DIY Beeswax finish?

[Rob Price]

I've recently fallen into the vortex. I set my lathe up last week and I've made a few piles of shavings practicing (I'm working through the old Rowley book). I also bought one of the Raffan DVDs and I've been reading all sorts of stuff online.

One thing that kept turning up (get it? ;)) was beeswax as a finish. I happen to have a buddy who farms bees. He has a hive that moved out on him, and he has all the wax from the hive that he's offered me.

My question is, do I need to refine it in any way? do I need to mix anything with it? how do you guys use beeswax? Raffan seems to like rubbing the piece first with oil, and then putting on a coat of wax and buffing. I think for my first project, I'm going to make some new handles for my tools. Some of the benjamin's best tools I bought just seem to have really tiny handles for my big bear paws, and so I figure that would be a good first exercise- I'm sure I'll be posting questions on that when I get up to it. It seems like an oil/wax finish would be a good soft grippable finish, or would the wax be too slippery? I've never used beeswax before.

Thanks!

[J.D.Redwine]

I mixed mine with a little mineral spirits. It dissolves easily and stores well. I apply the wax by putting it in the toe of a sock.

[Prashun Patel]

For your 'unrefined' wax, you might try gently heating it until it's a liquid, and then straining out any visible impurities. Besides that, if it looks like wax and feels like wax, it should work like wax.

Wax is completely compatible with mineral spirits so that is a good diluent for it.

Everyone has their own opinion about what makes a good tool handle finish. Oil and wax is fine. Oil alone is also fine. One tip that I got was don't sand past 150 and don't put more than a couple coats of finish on. This is supposed to keep the handle grippable. However, I have a gouge handle that's polished pretty smooth and I've never felt the grip compromised.

[David E Keller]

I agree with the suggestion to filter it after melting. I use mine like Raffan by running a chink against the spinning wood and then melting it in to the surface with a paper towel. I usually apply walnut oil or BLO before the wax.

[Allan Ferguson]

I mix food grade mineral oil and bees wax that I mix, makes a nice soft past wax to apply with a cloth and melt into the turning while on the lath. Intend to add some carnuba to the nest batch.

[Rob Price]

Cool. Thanks.

[Larry Marley]

HI Allan,
do you just mix shaving so f bees wax with the mineral oil? or doyou need to heat the mineral oil to get them blended?

[Bill White]

You lucky dog!
If ya have any extra, send it to me.
Yep! Disolve in MS, strain, use.
Bill

[Prashun Patel]

You will likely have to heat the wax to get it to dissolve in the mineral SPIRITS (not OIL). Mineral oil is a bad (IMHO) choice for a diluent for wax, because it won't evaporate. That can affect the ability of the wax to dry and buff out.

[Patrick Kelly]

I am new to wood turning, but beeswax is one of my favorite finishes for furniture that has low likelihood of getting wet. What I learned was to take shavings of beeswax and soak in a jar with turpentine. It surprised me that it takes more turpentine than I thought. I would start by adding enough turpentine to cover the shaved wax. Cover and give it a couple days to dissolve the wax and stir. The amount turpentine controls the consistency. Too stiff, add more. Too runny, leave the jar open for a day.

The article I originally read (I believe in American Woodworker) suggested putting on a coat of highly cut mixture of shellac and lightly sand before applying wax. After sanding, you cannot even tell shellac was applied. The purpose is to seal the wood so you don't use as much wax. I have applied the wax without the shellac and had no problems.

I just did a quick search and here is a link to the article I learned from. http://books.google.com/books?id=nPYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=shellac+and+beeswax+finish&source=bl&ots=hSycBysfV9&sig=4rj6A-XCGNpRnUL04edi1NnXpCc&hl=en&ei=HQ7FToyvGMyqsAL5yIGSCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13&ved=0CHUQ6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=shellac and beeswax finish&f=false (http://books.google.com/books?id=nPYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=shellac+and+beeswax+finish&source=bl&ots=hSycBysfV9&sig=4rj6A-XCGNpRnUL04edi1NnXpCc&hl=en&ei=HQ7FToyvGMyqsAL5yIGSCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13&ved=0CHUQ6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=shellac%20and%20beeswax%20finish&f=false)

[Larry Marley]

You will likely have to heat the wax to get it to dissolve in the mineral SPIRITS (not OIL). Mineral oil is a bad (IMHO) choice for a diluent for wax, because it won't evaporate. That can affect the ability of the wax to dry and buff out.The reason I asked about mineral oil is for use as a food safe finish. Nick Cook recommends mineral oil, then apply bees wax by friction.

[Rob Price]

I've read where other people blend melted beeswax with mineral oil to soften it up a bit and use it like that as a finish. More oil=softer wax. I like the idea since both could be food safe, but I wonder how durable to washing...