Help (it's about Neolube)

[jjb62556]

what is the stuff used to darken steam side rods with graphite in it ? Can remember...old age...Jim

[ednadolski]

Friendly side request, could you please be a bit more specific in your subject line?

[PJPickard]

Neolube, micromark and PBL have it

[mmagliaro]

And have I got a deal for you!
A few years back, I bought 2 gallons of NeoLube direct from the manufacturer, then bottled it into 2 ounce glass jars to sell to the
friendly folks here on the forum, for $12, postage FREE in the continental US.  I did this because it was costing about $20 with the shipping to get it anywhere else, and that just seemed expensive as heck to me, so as a public service...

I still have a few jars of it left, so if you want some, send me a PM. 

[NorsemanJack]

It's also great for darkening rail sides (especially switches) and darkening MT trip pins.  Being both conductive and a lubricant, it works great for both.

[narrowminded]

Has anybody tried just adding graphite powder to alcohol?  I haven't but suspect it would work as I think that's what Neo-lube is. 

What I have done is added a few drops of flat acrylic clear, dripped off a toothpick, to a small amount of Neo-lube in a shot glass to help make it slightly more durable on metal items.  I put about 5 or six drops into an amount that just filled the crater in the bottom of the glass.  That actually works.  It seems to be very effective on metal parts and less so on styrene.  Try a test coupon for yourself for those areas where it might be helpful.

[peteski]

Has anybody tried just adding graphite powder to alcohol?  I haven't but suspect it would work as I think that's what Neo-lube is. 

I seem to recall that some sort of a binder is also mentioned in the NeoLube specs.

[voldemort]

My son has been working with a small startup company lead by a chemistry prof.  After ENDLESS hinting, I'm about to get some of his product.  I THINK they're about to market it on something like amazon.  It is an interesting invention.  They innovated with something called Nano-Silver.  It makes a transparent, electrically conductive coating material.  I shouldn't talk about its industrial uses, but they are using it in some high tech stuff.  He is going to get some up in an acrylic base.  My initial plan was to use it on the tracks as a conductive aid.  He says they can make it up in pretty much any base (usually its water based for industrial applications, but he mentioned alcohol yesterday). 

I'll let you know how it works

[mmagliaro]

VERY interesting!   A more fluid, not too expensive, conductive material would be really handy, not just for blackening, but for repairing broken circuit traces and fixing 1st generation Kato Mikado drivers where the contacts are bad between the wheel rim and the bronze strip.  I have used nickel and silver-based circuit board trace materials for this, but it's not cheap.

[mmagliaro]

In case anybody else is interested.... I HAVE NO MORE.  I got a bunch of requests, and the last bottle is gone.
Thank you everybody.

[Cajonpassfan]

In case anybody else is interested.... I HAVE NO MORE.  I got a bunch of requests, and the last bottle is gone.
Thank you everybody.

Well, DANG! Snooze you lose I guess!
Otto