Home made grease

Originally Posted by BillsMyfordML7
Imp4, you do not give up do you ? You are a bully, nothing but a bully. You continue treating me like I am some kind of idiot that was dragged out of the bushes somewhere in a third world country or wherever and has to be told the most basic things in life. And yes, you have offended me and do not stop doing so.

You obviously do not have anything useful to contribute with when it comes to what I asked for. So, my suggestion is, bug off, and stay out of the thread.

Well I'm sorry you feel that way.
It was not my intent.
 
Originally Posted by BillsMyfordML7
Imp4, you do not give up do you ? You are a bully, nothing but a bully. You continue treating me like I am some kind of idiot that was dragged out of the bushes somewhere in a third world country or wherever and has to be told the most basic things in life. And yes, you have offended me and do not stop doing so.

You obviously do not have anything useful to contribute with when it comes to what I asked for. So, my suggestion is, bug off, and stay out of the thread.

Please stop the exaggerated outrage, okay? It's getting a bit ridiculous and is making you look more like a troll rather than a poster with something legitimate to offer the board.

Grow up a bit, stick to your guns if you're confident that what you're attempting to do is worthwhile, and post the results here. Let the technical "chips" fall where they may.
 
On paper, basic soap thickened grease making is straightforward but there are a lot of things to consider. Minor changes to the proportions of components have a significant impact on the finished product.

For a lithium complex soap, the process is to melt stearic acid and a short chain acid such as azelaic in about one third of your base oil with agitation. If necessary, cool back to under 200F and slowly add an aqueous solution of lithium hydroxide with agitation. Mix for about an hour to allow the soap reaction to happen You've added water and the reaction yields more water so the mix needs to be dehydrated at about 200-220F with agitation.

During dehydration there can be a lot splattering and foaming. Once the mixture is dry it will have to be heated to about 380-400F. During this cooking process the grease will go through several consistency changes from oatmeal like to liquid. At the high temperature point it will liquefy; the soap is melted. Very slowly add the held base oil, with agitation, to cool.

At this point you have an unadditized base grease. To be successful you need to determine the soap content necessary to give the yield you want in the fluid used.

If you follow a simple soap recipe and process and replace the water with white mineral oil you would have a simple sodium grease, if it works.

I have done this hundreds of times in a lubricants lab and on a production scale, I've made clays, silca and alumina gels, lithium, lithium complex, aluminum stearate, aluminum complex and calcium sulfonate complex in Groups I, II, III, IV and V fluids including ester, silicone, PFPE and naphthenic oil.

MY WARNING-MAKING GREASE IS DIRTY AND IT SMELLS. IT CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS AND CAUSE SEVERE BURNS.
 
Just after college, I worked for an outfit in Houston that manufactured grease in drum-sized batches on a Cowles mixer. IIRC they were mostly Calcium or Aluminum complex greases, no lithium.That was a smelly, dirty operation. They made anti-seize on the same mixer, that was even worse. I avoided that area anytime I heard the mixer running.
It wasn't what I would consider a finesse operation. They had the formula dialed in, and with that Cowles all they really had to do was heat, add stuff in the right order, and let the mixer do the heavy lifting. I swear that [censored] Cowles could have turned gravel into grease if you let it run long enough.
OP, even if you find the right formula, I suspect your success may hinge on your mixing setup. You're gonna need power, speed, and controlled heat.
Be safe.
 
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