Making string wax

[kat]

I would like to make my own string wax, and have searched the subject here.

It sounds like a beeswax and toilet ring seal mixture, and some mentioned adding pitch to make it more tacky.

My question is do you add pitch, and if so, what is it listed under, and where did you get it?

Thanks for any info. you may be able to give me.

Ken

[frank bullitt]

kat, I do add pine pitch, tar, when making.

I don't use the toliet ring, just bees wax and pine pitch.

You can collect it yourself. I have found the pitch from Ponderosa trees, around hear works great. If you can get some pitchers rosin, used for baseball, same stuff!

[koger]

I recently made my own , I make a lot of strings, got lucky and got it right 1 st time, to my thinking.  I use 1 toilet ring wax seal and 2 cakes of canning parafin. I melt the parafin first Ina glass bowl, then the wax ring 3 minutes at a time till all is melted well in the microwave, stirring as you go. I have 3 small dipping cups, the size  of skoal can only deeper. I spay them with Pam, and the pour in the wax, sit them in fridge till solid or overnight. Not to hard or soft just the right size to hold in your hand, and 3 big cakes cost you $6 total!

[kat]

Thanks guys.  I will give it a try.

Ken

[Oliverstacy]

When I first started making strings I was having a hard time with Dacron and Chad (LBR) sent me a black plastic ramekin with a mix he had...stuff is awesome and smells even better!

I remember him stating when he made it he got a lot more than he had expected and hasn't made any for a while.  I believe it had a toilet wax ring and bees wax but I can't remember exactly the ratio (whatever it is it smells great)!

I need to see if I can buy another one from him or bribe him for the recipe.

Thanks,

Josh

[Rob DiStefano]

i use filtered raw bees wax (30%) and paraffin candle wax (70%).  this is the blend i use for potting magnetic pickups and it works well for me as a bowstring wax - not too hard, definitely not soft.  real soft bowstring wax, some some of the synthetic junk, is far too soft and attracts dirt and adds too much weight to the bowstring.  you want a light coating of wax to finish off a bowstring - this is true for both flemish and endless.  however, for the flemish twisting process a softer wax is more necessary than desirable.

[bosteldr]

I just use an old bee's wax candle.  Run it up and down the string about once a month. Seems to work for me.

[PowDuck]

There's a difference in wax for MAKING strings and wax for shooting.

As Rob said, for the flemish twisting process a softer wax is more necessary than desirable.

I use straight beeswax on my strings and rub (melt) it in with a piece of leather.

[Dick4bows]

2/3 bees wax and 1/3 toilet ring.  Smells great and Melts into the string.  Melt it together and pour into a small dixie cup to cool.  Peel the paper back to expose the wax as needed.  Helps keep it from getting all over my tackle box.  Dick

[kat]

I never differentiated between string making and string waxing, but it makes sense.
I might just mix up some with string making in mind, and one harder mixture for string waxing.

[LBR]

Josh, give me a holler sometime--I still have several of the smaller cakes.

I can't remember my recipie--hopefully my wife has it written down somewhere, because I need to make another batch before long.  

It was purified bee's wax (1 lb bricks?  2 lb bricks? ) and a particular size and brand of toilet bowl wax seal (brand name starts with an "O", I think?) that gives me exactly what I like for string  maker's  wax.  It works ok for regular string wax too--any excess shoots out quick.  It's stiffer than commercial string waxes I've seen, but a lot softer than straight bee's wax.

Chad

[Ray_G]

Chad,

Oakey makes a bunch of plumbing parts and supplies.  Reckon that is the brand name?  Is it coming back to ya, now?  I like your mix - thank you for sending it along.

Ray

[frank bullitt]

Softer, is not necessarly, the key to Flemish string making, wax!

Tack is! This is why most "twisters" wax, has pine rosin, pitch added, to make sticky! This helps in holding the bundles tight and aid in the grip while twisting.

I have mixed up all sorts of concotions, like parrafin, and the others mentioned! As individual twisters, we have different needs, do to things like sweaty hands, etc.

Over time, I personally, have come to prefer the waxes like what Brownell, and BCY use during the manuf. process. Clear, which doesn't discolor the lighter colors, like bees wax. They have the necessary tack, I desire, and without all the mess of melting my own!

Still use the bees wax mix if needed, and yes it is natural, and pleasant smelling!  

So Kat, I would say, try all and any, you will find what works for ya! Happy twisting!

[LBR]

Might be Oakey--not sure--will try to look that up soon.

Tacky is important--I (incorectly) use soft/tacky as the same.  The simple mix I use has plenty of tack--you can dang near seal an envelope with it.

Chad

[Oliverstacy]

Originally posted by LBR:
Might be Oakey--not sure--will try to look that up soon.

Tacky is important--I (incorectly) use soft/tacky as the same.  The simple mix I use has plenty of tack--you can dang near seal an envelope with it.

Chad

It's got some bite alright!  Smells so good I want to take a chunk out of it every once in a while!  This is usually at 4:30 AM when I should be in bed and I'm finishing up an order and I'm hungry.    


 

Josh, give me a holler sometime--I still have several of the smaller cakes.
 

Will Do!!!


Oh well...whatever it is I love the way it works and the way it smells.

Thanks,

Josh

[kat]

Okay, the first batch is done.

I used 1/2 pound of beeswax and one half a toilet ring, and 1/2 bag of pitcher's rosin.

By volume I would estimate that the ratio of beeswax to seal ring is about 4:1.

This mixture gave me a wax that is harder than I was buying but yet soft enough to twist strings, and also tackly enough for string twisting.

Thanks for all the advivce.  In the end, it is kind of a personal choice, and for me, I was lucky enough to get it close on the first go around. Now to mix up a second batch.

[marsniper27]

If anyone wants to sell some wax i could use some. since moving i have no one around that needs some so no point in making it myself since you end up with so much.