Making some wood polish potions with the kids

[Farmer Giles]

I have bought a couple of small simple bain-maries and I'm going to make various wax concoctions, some the kids will help me with. They are going through their Harry Potter fascination period so this way they can help me make something useful

Yes I am aware that some of the products have relatively low combustion temperatures, hence using hot water and I will be in attendance.

I'm not going to make any potions with toxic contents with the kids, so it will be beeswax, carnauba wax and liquid paraffin in various proportions. I have some small 3oz pots to put the potions in. Most will be anti-dust wax for bowl sanding so probably 80% paraffin and 20% beeswax but the idea is to experiment like a Hogwarts potion class I have some essential oils to spice it up a bit, Orange, Lemon, Pine needles, Vanilla and Cherry.

I've read through various threads on here and on other sites and I have yet to come across a recipe that actually states the quantities with any degree of accuracy so we will be weighing out the contents on some small accurate scales so we can get repeat ability once e find the right consistency

Cheers
Andy

 

[marcros]

If it isn't quite right, you can always remelt and add in a bit more of one of the waxes.

 

[ED65]

I've read through various threads on here and on other sites and I have yet to come across a recipe that actually states the quantities with any degree of accuracy...

Confused by this, you can fairly trip over recipes online once you start hunting for them There are many published formulas for polishes and other related concoctions, some going way back to early finishing manuals and books. Perhaps the problem you might be facing is that liquid paraffin isn't usually one of the ingredients? If you ignore that (or search with linseed oil as a substitute) you're sure to find more.

A good handful of formulas in these threads:
soft-beeswax-polish-recipe-t109073.html
how-to-make-polish-from-beeswax-t92313.html

Just to mention, you may have difficulty in overcoating anything like this with something more substantial because of the non-drying oil.

Oil+wax finishes aren't great at the best of times and that's with a drying oil component. Wax-based finishes work much better if made up using an evaporative liquid (solvent) so that the liquid disappears after application, leaving just the wax(es) on the surface.

 

[Farmer Giles]

I must have missed this one - doh!

I'm a brewer and all the ingredients are measured down to a few grammes so I'm used to having full measurements. Some wax recipes swing from weights to volumes, then handfuls interchangeably but I'm going to weigh everything so once I get the right constituency, I shoudl be able to knock up some more quickly.

The kids are off to their grandmas now so it will probably be later today or tomorrow evening.

I will be making some with a turpentine base but not with the kids, they don't dissolve easily

 

[Phil Pascoe]

... I've read through various threads on here and on other sites and I have yet to come across a recipe that actually states the quantities with any degree of accuracy ...
Cheers
Andy

That's because there doesn't need to be much.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Geoff asked me about the suff I made, this is what I use:

For the beeswax / linseed oil style it's basically a 1/3 mix of melted beeswax, boiled linseed oil and turpentine - it needs to be turpentine, not some substitute stuff though (not white spirit). I generally just measure out the turpentine and BLO then separately melt the wax in a glass bowl over a pan of water. I'd never mix the BLO and turpentine with the hard wax and try to melt it - that's a little more than dangerous.

Once the wax is melted I add the turpentine and BLO to the jar and then pour the wax in whilst giving it a stir. It goes lumpy fairly quickly - just leave it for 12 hours or so and it's done

If you don't like the 1/3 mix then you can use a larger proportion of wax to make your finish harder, less to make it softer.

In use you put the wax on and then you've got around 10-12 minutes before you need to have buffed otherwise it'll be hard and a right pain to buff. More wax also means shorter time to buff.

I also do a 50/50 of turpentine and beeswax (ie without the BLO) which I prefer but it doesn't have the same look, the BLO does seem to liven up the wood if it's faded or been neglected (like our coffee table) .

If you're feeling exceptionally lazy you can put turpentine, BLO and wax in a big jar and just wait (days, not hours) and you'll eventually end up with a mix.

 

[Farmer Giles]

Thanks for this

I have lots of ingredients now to play with, not all when the kids are about.

I have BLO, unboiled linseed, proper turpentine, liquid paraffin from the agricultural shop, tung oil, danish oil and possibly some others lurking in old tins.

In terms of wax I have unrefined bees wax, carnauba wax flakes and some microcrystaline wax pellets.

Probably far more than I need but I have plans to use most of it.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Incidentally, leaving it in a jar won't work for carnauba (and probably not m/c.)

 

[ED65]

You can absolutely use white spirit for this kind of thing if you want. White spirit and turpentine are readily interchangeable for most jobs.

Almost all commercial wax polishes (and varnishes for that matter) that were once made using turps are now made using some type of white spirit which clearly demonstrates this.

What you do gain using turps is a far nicer smell, assuming you like the smell of turps which not all do. But other than that there's no practical reason to prefer it (the wood can't tell etc.) and of course it tends to cost quite a bit more than white spirit.

 

[thetyreman]

I've used the pure turpentine + pure beeswax 50/50 and that's my favourite wax, so simple to make and it smells great as well, I've tried commercial waxes and they don't compare to making your own.

 

[Farmer Giles]

We eventually got around to it today, the kids loved it

And the fruits of their labour, scented with lemon, orange or pine needle oils.

Notionally with different ratios of liquid paraffin and beeswax but not enough to make much difference as I just want this for when sanding on the lathe to suppress the dust.

I'll make some polish of other uses when the kids aren't about with the less friendly/higher melting point stuff.