Making my own Carnauba and Beeswax product.

[jeffdavies]

I would like to make my own Carnauba and Beeswax 'blocks' to finish off my wood products.
As both are deemed food safe, I would imagine I can use it for sealing both Bowls and drinking Vessels?

I have a supply of Beeswax but not Carnauba.
Does anyone have any experience please in making this product at home?
Your guidance and advice would be very much appreciated; I am aware the 2 products can be blended together in order to make the Beeswax harder but I don't know the ratio required!

Your help and guidance would be very much appreciated

Thank you.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

You need a bain-marie or a glue kettle to melt the carnauba - it won't melt without heat, which is why it's a harder polish than beeswax. I've always done mine with turpentine(pure) - I don't know that it would melt with beeswax alone, so you probably wouldn't be able to use it in blocks - it's a paste. Mess about with the proportions, it's easy to alter - if it's a bit stiff add some turps, if a bit liquid more wax. Three or four to one beeswax to carnauba is a starting point. You can use turps. substitute, but I've not tried it - I like the smell of the real stuff.
Incidentally, it pays to smash the carnauba up as small as possible.

 

[marcros]

the cheapest place that i have found for carnauba is Thornes- other beekeeping suppliers may be similarly priced and you may have a local source. ratio is a bit of an art- equal parts is common, but on the second batch you make, you can vary it a bit depending on how the first batch turns out.

just be careful with heating it- use a double boiler.

 

[twothumbs]

I believe you can go modern and use your microwave stirring the mix every minute or so....highly inflammable though so be careful. A 1 - 3 mix (carb. to bees.) is a good start, but more carnauba the harder the buffing up. Try a Google it will come up with several notes re.times in the microwave.

As always the additional advice of doing it when your wife is out and a strong bacon sandwich immeadaiately after may be good/best practise. Hope it goes well. Best wishes.

 

[Hivenhoe]

the cheapest place that i have found for carnauba is Thornes- other beekeeping suppliers may be similarly priced and you may have a local source. ratio is a bit of an art- equal parts is common, but on the second batch you make, you can vary it a bit depending on how the first batch turns out.

just be careful with heating it- use a double boiler.

Try C Wynne Jones very helpful and Thornes agent & usually cheaper.
There are of course other bee kit suppliers.

 

[neilyweely]

believe you can go modern and use your microwave stirring the mix every minute or so....highly inflammable though so be careful. A 1 - 3 mix (carb. to bees.) is a good start, but more carnauba the harder the buffing up. Try a Google it will come up with several notes re.times in the microwave

Funny thing, that. Some time ago I tried mixing some wax and oil in the microwave; put the oil in a plastic tub, added wax and put it in for a minute to start with. Took it outand it was still stone cold. I thought the microwave was up the spout, so i nuked my tea. Hot hot hot.
So I tried again, for two or three minutes. Still nothing. I came to the conclusion that microwaves work on the water molecules, and as there are none in either oil or wax (is this true?) it fails to heat the oil. So I put the plastic bowl in a larger bowl of water and it worked a treat, problem solved, and a lesson learned.
Of course I may be the proud owner of a naff microwave that has tricked me into believing a fundamental rule of doo doo. Won't be the first kitchen appliance to have outsmarted me.

Try it; i don't think it is dangerous, apart from the obvious possibility of burns. Am I right, folks? How nice it is to be able to speak with impunity about something. I know what happened to me at least. :?

Neil

 

[marcros]

microwaves do work on heating water- hence why the filling in a pie is hotter than the sun, and the pastry containing less water is cool. they do not cook from the inside out, contrary to popular belief.

wax may have some residual water, depending on how and when it was processed. it shouldnt have much though.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Micro wave ovens work by exciting molecules - its easier to excite molecules in liquids than in solids hence liquids get hotter quicker.

All liquids will heat up in a microwave oven - there is a particularly good example where a blob of molten glass is placed on the rim of a bottle, the bottle will then continue to melt in a microwave oven.

If a little molten wax is added to the pot the microwave will then supply the energy to melt the rest.

Regards Mick

 

[Phil Pascoe]

How does that work, then? Glass doesn't melt until it reaches about 800c.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

See here http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips ... 10895.html

Regards Mick

 

[Shrubby]

I use blocks of carnuba/beeswax 50/50 on drawer runners and the like. Melt the wax in an old bean tin standing in a saucepan of water on a hotplate. When the wax is runny pour it into a silicone ice cube mould. Carnuba is very hard so tinker with the blend to suit your purposes
Matt

 

[jeffdavies]

Many thanks everyone for your input which is very much appreciated!

I now have a lot of reading and catching up to do

 

[Benchwayze]

"it's really cool!!!!" An unfortunate choice of phrase. :roll: Cool? Hardly.

That guy is the main reason I stopped watching BGTT. He comes across as if his audience was made up of simpletons.

Unless it's just me being a miserable old burger. (nervous giggle)! :lol: :lol: :lol:

As for the carnauba wax, I used a makeshift 'double-skin' boiler. An old half-tin that came from Heinz, inside an old saucepan. I boiled it up on the top of my ancient Valor paraffin stove, usually outside in the yard.

I used to make a 70/30 mix (Approx) of beeswax and genuine turps, with a small amount of carnauba added and then well-mixed..
I tried to aim for the consistency of 'Briwax' once my brew cooled. These days I just use Briwax. Less bother and quite adequate.
But as said earlier, I can be a miserable old burger! :mrgreen:

HTH... Probably not, but I hope so!

 

[AndyT]

Hi

See here http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips ... 10895.html

Regards Mick

Thanks for that - something I'd not seen before. It did remind me though of a science lesson demonstration years ago at school. You can make glass conduct electricity if you first get it red hot, so the molecules are free to move.

Of course, there is a video on YouTube of someone showing this effect - here so you don't need to take my word for it.

(Sorry for the topic drift!)