Silicone Bowstring Wax Okay For Lubricating Piston/barrel?

[jaderiver]

I am planning on lubricating the barrel/piston of my Pelikan 600, which is having difficulty turning. My son is an archer and has offered me the use of his Bohring Archery Seal-Tite Bowstring Wax - "Silicone Lubricated Bowstring Wax". Would this product be safe to use in place of the generally acceptable silicone grease, in terms of harm to the Pelikan barrel and piston?

 

After a thorough search of Bohring Archery and other sites, I cannot find any ingredient list for the bowstring wax, other than the "silicone" aspect of the product. So, not sure what the "wax" might entail. Paraffin perhaps?

 

Any comments or opinions welcome. Thanks so much!

Edited January 27, 2015 by jaderiver

[Sasha Royale]

NO. Don't risk it. Get the right stuff. It aint expensive.

[ScienceChick]

Goulet, Main Street Pens, ISellPens, Anderson's, the hardware store (plumbing department) - all have pure silicone grease. A small pot will last several lifetimes.

[PS104]

Goulet, Main Street Pens, ISellPens, Anderson's, the hardware store (plumbing department) - all have pure silicone grease. A small pot will last several lifetimes.

I got a pot from Main Street Pens as that's what Ron uses and he's a pro. Hardware stores are nice for a lot of things but I don't think they'll stock pen stuff. And the only dive shops I'll go in are dive bars.

[ScienceChick]

I got a pot from Main Street Pens as that's what Ron uses and he's a pro. Hardware stores are nice for a lot of things but I don't think they'll stock pen stuff. And the only dive shops I'll go in are dive bars.

Many folks have found silicone grease at Home Depot and Lowe's - me included.

[ironwampa]

Oddly enough, the store that I have had the most success with for finding things for pen restoration, that you would expect to find at a hardware store, is FRY's Electronics. Even though heat sink grease is mostly silicone grease I wouldn't recomend it for fountain pens unless the tube specificly says 100% pure silicone grease or something like that.

Edited January 27, 2015 by ironwampa

[Ernst Bitterman]

There's some serious consistency differences between string wax and the silicone grease we're always on about here. Regardless of the chemisty implications, I'd expect it would make it harder rather than easier to run a pen's piston.

[PS104]

I've heard of everything from used motor oil to string wax (whatever that is).

Never KY jelly for some reason. Guess some people don't want to mix their hobbies. "Honey, have you seen the string wax?"

If the pros say silicon grease then it's silicon grease

EOD

[ehemem]

 

Never KY jelly for some reason.

 

KY jelly is water soluble, so while it won't harm rubbers, it would gunk up the ink...

Edited January 28, 2015 by ehemem

[Ron Z]

 

KY jelly is water soluble, so while it won't harm rubbers, it would gunk up the ink...

 

KY would wash away very quickly, as it's supposed to.

 

Heat sink grease is often a compound, designed to facilitate the transfer of heat from the solid state device to the heat sink. It usually contains other materials to help move the heat away from the device so that it can be effective dissipated. Even if it's more or less clear, I'm not sure that I would use it in a fountain pen. Again, using something because it's readily available is not always the best thing to use with a pen.

 

I make the stuff I use available so that the average person has a source if they can't find it. I know it's safe, but that doesn't mean that there aren't other sources available. Just make sure that the stuff you buy is silicone grease (VS "contains silicone grease") and that it's safe and/or intended for use with 0-rings.

[jaderiver]

Thanks to all of you for chiming in, based on your experience and knowledge... really appreciate. I will definitely plan on obtaining and using 100% silicone grease!

 

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

Many folks have found silicone grease at Home Depot and Lowe's - me included.

I looked at Lowes sometime back, but the stuff they carried wasn't 100% silicone (I went home and checked out the brand online. I also went to a plumbing supply -- they weren't sure about what they carried, so they very kindly contacted the manufacturer for me. It turned out to be not 100% either. I ended up getting a container from Goulet Pens. The amount I use at a time is really small (on the end of a toothpick) -- I've had it for a couple of years now and I've barely made a dent in it.

It's probably not worth ordering it by itself, because of shipping charges -- but when I make orders I tend to stock up: samples that look interesting, maybe a few bottles of inks that I've decided I can't live without (I keep looking at the paper sample pack but then get distracted by other stuff... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth