beeswax finishing advice for my craft work

[mac1012]

hi i am looking at getting a better finish on my craft work and have decided to try some beeswax and carnauba, turpentine wax from ropers honey which is a local product from derbyshire

i have never used anything like this before , i use mainly softwood timber and some reclaimed pitch pine , i tried putting some on my pitch pine cross and buffing up with a cloth but wasnt really impressed with result , some sheen but not much the cloth was lint free , if i rubbed too much it seemed to be taking it of and if i didnt rub much it wasnt a great shiny finish i had hoped for , i know some people use a buffing system but i not sure how hard to do this and will i take the wax of if do it to much ?

one guy who i brought some oil of last week said you need to put oil on first before wax , he was a renowend teacher of woodturning all over country but didnt seem to make much difference when i did it

any tips would be great thanks

mark

 

[CHJ]

If your wood is not sealed with a sanding sealer or similar then a soft wax will be absorbed into the surface at differing proportions dependant upon the grain-pores etc. and may be difficult to get an even effect.

Soft waxes consisting mainly of bees wax will not give you a lasting high gloss if handled a lot because bees wax melts at hand temperature and will dull, needing the occasional refresher, hence the addition of Carnauba to endeavour to improve this shortcoming.

If you are after a high gloss you need to have a sealed surface and a high melting point such as pure Carnauba or Micro-crystalline wax applied with enough friction heat to melt it. (warm to the touch)