Is Paraffin And Mineral Oil The Same For Soaking Corks?

[Bo Bo Olson]

Is Paraffin and Mineral oil the same for soaking corks.

 

Also seen one could use wax, what would one use?

 

I have some re-corking to do finally.

 

I'm trying to find out what German equivalents I can find.

 

I know I can get some small bottle of internal mineral oil at my pharmacist if need be.

[hari317]

Hi Bobo, have you seen this post:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/193044-maintaining-vintage-mbs/page__view__findpost__p__1951260

[JohnS-MI]

Is Paraffin and Mineral oil the same for soaking corks.

 

Also seen one could use wax, what would one use?

 

I have some re-corking to do finally.

 

I'm trying to find out what German equivalents I can find.

 

I know I can get some small bottle of internal mineral oil at my pharmacist if need be.

 

I'm not sure. Paraffin has different meanings in American and British English. To Americans, paraffin is a wax and a common use is sealing jelly jars; it is food-safe, or is commonly offered in food-safe grades. To the British, it is a refined lamp oil without the obnoxious odor of kerosine. I would be VERY concerned whether that is food-safe. I would assume internal mineral oil is "food safe" I know in the US there are food safe grades for wooden bowls, cutting boards, etc.

 

The American version of paraffin might be a suitable wax. Given the differences in American and British English (and paraffin ) I remain a little concerned about what would be available in Germany.

 

 

 

Edit: Uhh, never mind. I was thinking corks in wine bottles and food safety. If you are asking abour corks for piston fillers, probably not a concern.

Edited August 5, 2011 by JohnS-MI

[Delphideo]

Yeah, for me paraffin is wax. Going a bit on a tangent, I remember seeing this in Rick Propas site:

 

Next, and this is critical, you need to seal the corks. The traditional sealant is paraffin and it works well, but is difficult to use. Some folks in Germany use paraffin oil. I've had no experience with it. Rather, I use PURE silicone paste.

 

Source

[Bo Bo Olson]

STEARIN wax is Beef tallow and or a vegetable compound depending on which path you want to travel.

Used for harding wax and for making a hard shell 30%-70 bees wax or other wax on dipped candles.

 

I'll go to an Arts and craft shop and get some. Perhaps...Paraffin oil is another easy to find thing...at my Pharmacist.

 

 

I had 100% bees wax candles for another project but that is the wrong wax.

 

I did go look at the archives some few minutes after I turned on my brain.

 

There were links given me, that I had not run into where I was looking in the archive.

 

Thanks for all the help and any other help that comes.

 

I've some 15 to re-cork and will see what seems best.....

I am not going to be able to test each way with five pens and report back in 40-60 years to see what was best. Rats....started this hobby too late.

 

There were some nice tips of how to use my Dremel and I have to clean the inside of the barrel also.

Edited August 5, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

[fountainbel]

Hi BoBo,

I use a mixture of 40% pure parafine oil and 60% pure beeswax.

Heated up and mixed "au bain Marie" it becomes a paste when it cools off.

I heat up the mixture slightly - so it becomes oil like - then immerse the finalised corks and let them in the mixture till it solidifeis.

Benefit being all the small natural cork cavities get filled with the oil and remain in the cavities in solidified state.

Doing so the "stick-slip" or "break loose" force when the piston start to move is greatly reduced

Francis

FYI : I've learned that a radial pretension of 0.2mm on diameter is ideal, hence making the cork 0.2 mm larger in diameter as the barrel bore.

Edited August 5, 2011 by fountainbel

[Bo Bo Olson]

That sounds good...I'm into lazy. I can walk a kilometer and a half to my pharmacist, and back with the paraffin oil, and have the beeswax candles.

 

At $10.00 a gallon I think twice about driving and I need the exercise.

 

Rats looks like I got to buy a tool to measure with. What do you suggest? For "radial pretension of 0.2mm on diameter is ideal, hence making the cork 0.2 mm larger in diameter as the barrel bore."

 

Even with outside of bore of barrel?

I'm still trapped in mental inches. :embarrassed_smile: Thumb nail thicker?

Edited August 6, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

[Josele]

Hi BoBo,

I use a mixture of 40% pure parafine oil and 60% pure beeswax.

Heated up and mixed "au bain Marie" it becomes a paste when it cools off.

I heat up the mixture slightly - so it becomes oil like - then immerse the finalised corks and let them in the mixture till it solidifeis.

Benefit being all the small natural cork cavities get filled with the oil and remain in the cavities in solidified state.

Doing so the "stick-slip" or "break loose" force when the piston start to move is greatly reduced

Francis

FYI : I've learned that a radial pretension of 0.2mm on diameter is ideal, hence making the cork 0.2 mm larger in diameter as the barrel bore.

 

Hi Francis. Thank you very much for your explanation. I've a question: does the cork change its size after soaking?

[newlife]

Hi Bo Bo!

 

I use paraffine candle wax for my corks. I use a small casserole of about 8 cm in diameter to heat the wax, put the cork in, wait till no more air bubbles come out, remove the cork with a toothpick and let it cool down on a piece of kitchen paper. A very small amount of paraffine oil (20 ml bottle from my pharmacist) helps to make the cork slide better.

 

To check the barrel's inner diameter I use drills. Well, no perfect method, but I don't know other tools for more exact measuring. If my 8 mm drill fits and the 8.5 does not, the cork should be 8.5 by first grinding. Then I do some checking by putting the cork onto a long 3 mm screw, fix it by two nuts, insert that into the barrel and grind the cork further down until it fits tightly. Always push the cork down to the section, my experience shows that many barrels are wider down there than up where the piston comes in.

 

A little chamfer on the cork will help making it slide in easier.

 

The inner diameter is easier to make. If the piston is let's say 5 mm thick, I drill a 4 mm hole into the cork. I got a small 2 mm rod for my dremel with a slit in it. In goes a short stripe of sanding paper, twirled around it, put into the cork, and rest is done in some seconds. Of course the hole must be exact, too small your cork will split, too big air might get into the barrel from behind making your pen a very wet writer.

 

How do I know that the piston has enough suction? Quite simple: Provided the pen is cleaned, I insert the new piston/cork assembly into the barrel and suck at the front - no nib inside of course! If my tongue closes the feeder hole closely without dropping down from there, sticking to my tongue, everything's fine!

 

I hope my description helps a little!

 

Klaus

[hari317]

Hey Bo Bo, did you get around to doing the recorks? Just curious.

[Jennings]

Just as a bit of general brackground; In the UK paraffin is an oil used often as a lamp of camping stove fuel, and I think is equivalent to US kerosene. You can get paraffin wax though, which is the stuff used for candles and so on. I'm not sure how the two are related off hand chemically.

[fountainbel]

Hi Josele,

The mixture only penetrates superficially , but - and this is most important - the small natural cavities (pores) in the cork are completely filled.

This implies the cork does not really swells after soaking

As for the diameter dimensions of the cork, the inner diameter should also have a slight pretension of 0.1- 0.2 mm on the cork seat.

Consequently I always mount the cork on a pin - having exactly the same diameter as the cork seat - when finishing the external diameter.

I have a drill set going up with 0.1mm steps, so I use a drill -having exactly the diameter as the cork seat - to mount the cork on.

I've made me perfect cork cutting tools for most pens so in most cases I only have to remove 0.1-0.3mm from the outside diameter of the cork.

Francis

Hi BoBo,

I use a mixture of 40% pure parafine oil and 60% pure beeswax.

Heated up and mixed "au bain Marie" it becomes a paste when it cools off.

I heat up the mixture slightly - so it becomes oil like - then immerse the finalised corks and let them in the mixture till it solidifeis.

Benefit being all the small natural cork cavities get filled with the oil and remain in the cavities in solidified state.

Doing so the "stick-slip" or "break loose" force when the piston start to move is greatly reduced

Francis

FYI : I've learned that a radial pretension of 0.2mm on diameter is ideal, hence making the cork 0.2 mm larger in diameter as the barrel bore.

 

Hi Francis. Thank you very much for your explanation. I've a question: does the cork change its size after soaking?

[stephanos]

This is extremely useful; thank you.

Now I just have to find a good way of making the cork exactly the right size.

 

A question on sourcing for the Europe-based amongst you: Does one buy parafine oil from a hardware/DIY shop, such as Brico / Obi / B&Q? Or would I be better off looking in a pharmacy? Newlife's comment, above, suggests I'm better off going to a pharmacy. How about beeswax?

[MsRedpen]

Stephanos

Paraffin oil - definitively pharmacy.

Beeswax - check at the pharmacy too, can be sold in "discs", or organic food or organic / natural pharmacy shops (at bee's products section), some artisan candle shops.

[stephanos]

Thank you, MsRedpen!

[stephanos]

I bought some parafin oil from the pharmacy/chemist the other day. They had to put an expiry date on it, but of course mentioned that I can ignore it altogether (an expiry date is a legal obligation on everything up to and including salt!).

 

I have to say, though, that I have been finding it rather tricky to cut a cork down to the right size.

For the centre hole, I use a drill (and then carefully apply sandpaper) to get to the right size, bearing in mind Francis's admonition about a slight pretension.

For the outside, I use sandpaper and a dremel tool (I do this first and mount the cork on the Dremel attachment.

I do measure with calipers, but have simply not (yet) been able to get it exactly right. The best I've managed is a cork that does fit but is slightly too small, and that therefore doesn't make a seal.

 

I'm sure that extra tools would help, but the real problem is me: I haven't developed the skill yet (or I'm missing some or other trick). Not that I have copious amounts of spare time to practice, but I expect that I'll finally get it right some time. Any tips most welcome!