Beeswax dipping tank?

[Scott A. Roush]

Hi folks,

 

Does anybody have experience making dipping tanks with molten beeswax? I want to have a dutch oven size pot filled with molten beeswax that I can use for dipping wood and leather.

 

I understand that I can't have the beeswax in contact directly with heat.. and that a double boiler type set-up is safer. But.... I'm concerned with how long it will take to melt the beeswax! Any suggestions??

[grpaavola]

sending pm

[Jan Ysselstein]

Scott

I work with wax quite a bit and find a large rice cooker very handy. Bees wax will take a while to melt. I quench hot punches in solid wax, candle wax melts much faster than beeswax. My 3 Gallon rice cooker ( full ) takes about 2 hrs to fully melt ( candle wax ), without constant stirring) . Beeswax has become very expensive, I used to pay $1 per pound ( 20 yrs ago)...now I see it at farmers markets at $16 per pound.

Jan

Edited December 14, 2015 by Jan Ysselstein

[Scott A. Roush]

 

Scott

I work with wax quite a bit and find a large rice cooker very handy. Bees wax will take a while to melt. I quench hot punches in solid wax, candle wax melts much faster than beeswax. My 3 Gallon rice cooker ( full ) takes about 2 hrs to fully melt ( candle wax ), without constant stirring) . Beeswax has become very expensive, I used to pay $1 per pound ( 20 yrs ago)...now I see it at farmers markets at $16 per pound.

Jan

 

Hi Jan...

 

Thanks. I also quench my small tooling in solid beeswax. Works great! I keep bees so I have a ton of old comb from a hive that died last year. So.. I thought I would look into a bigger dipping tank. But.. looks like it won't be as easy as I thought. I may play with setting a sort of double boiler and using it in an oven instead of on a hot plate.

[Caleb Harris]

My mother's done this (and recommends) with a cheap crock pot from a yard sale, takes about an hour to melt but you don't have to watch it. Double boiler is faster but you have to keep watching it.

[Gabriel James]

my father has a small apiary -- i get chunks of beeswax from him every harvest and i will say -- its very resistant to melting! i havnt worked out a good solution to the problem yet either other than using a double boiler

 

matter of fact i have a chunk that needs to be melted and strained again -- i want to mixed linseed with it for my tools coatings

[Scott A. Roush]

My mother's done this (and recommends) with a cheap crock pot from a yard sale, takes about an hour to melt but you don't have to watch it. Double boiler is faster but you have to keep watching it.

Caleb... (and Jan)... so using something like a crockpot or rice cooker... do you then NOT need to have water involved? Can you just melt the chunks directly in contact with the inside surface? If so.. this sounds like a reasonable solution.

[Jerrod Miller]

I've used a crock pot to melt a lot of wax for investment casting. The investment wax we use melts at about 160, so just a bit warmer than beeswax. It is extremely slow though. For smaller quantities we use an electric skillet. If you want to speed things up, melt small quantities separately and then combine them into the crock pot. I could melt 3 skillet fulls before one crock pot. I would put about an inch of wax pellets in the crock pot, turn it on high and melt the skillet full at the same time. Super heat to about 200, then pour it in the crock pot. Repeat until crock pot is full. I can only assume beeswax would work as well, and it sounds like Caleb has a reliable source that says the crock pot works so I think it is likely the whole thing is good.

[Scott A. Roush]

Thanks Jerrod...

 

Well one thing I'm learning is that my comb doesn't really have that much wax in it. It is mostly lining and the dead bees. Just so folks know.. all of this comb came from a hive that died due to a very, very cold winter and they basically starved. So all the bees were still in the comb with their butts sticking out.. which is what typically happens in a starved colony.

[Caleb Harris]

Caleb... (and Jan)... so using something like a crockpot or rice cooker... do you then NOT need to have water involved? Can you just melt the chunks directly in contact with the inside surface? If so.. this sounds like a reasonable solution.

Yeah, no water. No burning or smoke.

[Jan Ysselstein]

Scott,

 

This rice cooker holds over 3 gallons and has two temperature settings, heat and keep hot. Just take a sieve and scoop out any floating debris...the sinking debris just stays at the bottom until it becomes unbearable.

 

 

Jan

[Scott A. Roush]

Scott,

 

This rice cooker holds over 3 gallons and has two temperature settings, heat and keep hot. Just take a sieve and scoop out any floating debris...the sinking debris just stays at the bottom until it becomes unbearable.

DSCN2919.jpg

 

 

Jan

Thanks Jan! Yep.. I have it figured now. For me the crock pot is working well. And I just sealed up a basswood tomten I carved in hot beeswax. Love that look on clean wood...

[Caleb Harris]

So when you use it, is it just a dip of the handle in, then a wipe off or what? Does the beeswax seal it up?

[Scott A. Roush]

It's just a very basic finish that happens to look nice and has been around for a long time. I'm hoping that dipping helps with penetration and streamlines the operation.

 

If you do this for knife handles it might be helpful to include some linseed oil or other additives. Beeswax by itself may not seal it as well as modern finishing oils.. and it never really hardens. But I'm doing this for little wooden sculptures.. and will also use it for leather work.

[Wild Rose]

Another vote for a crock pot - been using one for 30+ years for melting wax and rosin that I collect myself.....start with a smaller amount and once melted add more wax - it will melt faster than too large an amount to begin with...