Castor oil? How about it?

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snapperman

snapperman

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Many of the old WWI airplanes used a Castor oil mix and lots of todays RC flyers use a castor mix. Is it effective as a lubricant in todays 2 stroke saws and other 2 stroke equipment. I've always enjoyed the smell of Castor oil and wondered if anyone used it at all today? Any idea? Mixed in conjunction with a standard oil/gas mix? I've got several old homelites as well as a 66 2 stroke Benelli I've thought about running with castor.

Gotta love the smell! :)
 
Yup. Have you ever noticed that r/c engines ran on castor oil have thick, baked on crud on the cylinder after a very short time? It's not a good idea to run the stuff in a saw.
 
i wouldnt see a problem runing it. i used to run it in my bike all the time and it stayed pretty clean. i wouldnt run it forever maybe occasionally if its known to dirty a saw, but i wouldnt be scared of it. i actually have some leftover that im gonna run through mine soon.
 
buzz sawyer said:
I think it's delicious, especially on toast with peanut butter.

Anyone else remember having to "take castor oil". Is this the same stuff?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil#Medicinal_use_of_castor_oil
Click to expand...

Never did take it myself but read shortly about it when I looked it up. Apparently Castor oil along with a few other items mixed in where used to force a woman into labor as well as to clean ones bowels. Interesting.

I'll probably try and pick up a bottle or two of Castor in a few days. Knowing now that it is dirty I don't think I'll the bike and saws continously on Castor but on occasion maybe when I feel like getting that smell in the air.

Thanks a bunch!
 
I love the smell of Castor....but I do believe it is old technology that was developed when there weren't better options. Raw Castor is tough on engine oil seals and makes a thick gooey residue.

I went to a WW1 event at Wright Patterson Airforce Museum and they had a couple of planes that used the old LeRhone rotary engines. The whole crankcase and cylinder assembly spins with the propellor - the crankshaft is mounted rigid to the airframe. The engines have an oil pump and they use Castor Oil as it does not burn completely in the combustion process - the valve assembly on the top of each spinning cylinder is lubricated by the oil that comes out of the exhaust. After the planes fly and are shut down the entire bottom of the plane is soaking wet with gooey sticky oil. The airplanes have engine shrouding that tries to keep the exhaust/oil spray on the bottom of the plane and out of the pilots face. There are rumors of the pilots getting sick from breathing the castor ladened fumes.

Modern Castor based lubricants are much better refined and processed - but I truly believe you can't do any better than a modern sythetic 50:1 oil designed for use in your chainsaw. Get a good synthetic oil for use in your saw - and if you want to smell Castor put some in your Tiki Torch.
 
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oneoldbanjo said:
Modern Castor based lubricants are much better refined and processed - but I truly believe you can't do any better than a modern sythetic 50:1 oil designed for use in your chainsaw. Get a good synthetic oil for use in your saw - and if you want to smell Castor put some in your Tiki Torch.
Click to expand...
+1
 
When all other oils fail from heat, castor will still be there. Heat grows the polymer chains in castor, but in other oils it breaks them down.

Google castor oil and you will have some interesting reading ...
 
IMO, if you are going above 15,000 RPM use a castor blend, for the reasons Tzed250 said.

Karters use stuff like Elf HTX 909 or Maxima 927 as the engines are spinning well over 20,000 RPM and right on the edge of a meltdown so need the extra protection the castor (ricin) gives, and the heads and pipes are off a lot so build up isn't an issue.
 
Maxima castor 927:

"Synthetic esters, degummed castor oil and special additives eliminate ring sticking while preventing rust and corrosion"

so strickly not a straight 100% Castor.

i run this about 50/50 with husky low smoke and will run it straight in any race saw i get.

not enough hrs to tell yet, and it may take a while.

Serg
 
The Lorax said:
So the Husky 242xp is asking for it? ;)
Click to expand...

LOL.
OK, I was alluding to race saws. Elf's HTX 896 is supposedly good to 18,000 RPM and it's ester based, and the Motul 800 2T I use is probably fine at those revs too (what sort of revs do 125 and 250CC GP bikes see these days ?? )
It's just that in the old days we used to use 14-15,000 as the transission point to castors, but the BMEP was a lot higher than a saw, too.
 
snapperman said:
Many of the old WWI airplanes used a Castor oil mix and lots of todays RC flyers use a castor mix. Is it effective as a lubricant in todays 2 stroke saws and other 2 stroke equipment. I've always enjoyed the smell of Castor oil and wondered if anyone used it at all today? Any idea? Mixed in conjunction with a standard oil/gas mix? I've got several old homelites as well as a 66 2 stroke Benelli I've thought about running with castor.

Gotta love the smell! :)
Click to expand...

Hey snapperman welcome to the site. GASoline71 also know as Gary will be along in a minute and tell you everything you need to know about OIL. :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :givebeer: :givebeer:
 
FYI
almost all of the Unlimited Class/ Outboard drag boats running Methanol w/nitrous use a modern castor blended lube,,, but as stated before,,, teardowns and rebuilds are frequent,,,,

it is not necessarry for stock applications

It does work,,, and yes I love that smell!!!!!
 
Last edited:
RiverRat2 said:
FYI
almost all of the Unlimited Class/ Outboard drag boats running Methanol w/nitrous use a modern castor blended lube,,, but as stated before,,, teardowns and rebuilds are frequent,,,,

it is not necessarry for stock applications

It does work,,, and yes I love that smell!!!!!
Click to expand...

what isnt necessary for stock applications, teardowns or running castor?

Serg
 

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