[TheForge] Carnauba wax (Was: Japan dryer)

[ries]

I am a little confused- Caranauba wax is available in EVERY  
woodworking mail order catalog, at most every woodworking store like  
Wood crafters or Lee Valley, at most decent paint stores, and most  
good hardware stores.
I have never had a problem finding it.
I use it occasionally, in paste form, on wood, or stone. But on metal,  
I  just hate callbacks, and rubbing and buffing wax is just too much  
work for me.

On indoor stuff, I am a fan of clear krylon spray paint. Takes  
seconds, lasts years, gives a slight sheen but is not thick or glossy,  
and easy to reapply.
I never much liked being a chemist, or an alchemist, and mixing used  
motor oil with essence of cancer and a pinch of emphysema over a hot  
fire of plastic milk jugs- I just like to buy a paint or varnish that  
some idiot PHD spent years perfecting in a million dollar lab, and  
then is produced in a state of the art factory- call me old fashioned,  
I guess....

On outdoor projects, I either use stainless, or have pieces hot dipped  
galvanized, or, if the customer insists, powder coated, although I  
tell em how powder coating will fall off after a few years, and cost a  
fortune to fix.
Or, I just let stuff rust.
Got a few signs now in downtown Edison (population 130) that are  
happily rusting away, 3 to 5 years and counting, I figure they will  
outlast me by a good 30 years or so, and, if I am in the ground, I  
aint rising up to do any callbacks...

ries



On Mar 8, 2010, at 10:50 AM, Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer wrote:

Thanks Mike;
A while back i found a supplier of second grade carnauba who was only
willing to sell in 55 gal drums...for a reasonable price,
considering..but then i would find myself in the retail wax
business...not where i wanted to go.

Mike Spencer wrote:
>> Mike..did you apply the carnauba  mixed with other oils or waxes?
>
> Yeah.  Melted it together with a little linseed oil.  Not enough to
> make it soft and pasty but a little less hard.  Almost alway applied
> it with torch heat to flow it into crevices and surface textures.
>
> Off and on, I fooled around with different mixtures including adding
> beeswax and/or turpentine.  I've also use commercial paste wax.  I
> forget the brand and don't know if that particular kind is still
> available.  It claimed to contain carnauba wax.
>
>> Read somewhere that the carnauba was kinda brittle..
>
> Yes, brittle and very hard.  Also, any excess straight carnauba that
> melts and collects in crevices tends to look crusty and white and has
> to be re-melted, tooth-brushed, scraped off or otherwise tediously
> dealt with.
>
>
> FWIW,
> - Mike
>
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Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
http://www.riesniemi.com/