asente@CSL-Vax.ARPA (Paul Asente) (09/18/84)
I'm surprised no one has mentioned paraffin as a chain lubricant. I've always used it and never had any problems. Here's how: Save a great big can and clean it. Put about 1 pound of paraffin (available at grocery stores with canning supplies) in it. When you want to lubricate, put a pan of water on the stove to boil and put the can in it for the paraffin to melt (NEVER melt it directly; it can catch fire!) While it's melting, take off your chain and clean it using your favorite solvent (I use kerosene). By this time the paraffin should be melted. Drop the chain in the can and make sure it's entirely immersed. The paraffin will immediately start to solidify around the chain since it's colder than the melted stuff; wait until all the solidified paraffin has melted again. Pull the chain out using pliers and hang it up to cool. Take the can out of the water and save it for next time. When the chain is cool put it back on the bike. That's it. The biggest advantage to this method is that the chain NEVER gets dirty! Paraffin just doesn't pick up dirt the way oils do, so cleaning before relubrication is a breeze. I do this about once every two months in the summer and once a month in wet weather. The only hard part is avoiding getting paraffin drips all over your kitchen when you take the chain out; I use a foil pie pan and just put the drips back in the can after they harden. -paul asente (ucbvax,decwrl)!csl-vax!asente "Mirabilis facta est hutzpa tua."
dsn@umcp-cs.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) (09/21/84)
> From asente@CSL-Vax.ARPA (Paul Asente) Wed Dec 31 19:00:00 1969 > I'm surprised no one has mentioned paraffin as a chain lubricant. I (and several others) discussed it a few months ago. Perhaps you weren't on the net then? > The only hard part is avoiding getting paraffin drips all over your kitchen > when you take the chain out ... That's no problem--just put the can on the floor and lower the chain into the can on a string. Let the chain sit in the can for a few moments, and then use the string to pull it out. Tie the string to something so that the chain hangs above the can, and let it hang until the paraffin hardens. -- Dana S. Nau CSNet: dsn@umcp-cs ARPA: dsn@maryland UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!dsn