Chain Waxing

[MrBill1955]

Good morning.
I have done a search for chain waxing and Paraffin but come up empty.
I have been doing a bunch of different reading as I needed to rebuild a wheel with a different hub so I was searching building and truing and many other things. I came across many different articles and videos from the pedal bikers that highly recommend using paraffin wax on your chain rather than a messy lube. They say that it makes things smoother and the chain and sprockets last longer and stay cleaner.
Here is a video on how one guy does it. He adds paraffin oil but others do not but the method is the same. Heat the wax, soak the chain, remove and wipe down. Let cool.

My question is has anyone tried it? I have no qualms about doing it on my pedal chain but was wondering if any one had done it for their motor chain. Any reason why it would not work?
Thanks.

 

[Frankenstein]

It's all I prefer!

The lube is there on the internet and should be easy to find, try search by the term 'wax based chain lube'

Mine is a combination of a jewelers wax and paraffin with teflon dust mixed in that I made for myself and works very nicely.

 

[MrBill1955]

Thanks Frankenstein. I see you have it cooking along side your supper. Efficient use of time. LOL
I had an old rice cooker like he used in the video that works quite well.
I have currently just used the paraffin as i have not had chance to find oil and not sure i could ever find Teflon dust here. Some other tutorials used just wax. I will keep researching though. The teflon can't hurt though.

 

[Frankenstein]

Depending on what country you're in you just buy it online, pretty cheap as long as your import fees are good.

Another secret is slot cars' axles and a few other things like model train axles, people use teflon dust as lubricant for them since it's as good as graphite and often better and always cleaner. No oil residue either.

You may be able to find a few tiny bottles of it at a hobby supply store for exactly that purpose. It may be ridiculously over priced as well so that would just be a bad way to get enough to be actually effective in the mix.

The jeweler's wax is just a synthetic wax with longer chains on the molecules, it's stickier with better flow properties and has more flex to it than straight paraffin.

Good luck.

 

[Timbone]

The paraffin chain waxing is for old school racers and throwback hardcore roadies. The term "anal retentive" comes to mind. It's just not practical for everyday riding and training. The bike chain lubes on the market are so good these days that chain waxers are few and far between.

 

[Frankenstein]

I like how the dirt doesn't stick to my anal retentive chains, unlike when I oil or grease them.

 

[MrBill1955]

I was thinking the same thing Frankenstein. They say it is much cleaner and lasts longer than most other lubes. I live in Ecuador so I would need to look around for the teflon dust. I am making a trip to the US this summer so I can always bring some back then.
I looked up Teflon powder on Amazon but it won't let me post the link.

 

[Frankenstein]

You don't have enough postings yet to post links, but don't worry about it what you found is probably exactly what you'd want.

 

[HeadSmess]

i used to use a special blend, recipe classified. cant say i have tried it on a motorbike yet. next time i replace a chain though!

on the fear of death i shall reveal the famous and much coveted recipe henceforth!

wax. nice paraffin wax. a touch of beeswax. carnuba wax is far too hard. ear wax is far too scarce. a bottle of powdered graphite. a glob of molysulphide grease. melt it down, mix it up. soak chain, remove, drain, allow to cool and set. done

 

[Frankenstein]

i used to use a special blend, recipe classified. cant say i have tried it on a motorbike yet. next time i replace a chain though!

on the fear of death i shall reveal the famous and much coveted recipe henceforth!

wax. nice paraffin wax. a touch of beeswax. carnuba wax is far too hard. ear wax is far too scarce. a bottle of powdered graphite. a glob of molysulphide grease. melt it down, mix it up. soak chain, remove, drain, allow to cool and set. done

Ah yes, that jewelers wax is much like the bee's wax type of consistency, except it's blue and a more synthetic refined type so it melts exactly a certain way at a certain temperature. Less gummy more lipstick like? It almost writes like a crayon but with more 'stick' to it. My goodness though you can make a very thin and still practically strong layer of wax to protect and work the metal.

It's nice stuff, I guess think of it as the synthetic oil of the wax family for lubricants. It also likes to wick the old dirt and dust out of the rollers and pins when being reapplied. Gentle stirring when properly hot will leave a bunch of metal and dirt behind in the wax. What's nice is it's far far less than what I see when cleaning an oiled or greased chain. The cooled hardened wax just seems to plug up all the open areas in those spots on the chain and act as semi solid gaskets or seals/barriers to keep stuff from getting in and gritting up the metal parts.

Super fine dust will cling and eventually work its way into the rollers and then begin that aftermarket polish known as "stretch style." too much dangle is bad. Oil makes you dangle.

Wax it up.

Anyway it works for me, it's waterproof, it's getting great life out of my chains. It works what else can I say? Yes it means removing the chain to wax it. It's not like you wouldn't really want to take it off the bike to clean it and re oil or grease it well, instead of getting oil and cleaner all over your bike or something odd.

That's why I think I wax and lube the way I do. Seriously it's like the wax acts as a buffer keeping the dirt from seeping into the chain. Just my theory.