Thread: Release agent

When I asked Nathan Foster if he had tried panel beaters Carnauba wax as a release agent he replied that the highest grade Carnauba is what he does use.
Quick google of the Bison wax ingredients: 'A blend of paraffin, microcrystalline and carnauba mixed with the highest quality mineral spirits available gives Liberon Fine Paste Wax its pleasing aroma.' So for an off the shelf product it looks like the best option as Akaroa 1 has stated above

i use kiwi shoe polish, or hornady 1 shot case lube spray when im lazy works fine. although ll my bedding jobs are either Pratley steel,, JB weld or that stuff you buy from ballistic studies, depends what i feel like. I dont recall using acraglass

i use the clear kiwi shoe polish. Works fine for me.

Just dont heat the rifle too much to help the epoxy/compound cure . It melts the shoe polish and you have to freeze the rifle to get it apart....
I accidently put a 100w light bulb in my homemade warmer box one time when bedding a M70 for a mate I had to drill out around the action screws (gouged them up a bit) and froze the rifle to get it apart. It cost me $30 for new screws but turned out mint in the end though

Originally Posted by akaroa1

I have also used blu tack, but its harder to shape and model compared to plastacene.

Craft stores do have proper plastacene it just might be called modelers clay or something different

Don't ask a shop assistant under 40 they won't know what you are talking about

Careful of play dough...it can be full of salt.

LPS3.

Or any equivalent non silicone, non hydrocarbon, non solvent - preservative wax spray.

Nothing else is worth wasting time on, one careful spray application of 30 seconds and leave to dry, job done.

I just bought some clear Kiwi shoe polish from TradeMe for $6 or so. It worked brilliantly with a great finish and no issues breaking the actions from the stocks in the 3 rifles that I have done.

Kiwi shoe polish with a hit of powdered graphite from a little blow bottle

I was hoping to use something I already have. Got some dry glide as well which is spray on teflon

Teflon and silicone can react to certain epoxies, and affect the way the way the material cures. Not worth the risk...

Shoe polish (wax basically) works, but manually applying it is an arse. It takes too bloody long in comparison to a quick squirt from a spray can with the self-applying version of shoe polish...

Ok so apparetly its easy to bed a rifle...if your not retarded like me. So ive inletted the stock seemed simple enough, glued the pillar/spacer in at the right height easy enough got the barrel spaced right so it sits in the channel evenly check, next make plasticine/ modeling clay dams should be easy enough right, how the fuk do do get the fukn plasticene to stay in the stock while trial fitting everything? Cleaned the stock with meths, put release agent on action what am I missing here??

I found, just use more. I struggled to get the playdoh to stay in place when using a small amount only. Just lots of pressure to press it into the stock and use quite a bit around it to support the edge you need.

I also found scratching diagonal gouges and drilling small holes into the inside of the inlet helpful. It really helps the bedding to adhere to the action and mechanically lock it in.

@blip graphite powder on the plastercine helps it not stick to the action when test fitting. Just rub it on with your finger so you don't get it where the compound is going

I should really take a video next time I have to bed something and just show how quick and easy it is to use a spray wax as a release agent. The longest part is filling the holes in the action with plasticene or the like. It also stops the plasticene dams from sticking to the barrel etc and falling out of the stock. No chance of missing a spot or accidentally gluing bits together as well.

It's literally a spray, shake the excess off, leave to dry and ready to glue. Takes longer to type than do, but each to their own.

I also use this same spray wax technique when doing things like bedding bases and mounts, clean the base or mount and a quick spray onto the action then cast the shim in place using epoxy. Once dry, torque to spec... Never had one shift yet.

I was told one shot was good and I ended up getting some and using that as I can use what's left as case lube, all the other stuff Id have to buy it use less than a teaspoon of it and then throw it away as I wouldn't use it again and it seems unnecessarily wasteful. Just about to break it apart and see how it turned out....

Well I'm no longer a bedding virgin. The one shot worked mint, the biggest thing I was worried about was getting the alloy trigger unit glued to the stock and it breaking trying to separate it. Under the tang looks good and under the receiver and around the recoil lug looks good I did an inch of the chamber as well but that looks a bit shit as under it is supported but got sag on the sides. Guess Ill just have to shoot it and see. just need to tidy mag well up with dremel. the acraglass I was going to use had gone off so I used some loctite weld I had, after reading Nathans book It seemed to have good properties for using as bedding, good compression strength and solvent resistant.