Anchorseal Alternative..Beeswax etc formula

Mike Turner

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Laurinburg NC
I dont turn a lot of green wood right now (so I dont need a large amount of anchor seal) but I do have 4 flute blanks coming that are green.They will have been treated with a mix of beeswax or hard parrafin candle wax and mineral oil of which equal parts were melted together and applied when hot and allowed to cool by the guy who I bought them from.I got some from him a while back and they worked out great....In my previous order I bored them out 3/4" on some and 7/8" on others in preparation to become a flute.Then I coated them with anchorseal and allowed them to dry..

I dont have any anchorseal and would rather try this formula or a variation of it.Anyone did anything similar? Where would be the best place to buy beeswax or paraffin? I would think in this use it wouldnt need to be the highest refined quality just clean .... Any ideas on this? I just wouldnt need a lot of anchorseal as I dont plan on ordering any more blanks or turning any green bowls any time soon. Thanks !
 
Paraffin should be easy to find. Most grocery and hardware stores carry it in one pound blocks. Look where the canning supplies are. A local bee keeper should be able to supply the beeswax.
 
What you describe will work fine. Beeswax is available but you have to track down beekeepers in your area. Latex paint works also. My first 5 gal. purchase of Anchorseal I broke down into gallon cans and sold four of them to friends just enough over my cost to come out with my gallon at no cost to me. The stuff keeps well, if you think you will have long term need do buy a 5 gal. bucket. They ship those free.
 
I've had mixed luck with latex, if you can get it on thick enough it seems to work ok (3-4 coats) but for high value wood like this I'd vote to skip that.

I think paraffin would be better than beeswax.. Beeswax is actually pretty hard (harder than paraffin) and thus a smidge more brittle so it would imho be less likely to put on a solid moisture seal without cracking. Its also cheaper on average :)
 
The beeswax damar varnish is simular to paraffin. What I like about this is you can make it as thick as you'd like or thin it down. You can also heat it up to saturate the wood better and after a few coats you can buff it out a real nice luster.
 
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