent ! Chop up the stock. Most waxes will work.Do it carefully and sometimes ou have to fill up holes etc with clay.

Any auto wax

Johnson's Paste Wax +1. Wax on, buff lightly, and you are ready. Don't forget to put modeling clay in any holes or recesses that might make for a mechanical lock with the bedding compound.

A light coat of wheel bearing grease.

Im with DJ on this one. Acra spray or the liquid for me.

I misspent 15 years in the fiberglass industry. The common mold release waxes contain carnauba wax as does Johnson's wax and many auto waxes. We used three coats and allowed six hours between coats. I have used Johnson's floor wax and most recently Meguiars auto wax on rifles with good results.

The liquid that dries to a film is PVA and is also commonly used in the fiberglass industry. I prefer wax because there is no film to remove after you are done.

You ain't never stuck a part until you stick an eighteen foot boat in a mold! Won't fit in the freezer!

Mothers Carnuba-it works! let first application dry, buff and reapply-----fine release agent

Mold Release 225

Sold in spray cans or by the gallon. Highly recommended by my third year instructor at Trinidad. He tested many different types while in the Army Marksmanship Unit at Ft. Benning. Said he'd spent plenty of time testing these and nothing worked better. Very little buildup.
gunmaker

quote:

Originally posted by gunmaker:
Mold Release 225

From MSC???? Where do you get it? Details man!

I use Butchers wax or Kiwi neutral shoe polish, never had a problem.

BTW, instead of modeling clay try Silly Putty. Much easier cleanup.

I have been buying the brownells release agent in the quart bottle for years & have found nothing better.

Add another to the Johnson's floor wax camp.

I've used it to bed several rifles now and have not had any problems with the bedding sticking. A couple thin finger applied coats does it for me.

Plus, the $4 I spent on the can will probably last me a lifetime.

And as an aside, a gunsmith recommended using white play-do next time I bedded a rifle. Modeling clay is hard to pick out nooks and crannies; play-do will eventually dry and flake off.

I make fiberglass stocks for a living and I have stuff that will release epoxy from a piece of wood. I can't convince guys that PAM is for eggs only. Good luck to them.

quote:

Originally posted by Ian Robertson:
I make fiberglass stocks for a living and I have stuff that will release epoxy from a piece of wood. I can't convince guys that PAM is for eggs only. Good luck to them.

Care to share?

I use Butchers paste wax, or Brownells. Duxseal putty(for electricians) is great for hole filling, or dams to keep excess from going down the trigger area, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Soverns:

quote:

Originally posted by gunmaker:
Mold Release 225

From MSC???? Where do you get it? Details man!

It took me a while to find a new supplier. When I started using it, it was made by RAM then Lilly and now has been bought out by Valspar. I got a hold of Doug at Sher-Fab. I ordered one rattle can of 225 & also had him send me a few samples of a water & alcohol based PVA release agent. It's supposed to wash off with water and is much cheaper.
gunmaker

Well, I find that if you give the pan a short spray of PAM before adding heat and eggs that it works the best.

Ian

most used wax by benchrester is kiwi nutral shoe wax, cheep found everywhere and works every time.
gerald

I,ve always used petroleum jelly and never had any problems. van

I like Johnsons. Seems about the best.
One thing to keep in mind, if you are using the Brownells spray release. READ THE CAN! This is some nasty stuff, and needs used in a well ventilated place. We use it in an enclosed ventilated room, to carry away the nasties, but it is still bad stuff to get in your lungs.

At Boeing, tool and die machinists use High Vaccume grease as a release agent for epoxy.

Brownells send some stuff with their kits.

I use Redding Imerial die wax.

You could probably use your mother's cold cream or cooking oil.

I think I used motor oil once.

I think I use Johnson's floor wax once.

The release agent is not as important as some other things:
1) Prevent undercut sufaces from locking parts together. I use masking tape, duct tape, and foam rubber.
2) Put the gun in the freezer for a couple hours.
3) Pull the parts appart in the right direction. I hang on to the muzzle and drop the stock comb on my rock hard thigh.


This first time I glassed a rifle, some things went wrong:
1) The epoxy leaked out
2) The expoxy got all over my shirt, my pants, my shoes, my chair, the rug, and the outside of the rifle.
3) The epoxy did not stay in the bedding area.
4) The receiver and stock were so stuck, I had to break the stock to get them appart.

5) Since then I had a bedding job that never hardened becuase I mixed the epoxy at 50 degrees. I now keep epoxy in the house.


I think many epoxies, release agents, and techniques can work well or poorly. I have my system, and it uses Devcon Steel Putty, that does not run and sets up slow, so I don't fight gravity or time.
You have to come up with a system that works for you.

Johnson's paste wax... Been doing bedding jobs now for over 30 years and am presently on my third can. Never yet got one stuck.

The mold parting compound that comes with Probed 2000. It's a mold release and not a cooking aid, and suprisingly it really works great at keeping epoxy from sticking to things!

Rust Guard is the bomb!

See what I mean, we have everything from Pam to vaseline to silicone grease to floor wax to shoe wax to... maybe we should try that stufr... what is it called... ah.... mold release, well it might work but I would not trust it, where is the frying pan?

One I always have on hand and have always had success with is Hornady One Shot Case Lube. It comes in an aerosol can and dries within a minute. There is no cleanup involved.

This is a trick that I think came out of Trinidad.

Clemson

I got my spray can of Valspar Mold Realese 225 and two different bottles of the PVA release. The PVA stuff looks like what comes in the Acraglass kits. Little bottles are pretty cheap. The 225 was around $16 for one can. Cases would be priced much better. I'll use the PVA stuff on patterns and get a feel of how I like it.....I really like the price.

I have been using a carnuba wax for years and like Jim Kobe, I am still on the first can. This is not rocket science. Virtually any oil or cooking spray will work. Bill McGuire "invented" a spray solution a number of years ago and marketed it through Brownells. It was Pam with a different label. You have to be a real klutz to use something of this type and NOT have it work. I prefer the wax and I do not buff it, I leave the slight build up on the metal and coat everything that might by even some catastrophe be able to get the bedding on it.