Softening beeswax

[Tiger]

Have some beeswax which has become rock hard and difficult to use on the lathe. What is the best way to soften it a little so that it can be used again?

[rsser]

Have you tried just rubbing it on the spinning piece and then melting it in situ by rubbing hard with some flannelette?

[NCPaladin]

What I do with mine is...
Place a jar with the bees wax in it in a pot of boiling (simmering) water. The bees wax melts just below the water boiling point. When liquid mix with gum turpentine. I mix about 1 part wax to two parts turpentine and come out with a paste. You can start with a lower percentage mixture (1 to 1) and remelt if you don't like it when it sets up. Other people also use mineral spirits instead of turpentine.
Mike

[issatree]

Hi Tiger,
If you think it is Rock hard, it maybe Canauba Wax. Just a thought ??.
So if it is Beeswax, place in a jar as suggested or the House Keeper may give you a glass dish, & pop it in the Microwave.
You will have to take a punt on the time. By putting the PURE TURPS into the HOT WAX it will more than likely cool off a bit.
Make some split tubes & pour the molten Wax into each tube, rapped with light wire, just to hold them together. As it was stated use GUM TURPS, which is probably PURE TURPS. So you will have a couple of sticks of wax that you may use.
Hope this may help a little.
REGARDS,
ISSATREE.

[oldiephred]

Rssr's idea should work but I have never see real hard bees wax. I rub it in the spinning work then blend it in using brown paper (grocery bags or similar) . After using the same paper for awhile you won't need to add any more wax for a couple of jobs because it melts into the paper.

[rsser]

Yeah, Neil has posted recently that he'd make Trad wax harder but the punters don't like it.

Hard rubbing and buffing is what you do with Ubeaut Shithot Waxstik which is great for open grain timbers. It's very hard.

[gtwilkins]

Would putting a little carnuba wax in with the beeswax/turps mix do anything to make the "finish" a little harder? I like the luster and feel of the beeswax/turps but it marks up with finger marks so easily and then looks pretty rough at shows when people are picking things up and playing.

I found some wax in a shut down shoe repair shop that was melted and used in a hotpot in one of the stitching machines to coat the thread and I have found it works really well on the outside of fresh turned bowls to stop the checking but it too is like rock and hard to get spread out. Anyone ever heard of that kind of wax before?

Trevor

[hughie]

I found some wax in a shut down shoe repair shop that was melted and used in a hotpot in one of the stitching machines to coat the thread and I have found it works really well on the outside of fresh turned bowls to stop the checking but it too is like rock and hard to get spread out. Anyone ever heard of that kind of wax before?



Trevor,
Dunno, but you can check here.

http://www.ssia.info/industry/articles/exhibitors.asp
http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=6172

[Tiger]

Thanks guys for the responses. It is definitely beeswax and not carnauba wax. When I got it, it was more malleable and a quick rub and it work quickly infiltrate the work, now you need to hold quite hard, which I don't like to do when applying to work like spinning tops which have thin shanks.

[gtwilkins]

Thanks Hughie, never even thought about looking for a shoe repair forum on the net. I suppose it should no longer surprise me that you can just about find something about anything somewhere now.

Trevor