Soft paste wax

[graduate_owner]

Hi all,
I've been reading an article by Ray Key about making boxes on the lathe in an old woodworking magazine and he talks about using a soft paste wax on his sandpaper while sanding. Does anyone know what this stuff is? I have looked in the Axminster catalogue (as usual) and can only find waxes which seem to finishes. Any ideas?

K

 

[CHJ]

I would think he is referring to products such as Chestnuts "WoodWax 22" personally I avoid the practice as more times than not when tried I ended up with a dirty slurry that contaminated the lighter wood pores and just clogged the abrasive.

 

[graduate_owner]

Thanks for the reply Chas. Do you just go through the various grits dry then?

K

 

[CHJ]

Yes, if I'm sanding for no visible blemishes then I always sand dry.

Occasionally if I have an open pored wood that I perceive would look better with the pores filled then I sand with water, sealer or finishing oil dependant on final finishing medium. Keeping any wax finishing as a surface protection/polishing.

Caution is always needed with 'wet' sanding if multiple wood species are involved that lighter woods are not contaminated.
The antithesis is if deliberately filling grain boundaries in such as Ash to provide grain pattern emphasis.

Wet sanding with paste wax on open pored woods can result in white fleck contamination, as can over enthusiastic normal application, as the wax left in the pores and not removed during final buffing dries out, even woods such a Pau Rosa, Bubinga etc. which are not obviously open pored can show this phenomena.
(fine stiff bristle brush, even a tooth brush will sometimes clean it out, perhaps with a little thinners if it's bad)

 

[graduate_owner]

Pau Rosa? Bubinga? You are way ahead of me in this woodturning lark - I'm still turning bits from the firewood pile, but thanks for the tips. I just love this forum.

K

 

[cortijero]

I saw this method of sanding demonstrated a couple of weeks ago. during the sanding of a yew item being turned from a very dry and hard piece of branchwood. The soft wax used was a blend of beeswax and paraffin (wax 1:4 ratio). A tiny amount being added to the surface of each grit as he worked down from 120 to 400. One of the reasons being to cut down the quantity of yew dust being produced/dispersed - it certainly seemed to work. This was followed with sanding sealer and finally a wax and buff. Hope this helps.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I was in hospital about 3yrs ago in a bed next to a professional turner (I forget the guy's name) and he told me he used 50/50 beeswax and cooking oil and sanded wet exclusively.

 

[chipmunk]

The soft wax used was a blend of beeswax and paraffin (wax 1:4 ratio).

I think you'll find it's "liquid paraffin" aka food safe oil and not paraffin aka kerosene. You can buy it from equine suppliers too http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gold-Label-Liquid-Paraffin-B-P/dp/B007YZM8Q8.

Big difference in aroma :wink:

You need to keep one of those small brass brushes handy to clean the slurry off the abrasive when the slurry gets too stiff and clogs. I think the other reason for using it on yew is that the end-grain can end-check very easily when the yew heartwood is very dense.

HTH
Jon

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

I make my own paste wax, although like Chas don't like the mess it makes if used as a sanding medium. I mix 3 or 4 parts wax to one part oil. The oil of choice is liquid paraffin, or if you want a nice smell - baby oil, which is what I normally use.
If used when sanding, it clogs the abrasive and can pick up bits of grit which scratch the surface and make it even harder to get rid of the marks.
It took me a good while (like 3 years) to get to the stage where I get a good enough finish from the tools that I don't need to use harsh abrasives and fillers. Keep with it, it's worth it. It's also far less work than sanding, sanding, sanding, sanding............

 

[graduate_owner]

I hadn't thought of using paste as a dust suppressant. Sounds like it might be worth a try for that reason alone. Interesting to read about marks from grit too. That's something else I hadn't thought of. Tend to think of sanding as getting a better and better finish. Live and learn.

K

 

[lurker]

I have tried this and agree about clogging

It works ok if you use arabanet though.... I tend to use a bit that has about reached the end of the road as an abrasive.

 

[Robbo3]

This practice seems to be more prevalent in the USA
Carl Jacobson - (4m 30s in) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMkmmq4A8WE
- https://www.youtube.com/user/haydenHD/videos

Mark Raby also sells his own mixture. I bought a small tub at a demo but I can't see it on his website
- http://www.markrabywoodfinishing.co.uk/

It does restrict what other finishes can be used afterwards.

Taz - never thought of using baby oil. I'm sure there is a 30 year old half bottle lurking somewhere at the back of one of the bathroom cabinets.

Lurker - I do the same.