How do you get wax off?

[Bill Wyko]

When I buy blanks from Woodworkers Source, they come in a coat of wax. If I run it through my drum sander it ruins the sanding media. Any suggestions?:confused:

[Glenn Clabo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PycZtfns_U

Sorry Bill...it's been a long week.

[Dick Strauss]

Hire Daniel-son to do it (you know "wax on, wax off"). :D;)

Seriously though, I'd scrape most of it off with a square edge from an old cabinet scraper, hand plane, saw blade back, chisel, etc. You might consider trying to take a light pass on the jointer (though I don't know how well the blanks will slide). I don't think it will bother jointer/planer blades at all. Then try turpentine to dissolve the rest.


Good luck,
Dick

[Bob Vallaster]

Bill,
A card scraper will be sufficent to remove the bulk of it. Use a plane, if necessary, to flatten just one side---the one abutting the faceplate or glueblock.
If the blank is cubic, the waxed flanks will disappear when rounding on the bandsaw. If the blank is round, the waxed portion of the cylinder will fall to the floor with the first shavings taken when truing the blank. Either way, wax on the portion toward the tailstock will fall with the first cuts on that face.
Your tools will probably self-clean, but you might wipe off any wax with a shop rag or handful of clean shavings to be sure.

Bob V.

[Allen Neighbors]

I always just mount the blank and turn it round. Is there a purpose to removing the wax that I'm missing? :)

[John Fricke]

I'm assuming that since he does a lot of segmented work, that he is using them to cut into segments.

[Jim Becker]

Turn it off... Really. But if it's for your segments, you can take off most with mineral spirits and then lightly face joint it using a push block with a "tail" for safety. If they are shorter than a foot, stay away from the planer and shorter than about 4", use a hand plane. All this for safety.

I'd avoid the drum sander largely because you'd just be gunking up the abrasive paper.

[Dennis Peacock]

The lathe is an excellent wax remover.!!! :rolleyes: :D

Sheesh Bill...!!!! Even "I" knew THAT one. :p :)

[Scott Hubl]

That all works fine and dandy for square and round plain blanks, but what do you do with say, Burls that have the lumpy bumpy caps that you want parts of to be incorporated into your turning?:confused: Or Inclusions that are wax covered??
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p59/AmericanAndProud/Burls-Pods.jpg

Sorry to the OP. But I was curious about this too.

Do you dip in hot water before turning?

[Keith Burns]

Hair dryer or heat gun,

[Gary Herrmann]

I'd sharpen up a paint (glue) scraper - maybe use a little mineral spirits to help. I wouldn't use a cabinet scraper or a plane on a wet, waxed blank, but I'm picky about my hand tools.

If it is square enough, you could shave it off with the bandsaw.

[Gary Herrmann]

That all works fine and dandy for square and round plain blanks, but what do you do with say, Burls that have the lumpy bumpy caps that you want parts of to be incorporated into your turning?:confused: Or Inclusions that are wax covered??
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p59/AmericanAndProud/Burls-Pods.jpg

Sorry to the OP. But I was curious about this too.

Do you dip in hot water before turning?

That is some nice looking Amboyna, Scott.

[Scott Hubl]

Thanks, I pick up a piece of Austrailian burl each time I go to a certain Rockler semi by me. Expensive stuff, $15.00 per "unit":rolleyes: whatever a "unit" is.
They have a wooden box crate FULL on the sales floor some are BIG like 30 "units":eek:
Beautiful stuff. I'm too affraid to even try turning it yet though.
Just collecting it now until I'm much more experienced at turning.

Plus- I'm not sure what to do with them either. lol

[Scott Hubl]

Hair dryer or heat gun,
Heat gun huh?
Before turning or after, can you elaborate please?
Thanks.

[Dennis Puskar]

I just turn the wax off.

Dennis

[Mitchell Cholewinski]

bill I never bought wood to turn for anything other than pens but I would turn it offYou shouldn't have any problems when finishing if you turn it off. I don't know about you guys but when I need to sand a vase or bowl and the wood is uneven and punky etc and I have to sand it, I put gobs of wax on the turning and then sand it rough again then turn a little more, then rewax etc. I never had a finishing problem doing this. I am a relatively new turner but an old furniture maker. Mitch

[Pat Keefe]

Thanks, I pick up a piece of Austrailian burl each time I go to a certain Rockler semi by me. Expensive stuff, $15.00 per "unit":rolleyes: whatever a "unit" is.
They have a wooden box crate FULL on the sales floor some are BIG like 30 "units":eek:
Beautiful stuff. I'm too affraid to even try turning it yet though.
Just collecting it now until I'm much more experienced at turning.

Plus- I'm not sure what to do with them either. lol

Scott, when you do get to turn the burl, make sure your HSS tools are sharp, the lathe speed is slow and you have a face shield on. Some burls have a nasty habit of "blowing up" in your face. A most unpleasant experience:eek:

Next time you are at Rockler's, ask if they have any Jarrah Burl.

[Tom Wakeley]

I use my microwave to melt wax from burls like those shown in the picture. With burls like eucalyptus, even with all the small spines, a light cleaning after microwaving cleans them right up. Go easy until you are comfortable using this process because you are heating the wood and the subsequent cooling may cause checks and cracks. I usually start with 10 seconds and watch the progress. Then I wait until the wood has cooled back to room temperature - an hour or so and modify my oven time accordingly. Sometimes I have to heat it 15 seconds or in the case of a large burl maybe up to 30 seconds. Then a clean out with a brass brush and some dental picks under a magnifying glass removes the remaining wax. It is not as bad a process as it sounds.

[Geoff Hanha]

Before i run through my sander, any wood that has wax, i just scrape it of basicley with a cabenet scraper, theres never that much, and also after each run use a belt cleaner to clean out any crap, i clean the belt on any run of wood to keep the belts in good condition. Geoff

[Bill Wyko]

The pieces I'm going to use are burls. I'll try to scrape them first. They need to dry for a litle while longer but I want to be ready when time comes. Thanks everyone.

[Steven Hardy]

Here is a technique that you can try for at least part of the surface. It works great for candle wax spilled on expensive carpet.
Take a hot laundry iorn and some scrap cotten ,such as cheap disposable hand towells from walmarts. Apply the cloth to the wax surface then apply the hot iorn to the cotton towell. Give it about 15-20 seconds to start.When the wax turns liquid wipe it off. Use gloves..it can get pretty hot. I would use acetone,denatured alchohol, or paint brush cleaner to remove the residual.
ps....for stubborn carpet stains wet the cotton towell:D:D It works like a charm!

[Paul Heely]

Assuming you can figure out how to keep the wood from moving around how about power washing it either at home or one of the self serve car washes? I've heard of this method being used to remove bark off of burls.

--
Paul

[Barry Elder]

If I wanted to remove wax other than by turning, I would boil it off, let the water cool, save the wax for future use, let the wood dry, and you're ready to go.

[Dean Matthews]

Another vote here for turning it off... A lot of the stuff I buy is dipped in wax and I have always just turned it off during the roughing phase.

[Dennis Puskar]

The easiest way to remove the wax is to turn it off which is what I do.

Dennis

[Dean Matthews]

I have not turned any burl pieces but from the sounds of it... trying to turn it with wax on could be safer if it explodes like everyone says, no? Perhaps the wax would keep it together better when a piece decides it is going to break free.

[Bruce Pennell]

Hey Scott you could stick them in the oven, on a low heat to melt the wax, not burn the wood. I would use a lot of foil so the wife doesn't get to mad.....gotta keep peace in the family.....(Scott I wouldn't, but you could....) Bruce:rolleyes: