PDA

View Full Version : Removal of paraffin to apply hotmelt glue?



Skew ChiDAMN!!
5th April 2006, 10:41 PM
I was given a couple of bowl-blanks tonight, some of the last of Gustec's stock before the doors closed.

One piece should [fingers Xed] make a lovely bowl, but will need a sacrificial block for mounting. As I normally process my own blanks I'm not really familiar with Gustec's stuff; I assume it has been paraffin dipped (well... that's what it looks like to me) and I'm guessing that scraping the excess off the base and a quick heat with a torch to remove any remaining wax is all I need do before applying hot-melt glue?

Or am I being naive here?

ubeaut
5th April 2006, 10:49 PM
Why do you need a sacrifice block on base? Wouldn't it be easier to put it on a screw chuck and turn the base off first. If you must fit a sacrifice block you will need to get it onto a flat surface that is free of paraffin, probably plane it. Heating with a torch won't do it.

Skew ChiDAMN!!
6th April 2006, 12:47 AM
There's a loose(ish) knot smack bang in the middle of the top face, probably why the blank didn't sell. I see no problems turning it out (famous last words?) but I wouldn't trust a screw-mount through it. I may try a forstner bit and pin-jaws though, or more likely fix a faceplate to the top if I can avoid the future rim and turn a mortise in the base that way.

Thanks for the info... I didn't really want to find out by experimenting with UFOs. ;)

Jim Carroll
6th April 2006, 10:02 AM
You may find that if the blank has been waxed on all sides that it may well be green.
I dont know why they insist on doing it this way as you only need to seal the end grain.

This is a common practice with timber from Tassy.

ticklingmedusa
6th April 2006, 01:49 PM
I use faceplates a lot. I have a nice Talon scroll chuck,
but I learned faceplate turning when i was a wee bodger and dinosaurs still ruled the earth. I feel more at ease using that method.
You can teach an old dog new tricks but I'm a slow learner.
Seems like with a wasteblock you can get a deeper vessel
because theres not a foot or tenon at the base.
A lot of my bowl blanks are dipped in wax.
Some completely and some only the end grain.
I wonder if the totally dipped ones are woods that
are more prone to movement?
Skew, at first I tried scraping them with a razor scraper...
much too time consuming. I tried wirebrushing by hand and it works. Now I use a round wire brush chucked in the drill press.
Im sure you could use a handheld drill motor or for that matter a wire brush snugged into a jacobs chuck on the headstock. It takes the wax off rapidly and roughs up the wood a little making for a better glue bond.