Is the lard oil I might order from McMaster Carr the same as the lard I see in
grocery stores as far as mixing with mineral spirits for charging a clipper sharpening wheel?
If it is, I could save shipping fees.

No, it is not the same. The lard oil from McMaster Carr is a plumbers cutting oil that was used back in the 40's and early 50's. I don't know how it is processed, but it works very well. It may be possibel that there is a lard oil you can buy at the gropcery store and maybe it will work too, but I have not tried that.

Hi Greg,
I use the pork lard found in most walmart and grocery stores. The Spanish "manteca" stuff works the best. 1/2lb for $1.99 I use odorless paint thinner but mineral spirits work too.

Bill,

Does the lard oil you buy from the Walmart come in a liquid form? I use Sunny side odorless paint thinner from True Value hardware store it is the only place I can find it. What is the name of the odorless paint thinner you use and where do you get it?

Thanks,

James

Hi James,

The lard I buy is solid and highly refined.

While researching the material safety data sheet for the plumbers lard oil on McMaster-Carr I found that it consists of two things lard oil and paraffinated light petroleum distillates: (CAS 64742-54-7).

So what you get from McMaster-Carr is pork lard dissolved in mineral spirits essentially.

Heavy fats/oils/lipids/peptides that make up lard can be dissolved into most organic solvents like mineral spirits, naphtha, acetone, dichloromethane, kerosene, and odorless paint thinner.

I lightly heat the odorless paint thinner and dissolve the lard into it until I reach the desired viscosity. I chill the solution overnight and filter any solids with a tight mesh screen. I do use Sunnyside brand. Much higher purity than that found in the kleen strip/heat brand sold at home cheapo.

I remember the old timers who cut pipe threads used to talk about using regular lard
as a cutting fluid when they couldn't get something better.
Wasn't the best for thread cutting.
But I can see that lard is the perfect medium to carry the abrasive needed for clipper blades.
Just wondered.
Still, if I can get what I need locally I'll save at least the cost of shipping.

OK guys,
I made some more lard oil and took pictures to share.

The mix:
1 cup (250ml) of odorless paint thinner

1 16oz (1lb) block of Armour brand lard (manteca)

Pour one cup of odorless paint thinner into a disposable one quart (or larger) glass container. (I'm using a wide mouth one quart mason jar.) Place the container into a pot of warm water and apply a gentle heat. (I have a gas stove that I set to the lowest possible without extinguishing the flame.)



Once you see the water start to steam kill the heat (but leave the pot on the stove) and start adding the lard. I cut thin slices and add more as they disolve.

You will have to turn the heat back to low periodically, turning it back off when the water starts to steam again.





Once you have dissolved all of the lard remove the container and let it sit until it cools to room temperature (about 90 minutes). Then chill it over night in the refrigerator. Remove any solid pieces of lard that re-form, if done right there won't be any.



This mix makes about a quart of "plumber's lard oil"

A quart of odorless paint thinner costs $10 and we only used 1/4 of it ($2.50)

A pound of lard costs $2

Total cost for our quart of plumber's lard oil $4.50

1 gallon from McMaster-Carr $21.56 ($5.39 a quart)
Plus shipping time/cost of course!

And of course mix this quart of plumber's lard oil with a quart of odorless paint thinner and you have made half a gallon of "premium spray adhesive" for about $15.00!

I hope this helps save some time and money for yall!

Thanks for reading,
William Hornibrook
https://www.facebook.com/Hornibrookmobilesharpening/

This was supposed to be the first image in the above post:



William Hornibrook
https://www.facebook.com/Hornibrookmobilesharpening/

Update:
Here is the plumber's lard oil after a night in the refrigerator, notice the color change (the half gallon mason jar next to it contains a quart of odorless paint thinner)



Note the viscosity at 34°f



After you pour the plumber's lard oil into the odorless paint thinner you will see solids that formed in the inside of the container, do not use this stuff just discard it.



Here is the final product after mixed with the odorless paint thinner (1:1)



I hope that this helps you save some time and money

William Hornibrook

Bill,

Thank you for all the work you went through to show this to us! It is very informative to say the least. I am going to give it a try. I have customers in other countries that need to know how to do this as they cannot get lard oil in most other countries so this is great! Thank you!

James