Using beeswax mixture to cut down on dust

[Hilel Salomon]

In one of Eli Avisera's wonderful series of dvds he uses a mixture of beeswax and either mineral oil or spirits and uses it as a kind of sanding sealer. Have any of you tried this? I'm wondering how exactly to melt the beeswax as I've been told that it is highly flammable.
Thanks, Hilel

[Mike Vickery]

Kind of
My food safe finsih of choice is Tried and True Original formula which is a mixture of BLO and bees wax.

When I am going to finish a piece with this I will often will use the same formula to wet sand and it works very well.

On my other finishes I would worry that the wax would have bad effects.

It may seem expensive but a little goes a really long way with the tried and true I have had the same can for over a year.

[Andrew Derhammer]

http://www.georgegeissler.com/products.php
Our now former club president. This may be the product that Eli used.

[Justin Leiwig]

http://www.bayouwoodturners.com/january08/SandingWax.pdf

Direct from the source supposedly.

[Dick Strauss]

Hilel,
I don't know about EA's process but I have dissolved beeswax in mineral spirits. There is no need to melt the wax. If you cut the wax into shavings first, it makes it dissolve much more quickly. I think it took several days to a week for my mix to finally dissolve after breaking up the wax.

You can also melt plain wax into the wood via friction.

I hope something here helps...

[Christopher Fletcher]

No need to spend the extra $ on beeswax. I use mineral spirits with paraffin (much cheaper at Michael's or other art store). I bought a cheap paint can at the borg, put in the chunks of wax, and place the can in a pan of hot water. As the wax starts to melt add the mineral spirits until thinned to your likening. That's about it!

[Nathan Hawkes]

Does the oil discolor the turnings? Just wondering how far it penetrates. In my mind it seems pretty difficult to get a uniform light coat on a piece, but this sounds interesting enough to make me want to try it in my shop (read: shed), with only a little dust collector, which draws a lot of electricity when you're sanding for an hour or two on a big piece.

[Hilel Salomon]

Thanks All,

I bought a stainless steel mixing bowl and a couple of bottles of mineral oil-boy the lady at the counter figured I had a major problem- and I'm going to try the double boiler method. I can get beeswax pretty cheaply and sometimes for free so it doesn't sound too expensive. I also have paraffin wax. Does that achieve the same results?
Hope you are all enjoying the Fall.
Regards, Hilel.