t1k

Another update on my chain waxing experiment.
The weather improved dramatically going from -30C (-22F) daily high to +7C (44F).
My chain stopped skipping even after dipping in pure paraffin wax (although chain has to be flexed very well before putting the chain on).

Since, my experience showed that the pure paraffin make the chain to stiff to work smoothly when the temperature drops below -10C (14F), I've decided to experiment with thinning paraffin with paraffin oil.
I found paraffin based lamp oil in a store. It had some additives in addition to the paraffin oil (mineral oil and pomegranate scent). I wasn't sure how much oil to add to the wax, and decided to add 1 part of oil to 2 parts of wax.
I've used a pound of the wax and added 200 grams of the paraffin oil. I've read that some people mix the paraffin and the oil one to one, but they must be measuring the proportions based on the volume rather than weight.

Volume wise 200 grams of paraffin oil was the same as one pound of the paraffin wax. It felt like way too much of the oil in the wax solution. The wax was too runny but, on a bright side, had a nice pomegranate smell to it.
I didn't think that that wax mix will work but decided to test it anyways. After waxing the chain turned out just barely stiff. It flexed easily but while flexing I could feel metal rubbing on metal. The wax on the chain had a consistency of a soft cream and was quite oily.

I didn't event put the chain on the bike and tested it. Thinking that I just wasted a pound of paraffin and a couple of hours of time, I've decided to add some bee wax that I had running around. The bee wax sticks to surfaces better than paraffin but it's less slippery.
So I've added 150 grams of bee wax, waxed the chain, didn't even flex it. Put the chain on the bike and went for a test ride. The chain worked very well: the quietest it's ever been, smooth shifting and no skipping. There's still oily feeling to the chain and when a try to bend the chain (mimicking the situation when the chain is running on an angle) when flexing, I can feel slight metal rubbing.

I'm thinking to split the wax mix I've got to two pieces. Save one as a extremely cold weather wax. Add maybe 100 grams of paraffin to the other half and see if the oily feel and rubbing improve.