Mind your own beeswax

[Imperial]

Just bought these today and wondered if anyone has good recipes for them. The size of each bar is 75mm x 10mm x 20mm. so not huge!

 

[mr]

I used to use it for waxing bow strings other than that I have no experience of it. Adam's your man...

Cheers Mike

 

[frugal]

Waxing bow strings, waxing linen thread for leatherwork, waxing the end of awls for leatherwork.

I have no idea what you would need to do to it in order to be able to polish wood with it.

 

[mr]

Waxing bow strings, waxing linen thread for leatherwork, waxing the end of awls for leatherwork.

I have no idea what you would need to do to it in order to be able to polish wood with it.

I imagine you would make it into a paste by melting it or some such.

Cheers Mike.

 

[frugal]

Waxing bow strings, waxing linen thread for leatherwork, waxing the end of awls for leatherwork.

I have no idea what you would need to do to it in order to be able to polish wood with it.

I imagine you would make it into a paste by melting it or some such.

Cheers Mike.

Surely if you just melt it, it will then cool and harden back into a block. In order to use it as a paste for polishing I think you would need to cut it with something. Meths or parrafin maybe? I don't know if that would work, or just make it really flamable...

 

[mr]

You have a point there, though what you might use I haven't a clue. As I say Adam is the resident bee man he'll know when he wanders along.

Ahh there you go https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22598&highlight=beeswax

Turpentine or white spirit, linseed oil, I suspect you could just warm it up slightly to make it useable as a paste wax without mixing anything with it as long as you don't heat it too far

Cheers Mike

 

[bob_c]

You melt it in a pan and add turpentine(real not whitespirit) slowly ,when the wax has cooled a little.You can add other things as well depending on what properties you want .Its rather soft and best to add some Canauba wax to the melt as well to increase the hardness of the polish.
The slower way is to shred the beewax with a course cheese grater into a large glass jar.Add some turpentine and leave in a warm place with the lid on,until the wax has dissolved.The slow way is safer if youve never done anything like this before and the pan method is best done outdoors.
You can add pigments if you want a coloured wax.Light fast pigments like the iron oxides work best

 

[salvage]

I'll try to find the correct quantities for my recipe later

ingredients are

Beeswax

Carnuba

Paraffin wax

Turpentine

The solids are heated in a water bath (like bain marie ) and blended

the turps is added away from the heat and allowed to cool

you may need to experiment with the quantities a little to get the consistency you require but the results are far superior to commercial
stuff -

salvage

 

[NeilO]

check out this recipe...
http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=16827

dont know how good it is, but its a start...

HTH

 

[Imperial]

Thanks for the replies, been given this one.

Beeswax 225g
Turps 600ml
Water,Distilled, 600ml
Soap, Pure non smelling Grated or Flakes, 50g
and Essential Oil of your choice, eg Lemon or Lavender, 10 Drops.

Say's to melt the Beeswax in a Bain Marie inside a jar or pot. add the Turps when the wax is melted. Melt the soap in the water which you have boiled and when cool trickle into the wax mixture stirring all the time. Add the essence if you wish at this point.

It should be a soft cream rather than a hard paste, keep in sealed jars.

 

[earwigjuice]

I have used it before simply by melting it as suggested in one of the posts in a jar set over a tea light (not to close or it turns black)

The results was the melted solution did soak into the wood however the exterior ended up with a fairly thick layer of wax on it. I got a lighter and melted it again wiping away the excess. The finish looked really good however it had a (suprisingly ) waxy feel to it, Ie slightly sticky. I then got a duster and polished it so fast that it created more heat and left a really nice smooth and shiny finish. Not sure if it was worth all the effort but it was nice to use a natural material

 

[Adam]

Just watch out, beeswax should not be heated directly, but via a "water jacket" ("a bain marie").

I think its all be covered really. Retail price for blocks that size is typically £1.

Adam