Paste Wax

Paul Douglass

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S E Washington State
I saw this video on paste was this morning. I have only use wax a couple times as a finish, When I was turning.. I love to buff some items with carnauba wax. Loved the nice deep rich shine. I do wax my machine table tops i us the standard Johnson's wax had the can for maybe 20 years now. I watched this and kind of intrigued. May have to try making some.. Just another something to piddle around with. But good video someone might enjoy

 
Interesting. I noticed on another forum that the old classic Johnsons paste wax has been discontinued. I guess my two cans will have to do me. I use Renaissance Wax for the turned items that get wax. Waxes that are heavy on carnuba seem to show water spots that need to be buffed out. Just something to consider when making your own mix.
 
Just stay away from the Automotive waxes, or any containing silicone. If silicone gets into your shop, you will begin to discover fisheyes when trying to apply finishes to your projects. You can't see it when it gets on your wood, and it is nearly impossible to remove once there, but it will show up when you apply a finish, because nothing will stick or soak into the spots with the silicone on/in it. Aerosol sprays containing silicone do the most damage, but touch transfers can spread it too. I ended up trashing several projects and some really nice exotic wood because of this.

Anything containing silicone has been banned from my shop for over 50 years now, following that really bad experience with it. ALWAYS READ THE LABEL, when about to bring any new product into your shop to be certain that it does not contain silicone as an ingredient. My car waxes, automotive and household lubricants, etc. are stored in my garage, which is over 200' from my wood shop, and none of it is ever used in or anywhere near my shop.

Charley
 
Sam Maloof had two finishes one was a combination of Tung oil, BLO and wipe on poly (1/3,1/3,1/3) this he used on table tops and things subject to heavy use and the other was Tung oil, BLO and bees wax in the same ratio. This he used on his rockers and other pieces.
 
I use Renaissance Wax for the turned items that get wax.
I've mostly switched from renwax (although the tiny little can I bought years ago is only maybe half gone) to Butchers Bowling Alley which I got after the last of the Johnson's ran low.. It's a very similar formula and has a similar effect. This is partially because I use the Butchers for a lot of tools and can't find the dang renwax can... but also once I tried it don't try as hard either :)

A couple more museum / gallery oriented folks I know swear by trewax, which has a slightly different carrier and won't strip/change bronze patina apparently (renwax can in some cases).

I have wondered about the base formulation of microcrystalline in the commercial waxes, I'm not entirely convinced about workshop companions use of the softer stuff. I tried some of the softer (modeling wax) stuff and it seemed a lot tackier even when buffed out that the commercial stuff so I'm guessing they're using a much harder variety (there are, it turns out, dozens of formulations of "microcrystalline wax" hah).

I've never really understood mixing BLO with wax... Wax on top of BLO sure, but mixing them seems somewhat contrary to how the chemical reactions work with BLO (you'd be slowing down the BLO polymerization which.. IDK... seems counter productive). I mean sure it works, but...
 
I like Butchers Wax, use it a lot.

I also made LinWax which is a mix of BLO and Beeswax
I also made another mix of Turpentine, BLO and beeswax.

They work well in some of the 3D carved stuff I do.

I am also making some Letter Banks which I will finish with Mineral Oil and beeswax - food safe.
 
I've never really understood mixing BLO with wax... Wax on top of BLO sure, but mixing them seems somewhat contrary to how the chemical reactions work with BLO (you'd be slowing down the BLO polymerization which.. IDK... seems counter productive). I mean sure it works, but...
I don't think Sam cared about the chemistry he just knew what he liked and judging by his success he had something going for him.
 
When I made pens I always coated and polished the pen with Renwax... I felt it helped keep the metal from turning do to finger prints and stuff. well it helped for a while anyway. That stuff is real expensive, but it goes a long ways.
 
I have used TOP OF THE LINE - TRADE SECRET caranuba automotive wax when I was making pens. OK, stuff. But, not worth the $50.00 price for an 8 oz. can. Have used very little of it, don't know if it is still good or not. I'll probably let my chauffer polish my Rolls-Royce with what's left. :rofl:
 
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