Oiling Experiment (2 Viewers)

[Grimalkin]

Looking and feeling the chips after a week and there is no discernible “oily” residue on them vs an unoiled chip. And they still look good.

I went back to a 30:1 ratio, the 60:1 was too much oil, the oil was separating from the mixture a bit. I’m going to start oiling the rest of my chips with the 30:1, just on the edges for now.

 

[BGinGA]

Sidebar curiosity:

Anybody know what the coagulation component is in mineral oil (baby oil) gel versions?

And count one vote here for oiling clays not only for cosmetic reasons, but also to help prevent the chips from absorbing unwanted oils (organic, skin oils, food oils, etc.) or other nastiness.

 

[Colquhoun]

Sidebar curiosity:

Anybody know what the coagulation component is in mineral oil (baby oil) gel versions?

My first guess would be Aloe gel…?

 

[GreekRedEye]

Sidebar curiosity:

Anybody know what the coagulation component is in mineral oil (baby oil) gel versions?

And count one vote here for oiling clays not only for cosmetic reasons, but also to help prevent the chips from absorbing unwanted oils (organic, skin oils, food oils, etc.) or other nastiness.

Ingredients for Johnson and Johnson baby oil gel here:
https://www.johnsonsbaby.com/baby-products/johnsons-lavender-baby-oil-gel

mineral oil
Hydrogenated Styrene/Isoprene Copolymer
Fragrance

Ingredient glossary on website says:

 

[Grimalkin]

I’m relabeling these blues so just doing barrels of edges, wiping it off. Middle row is not done compared to the outside rows which are wiped off.

Yellows on right were oiled with mineral oil over a week ago and don’t even look oiled. Left stack is brand new mixture oiled (still need to wipe off and buff).

On a separate note unrelated to this experiment, I am no longer going to oil the faces, edges only. The work to payoff ratio of oiling the faces is simply not worth it, bright edges is 95% of the visual impact of oiling imo and is 10x less labour intensive. Not sure how this is with American clay chips.

 

[Grimalkin]

Well, the 60:1 mixture has appeared to wear off after 3 weeks or So, my blues are still better than “bare”, but they definitely do not look as good as when I first did them. 60:1 I think has too much oil, the mix ended up separating a bit it looks like to me, so there’s a limit for how thin the beeswax can be before the mix seems to separate.

I have gone down to a 10:1 mixture which is thicker, and will test the resilience, more beeswax should enhance the ability of the oil to stay longer.

Did a row of blues on the left, will check them in a few days for “oily residue”. Although I think it will be just fine, if they are okay, I’ll do the rest.

 

[merkong]

Ya what put me on this path was the staying power of mineral oil is lacking. I don’t feel like oiling my chips every month or 5-6 months even, I want to oil them once.

I’ll grab 5 racks a barrel at a time and wipe the edges twice a year. Doing a whole barrel at a time, I can do it those 5 racks in about 20 minutes. Leave them standing upright by the barrel for a couple of days and rerack. I don’t think any oil concoction is a one and done.

 

[maxim_666666]

Paulson?
CPC?

 

[MoeRichard]

I've got some bees wax on hand, I'll have to give this a try!

 

[GoJo_Dingo]

So I’ve seen a lot of threads on here regarding oiling with mineral oil, or letting natural oils from fingers oil the chips, or feeding your players bacon cheeseburgers to oil the chips

So I got to thinking, how to emulate a bacon grease or a beef grease room temperature consistency (like a paste) while using a mineral oil which will not go rancid.

So going back to my axe collecting days when I hand made a bunch of leather sheaths I decided to make a mineral oil/beeswax mixture that has a room temp consistency that looks like a pasty goop and moves around still (not too solid). The beeswax will act much more of a host to keep the oil remaining in the pores of the clay, similar to how wax keeps boiled linseed oil in leather (with a BLO/beeswax mix).


View attachment 1252969

Initially just testing it on some China clays (royals). I just put some on my fingers and oiled the edges and surface of the chips, and wiped it off after. The mixture melts on my fingers into a pure liquid, to give an idea of how thin the mixture is.

On the left are the beeswax oil mixture, right side is mineral oiled about 5 days ago, which are already wearing off. Hard to tell from pics but in person there is a difference for sure.

I’ll report back after more time has elapsed. But I am 99% sure the mixture will not fade nearly as much as pure oil, if it fades at all, unlike the mineral oil which seems to not have good staying power. My only slight concern at this point is how oily these chips will be after a few days even though I thoroughly wiped them off.

View attachment 1252972

That's what I use, good ole' cutting board Oil or Board Cream

 

[GoJo_Dingo]

Paulson?
CPC?

I have used it for Paulson and China Clay chips.