I got a pound of Pure bee's wax and I have some Toilet bowl wax rings...I would like to know if anyone has ever made thier own string wax and how much of each did you use? Thanks in advance...Keefers <")))><
Sorry for the double post,not sure what happened... :knothead:
i'm not exactly sure what the composition of toilet bowl wax is, i've heard that it is mostly beeswax with other stuff to soften it. I just finished making a bunch of string wax using nearly equal parts of toilet bowl wax and parafin to stiffen it up a bit. i haven't had a chance to try it yet but it feels good. it has a little give to it but isn't sticky and goopy like the plain toilet bowl wax.
Thanks Gopher, I will keep the parafin in mind.I just found some info about using 4 parts beeswax to 1 part toilet ring but I may try less cause I don't want it too soft...I guess I could always ad more toilet bowl wax if needed...Now I will wait till the wife isn't home and break out her new "Members Mark" Pots and pans she got for Christmas and start my brewing and use the icecube trays or the muffin pans to pour it in... :help:
Keefer,
Before you go mixing other stuff with the beeswax you might want to just try it straight. That is all I have been using for over 20 years and it is fantastic stuff. It is hard but once on work up some heat with the fingers and the string will stay nice and tight for a long time.
Good luck
I poured up.......thirty-something lbs, I think--had 25 lbs of just bee's wax--about a year or two ago, but danged if I can remember the mix. It was try this, try that until I got what I wanted. Hopefully I have enough to last another year or two--what a mess!
A couple of hints--don't use any pot that you intend to use for anything else ever again. Get a disposable tin pan, like the ones for roasting chickens or turkeys. Do the same thing with the muffin pans--get disposable ones--and line them with cupcake papers.
Once that wax cools, it won't let go. Cover the counter tops with newspaper, or something that you can wad up and throw away because it's got wax all over it.
Get a small, cheap soup ladle to scoop it out with.
Monitor the heat--just barely enough heat to melt the wax, no more. Melted wax is hot, it doesn't cool very fast, and it sticks to bare skin like glue!
One last thing--if you are going to do it, I'd do enough to cover you for a long time--make the mess and get it over with. It ain't worth the trouble for just a few cakes.
Chad
Hey Chad, what in the world would you do with thirty pounds of wax. That's enough to wax a ton of strings. Send me a cake when my bow comes in, if you have any left. LOL BOB
Chad Makes & Sells LOTS and LOTS of Fine Quality Strings!! :archer:
Yes he does, I am the proud owner of 3 of his strings and hopefully in a week or 2 wil have two more when my Crusader comes in. I was just poking a litte fun at him for making so much at one time.
BOB
Well I went and found an old pan,and mixed one pound of pure wax to one johny ring and heated till it was liquid...Took it out to the workbench and started filling my lined or should I say "wife's" lined cup cake /muffin molder thing ma dang and as I poured it I also coated a fryin pan size area of my unfinished workbench top and down the 4x4 leg and floor of my shop...But I was able to scrape up most and reheated it and filled 12 cakes up...What has started to hardin feels good to me and all it will cost me is a NEW MUFFIN PAN SAYS WOMEN WHO WEARS PANTS IN THIS HOUSE!!! :scared:Things Learnt today....Wear Heavy gloves,use a funnel or pouring ladle,use plenty of paper, Read everybody's Replys before jumpin into something you never dun before and most importantly ask the BOSS who does the cookin if you can use Her tools of the kithen FIRST...God Bless ! Keefers <")))><
I us a a pound bees wax to one wax toilet ring. Makes a nice string wax.
I use pure bees wax, no additives.
In a pinch I've also used cold water surfboard wax to lube my strings - works real good, smells purty, too. :D
FWIW, surfboard wax remover will dissolve any remaining wax residue after the scrape off. Way cool, dudes. :cool:
I also use pure beeswax. I keep it in the house, as it is too hard if it is stored in the shop or garage. We have a local bee products company that sells it already molded into small ingots, just the right size for waxing strings. It seems some
beeswax is softer than others, so I alway go for the softer when I have a choice.
Ron
3 parts Beeswax to 1 part Pinyon pine rosin.(Very rough ratio guide-how much pine rosin varies depending upon how dry it is.) Smells great and has a nice stick-um for string making.
I use about a 3:1 or 4:1 beeswax to toilet bowl ring. Eric's formula sounds close to what I end up with, but my pan is just a little too small to hold a full pound of wax + ring. I use old yogurt containers instead of my wife's muffin tin.
I found out that it is cheaper to buy the wax then explaining to the wife she needs a new muffin pan. I looked in the muffin pan cabinet to see if she had any others "Praying" she won't notice if I kinda misplaced the one I used but this muffin pan was one she kept when we had our last yard sale when she cleaned out her cabinets ...Seemed she really liked this one...I am heading for walmart thismorning and buying her an early Christmas present...When I pulled my nice wax cakes out thismorning I noticed some over spill wax went under the cakes somehow and I think it will take less time buying then cleaning a muffin pan... :banghead:
Use the ice cube tray with a bit of water in the bottom of each section and the most important part is to let the beeswax cool before trying to remove it. Even put it in the fridge once it cools down. The beeswax will shrink away from the tray a bit and you can knock them out by banging it on the floor. I am a commercial beekeeper and work with tons of the stuff and this works for me.
I pour the mix into small Dixie cups and peel off the paper after it hardens. My mix will yield a lifetime supply of wax for one, possible two people.
Where can I buy the bees wax?
One of many sources ... www.hiveharvest.com (http://www.hiveharvest.com)
"My greatest fear is that once I'm dead and gone, my wife will sell all my bows for the amount I told her I paid for them!"
That is the best yet... :biglaugh:
I've already gone through a few pounds of the stuff--my personal cakes are like Eric's, in 5oz. Dixie cups (paper ones), but those are a bit big and awkward to work with at first, and can get nasty if they lay around a couple years. I go through those pretty regularly though--the smaller 2oz. cups I poured up (with lids) would work better for most folks--easier to work with, can store them and keep them clean.
For a stringmaker's wax, pure bee's wax is too hard for me. I like it softer and sticky, but not too soft and sticky--like I said, I had to mess around with it to figure out what I liked, and danged if I can remember what I wound up with. Hope I wrote it down somewhere........
Rob, I've never heard of that wax remover stuff--not likely I could find it in NE Mississippi anyway......but I would have gladly ordered some the first time I tried pouring my own wax--man, what a mess!
Don't remember where I bought my wax either--pretty sure I did a Google search and looked for the best deal. Mine came in either 1# or 2# bricks. Get purified or strained wax--you don't want all those critters and bee parts floating around in your wax.
Bob, send me a reminder after I notify you about your bow being here and I'll send you a cake--no problem.
Oh yeah, one more thing--unless you make a dang bunch of strings (I'm talking at least 500-1,000 a year, every year, for several years), or you have a market for it, DO NOT try to pour up 30 or 40 lbs of stringmaker's wax. Nobody in their right mind will use that much in a lifetime (stringmakers are NOT in their right mind--that's obvious to anyone who's ever made a string). I poured up over 200 2oz. cakes with intentions of selling it, but after seeing how much I go through, I haven't really tried--figure I'll use it up soon enough.
Chad
I like the fact that pure beeswax is kinda hard as I use very very little wax since I spin up strings, not twist 'em. Once heated just a bit from friction, pure beeswax will flow like the dickens.
Lotsa brands of surfboard wax remover, I use this brand on my boards and for cleaning up after bowstring making ...
Chief Firewater (http://www.chieffirewater.com/)
I think pure bees wax it too hard for string making also, at least the stuff that I have tried has been.
I made up a batch that was one part bees wax to one part toilet bowl ring. It turned out a bit on the soft side. If I were going to do it again I'd try 2 or 3 parts bees wax to 1 part toilet bowl ring. The pine smell of pine rosen sounds good. Might put a bit of that in too.
Yeah--I should have clarified. I make some endless strings, and you don't need stringmaker's wax for those....and you can make a flemish string without stringmaker's wax, but it makes things go a lot easier for me. One fellow I talked to called it his "third hand" when making a string--best description I've heard.
Since I learned to use disposable pans and cover everything with newspaper, don't think I'll need the wax remover. When it gets too deep on my board, I just use a utility knife blade and scrape it off.
On the other hand.....I just looked over at my work bench, stretching jig, x-acto knives....man that crap gets everywhere doesn't it! Guess I do need to give the wax remover a second look....
Chad
I agree, Badlands - for twisting strings it's way too hard.
BUT, for spinning strings it's just right for me. :D
The wax mess "can" be cleaned up with naptha "white gas."
You immerse the pan in question in the naptha, and let it sit OUTSIDE. A bit of scrubbing with a non-metallic "disposable" brush will remove the wax.
Don't even think if doing this indoors, not in your garage, shop, anything. Do it in the driveway, away from all buildings.
I do this to clean out wax etc, between bullet lube mixtures, string wax mixtures, etc.
There is always a fire risk, when using naptha, so have a fire extinguisher handy, and wear nitrile gloves. Naptha isn't the best thing to be soaking your hands in.
I hope your wife likes her new pans as much as the old one! :jumper:
R.W. I told her what I done and at first she was a little upset and asked me if I used the new ones or old one and I said the old rusty lookin one and she said O.K. I told her I would go buy a new one today to replace the one I messed up but I got the 'rolled eyes thing" women do sometimes and a get out of jail Free card....It makes me wonder now if she ever went out in MY shop and borrowed something and messed it up cause she let me off so easy....I am going out in the shop tonight and see if anythings missing... :scared: