Carnuba Wax

[Jerry Thompson]

If I were to buy carnuba wax flakes/pellets what would be the best solvent? I have a clock made from cherry that I used "Odie's Oil" on. I love the finish but it is absolutly flat. Some may like it and some may want a little glow to it.
I have used Black Bison, Maylands, Minwax and Zymol car wax. One would be hard put to tell the waxed piece from the unwaxed one.
I have used many coats on a piece and a good buffer turned up from 1000 rpm to 3000 rpm. No shine.
Thank you.

[Andrew Arndts]

Warm it up in a double boiler, and start drizzling in mineral oil, look in the laxative section in your local pharmacy and stir until you get to the consistency you wish.
Mineral Spirits will remove most waxes. Stay away from car wax it has silicone which will make any finish not adhere. However I have never tried putting Shellac over it and basically starting over.

[sheldon pettit]

Yuo could just save yourself the trouble and buy behlens blue label pastewax, a mix of turpentine and pure carnuba

[Randy Goodhew]

IMNSHO, Carnauba [spelling] wax is a better ingredient than a product. There isn't much to be gained by using pure Carnauba Wax
My opinion is based upon my woodworking experience and the product formulations product research we did in our laboratory.
It's hard to beat a standard like SC Johnson Paste Wax (a blend of Carnauba Wax, Microcrystalline Wax, Paraffin and Deodorized Naphtha).

Note: Successive coats of paste wax may not build up, since each new coat tends to clean away the previous coat - after a few coats.

Hope this helps.

[sheldon pettit]

That depends, if your talking solvent wax mixtures it is true that the build of multiple coats is nil, but still there. You should not build up wax in thick coats anyway, so that's a good thing. Still if your "looking" for the hardest wax to use, there is no other choice but Carnauba, even candelilla is softer, though close. Johnson's contains silicone, i prefer not to use it on any wood that I'm finishing. If i was to use a wax blend i would opt for George Franks wax emulsion, water, triethanolimine, carnauba and candelilla and stearic acid. But here again this gives a dry shine, for glossy work, nothing compares to carnauba. This must be used by itself, hard wax, preferably unrefined.

[Jerry Thompson]

Than all of you for the help. I ordered some carnuba and will mess around with it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Johnson's contains silicone, i prefer not to use it on any wood that I'm finishing
Whoa.....
SC Johnson paste wax is the defacto standard for cast iron protection on tabe saws, jointers, heck, anything in the shop that's cast iron.

I've always been lead to believe it had no silicone.

[sheldon pettit]

You may be very correct Rich, i have put the question to them as of right now, should have an answer back in a day according to their site. i know pledge does i'm pretty sure there other liquid wax does, but not sure of the paste wax. I will readily apologize once known for sure if i'm wrong :)

[Matt Meiser]

You don't even have to ask:

http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/en-us/products-by-brand/sc-johnson/sc-johnson-paste-wax.aspx

and yes, Pledge has silicone

http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/en-us/products-by-brand/pledge/pledge-lemon-clean.aspx

[Randy Goodhew]

Yuo could just save yourself the trouble and buy behlens blue label pastewax, a mix of turpentine and pure carnuba[sic]

The maker says it contains a blend of waxes, including carnauba.

[Randy Goodhew]

That depends, if your talking solvent wax mixtures it is true that the build of multiple coats is nil, but still there. You should not build up wax in thick coats anyway, so that's a good thing. Still if your "looking" for the hardest wax to use, there is no other choice but Carnauba, even candelilla is softer, though close. Johnson's contains silicone, i prefer not to use it on any wood that I'm finishing. If i was to use a wax blend i would opt for George Franks wax emulsion, water, triethanolimine, carnauba and candelilla and stearic acid. But here again this gives a dry shine, for glossy work, nothing compares to carnauba. This must be used by itself, hard wax, preferably unrefined.

SC Johnson Paste Wax does not contain silicone. I already knew this because I have actually used the product AND I spoke with the folks in their laboratory.

Yes, I knew George Frank[spelling]. Besides, it's pączki season - his favorite pastry.
His water emulsion wax is okay but not magic. His carnauba and candelilla wax mixture is also useful.
I use his colored filled finishing technique, but I prefer the SC Johnson Paste Wax because it's a horse, not a unicorn.

[Rich Engelhardt]

i have put the question to them as of right now, should have an answer back in a day according to their site.That'd be good to know.
I don't believe the paste wax ever did contain silicone, but, with all the changes going on with anything using petroleum products these days.....you almost don't know for sure from week to week.

I'm finding it's nearly impossible to find a local source for a decent finishing schedule.

Local retailers either drop or discontinue products as fast as I find ones that work well.

[sheldon pettit]

Thats exactly the question i have put to them Rich, so far as noted at present no silicone is listed, my question then was, "has it ever contained silicone at any time?"When i first got into this trade i was told by my father that all johnson products contained silicone, and not to use them, but that was in 1965. Again i apologize for the mis-information on present product, and am eager to find out for my own curiosity if what i was told back then was true.

[sheldon pettit]

Update: talked with customer service just a few minutes ago, the response was that the only change to the wax has been the removal of a dye back in 1999, it has never contained any silicone, so i am dead wrong, however all the pledge products and the Favor do contain silicones, the favor is a dimethicone though and is really not the culprit responsible for fish-eyes. If my father was alive, i think he would be just as surprised as I, lol, but at least i now know the truth. thanks to all for bringing this to my attention, i hate giving out false info.

[Mel Fulks]

Sheldon,don't worry about it! Alcohol salting worked out well.You have taught me some chemistry.Thats not easy.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Sheldon - thanks!
That's good to know for sure.
No doubt a lot of people in the general forum that have all their cast iron tops coated with Johnson's will breathe easier.

[Jerry Thompson]

I finally got the Carnuba wax flakes. Using the SWAG method I melted some in a double boiler and added mineral oil until my great mind told me it was enough. I let it stay in the heat for another min. or so and took it out and let it cool.
That stuff is harder than woodpecker lips.
I scraped some out with my fingernails and rubbed some with pressure with my fingers into my test piece. Then I buffed it with a hard felt block covered with a cotton t-shirt. There was the "glow" I have wanted. None of the other waxes never even gave even a hint of it's presence.
It may be more work than other waxes but so far I am happy.
Thank you everyone for your help.