Graphite Resist in Soldering...

[Ray Dunakin]

I love Neolube, great stuff with many uses, including simulating a metal finish.

[narrowgauger]

Hi Paul

an even simpler way of achieving both the resist and the metalic finish is with the use of a FaberCastell 7B lead pencil.

I have found this much cleaner, particularly at solder joints, compared with the liquid.  the graphit pencil line is not dissolved by flux or torch heat and is removed either by a clean-up brush, MEK or bead blasting in the normal post soldering process.

when used to form a "metalic" appearance on a completed model the pencil is easy to control and is "polished" with a finger tip, cotton bud or a wood burnishing stick.  The application is also great of the lead is laid down on a piece of rough paper, rub index finger over the lead on the paper and hence on the model.  this provides a very soft edge without the problem of the hard edge when using the liquid form.

have fun & stay cool

Bernard 

[NGPhil]

As an aside I love the advertising photo on the Micromark site, showing drivers painted with NeoLube. They say it's "ideal for blackening locomotive wheels." Idiots, you do that, instant short circuit... obviously something they didn't bother to check.

Marty: yes, those butane pencil torches are great, love mine too.

Paul

I realize this is an old old post, but when you google painting locomotive drivers with neolube this post comes up as one of the first results.  I thought it would be useful to chime in here.  I've been painting brass locomotive drivers for years with neolube.  Here's a simple test to prove a point.  Take a piece of styrene and dunk it in neolube.  That will create a nice thick coat of the stuff.  Let it dry.  Now test the conductance of the styrene strip.  It doesn't conduct or short.  While neolube allows electricity to pass through it, it doesn't make a "bridge".  I.e. no short.  I've actually never encountered a short from painting drivers with neolube.  No affiliation with PBL or Micromark.  In fact I have a distaste for Micromark's history of ripping off products.  I would say not to paint the tire surface with neolube.  Even though it has "some" conductive properties, it's not very good at conducting.

Hope someone searching Google for this finds this useful.

[W.P. Rayner]

NGPhil: Yes, this is an old thread, but thanks for your post. There is more than one formulation for Neolube: Neolube 1 and Neolube 2 being the most common. Both are marketed by the manufacturer as conductive dry-film graphite lubricants, though it appears that Neolube 2 is less conductive than Neolube 1. Even so, one of its recommended uses is for coating switch contacts to prevent spalling and pitting, obviously a conductive application. My recommendation to anyone who wants to use it for finishing model railroad drivers or wheelsets, is to test their Neolube on a wheelset first to be certain you haven't created a short circuit especially if you're not sure of the formulation you are using. Speaking from experience, Neolube 1 will definitely short-out the wheelset. It's possible that resellers, such as PBL and Micro Mark are using an altered formulation with less conductive properties. In the end, if it works for you, then go for it.

One other point; please sign your posts. It's a long-standing policy here and we all like to know who we're talking to.

Paul

[NGPhil]

Paul, Good point on the different formulations.  I just verified that I've been using No.2.  Yes, by all means test prior to sloshing it on!  What I've found is that it (No.2 anyway) works reasonably well at allowing electricity to pass through 2 metal contact points, but the particles seem to be too loose to act as a path for electricity to flow through.