Carnauba Wax mix ratio?

[Patrice Lemée]

I bought some carnauba wax but they only had it in flakes. I bought some turpentine (well some kind of orderless substitute). Now what am I looking for. Thick paste I imagine?

Thanks

Pad

 

[Steve Hayden]

I use the flake Carnuba wax. I just melt it into cakes and use the buffing wheel to burn it in as a final finish after oiling the wood with teak oil.

Carnuba is the hardest wax and makes a great finish. A pound of the flakes will last a very long time working on knife handles.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Thanks Steve. Do you use a double boiler to melt it? Don't want to blow anything up.

Pad

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Well I went ahead and melted the wax in a steel pot with a heat gun. It's not like I did never blew up anything else or still have much hair to burn.

I used the resulting "cake" to load up the buffer and apply the wax to the handle. One word:

DANG!

What a result! Deep bright luster. Very cool indeed.

Thanks

Pad

 

[Steve Hayden]

Thanks Steve. Do you use a double boiler to melt it? Don't want to blow anything up.

Pad

Sorry I didn't answer earlier, I have been tied up for the last few days.

I do use a double boiler, so to speak, I put the flakes in a tupperware and float that on some water in a pan then boil the water until the wax liquifies. With the plastic tupperware, I can just pop out the block after it solidifies.

Since I discovered this stuff a few years ago, I haven't bought any other kind of wax finish. I like to put it on top of a few coats of teak oil, except on Ironwood. I don't use oil on Ironwood-it kind of like pissing into the wiind.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Thanks Steve. And I know what you mean. Very nice finish indeed! :thumbup:

Pad