Two waxes I haven't seen discussed.

[Elkins45]

I spent a couple of years in the publishing business in the late 80s. In every newsroom or print shop was a gizmo called a copy waxer. When you had copy to be pasted onto a layout sheet you ran it through the rollers of the waxer and it deposited a coat of melted adhesive wax on the back. You could stick the copy to the page and peel it off and reposition it as needed. The page was rolled down with a brayer before going to the process camera. That waxer was switched on every morning and you could smell it as the wax heated up. It was some sticky stuff and it clung to everything it touched. I can see how that might be a useful property.

The other is water soluble carving wax used for lost wax mold making. I have no experience with it, but I saw some on a website the other day.

Anybody tried either? I have some adhesive wax I'm getting ready to try in a multi wax blend.

 

[fiver]

did the sticky wax stay pliable?
like you could just squish it in your hand pliable.

 

[Elkins45]

did the sticky wax stay pliable?
like you could just squish it in your hand pliable.

Yes it does, in smallish pieces. Even when it has cooled.

 

[35 Whelen]

Glad you posted this Elkins45...I just bought 10 lbs of it from a Thrift store and was wondering the same, if anyone had used it. I'll stay tuned to see if there are any responses

 

[JWFilips]

I have a similar type tacky wax at work It is used in the photography industry to hold small products in position. (Great to rub the tip of a screwdriver on to get it to hold small screws!)
It is very similar to the wax that is used to cushion dental brace wires in the mouth.
It comes in long sheet like tubes that you rip off. I also have a tub of a harder version for positioning heavier product for photography

 

[Brad]

Sounds like a lower melt point mocrowax to me

 

[35 Whelen]

Here's a couple of pics for you guys....you have far more experience than me at waxes and lube. Let me know what you think....the back of the package shows melt temps.

 

[Brad]

Looking at the wax and what I can find online it sure looks like a microwax blend with a 180° melt point.

 

[35 Whelen]

Thanks Brad....I'll have to do some reading to get acquainted with the use of Microwax in bullet lube. Price was right...I got it for 50% off. Hard to go wrong with 50 cents a bar eh?
Yes.....its Canadian eh?

 

[Brad]

The price was certainly right. A pound of microwax makes a fair bit of lube. I add some, about 25%, to my "version of Ben's Red". I hate calling it BR as I modified his recipe. I just use his recipe and add in 25% microwax 180.

Sorry Ben.

 

[Ian]

If it's adhesive, it's microwax.

I added 10% BW-180 and then had to toss the whole experiment and start over with a buttery grease instead of the sticky, stringy, Lucas to get where I wanted to go with it. That's what's nice about a recipe with a good foundation, you can tweak one or two things to suit your weather and shooting needs.

 

[fiver]

using it to bump a beeswax based lube would be a great use for the wax.
heck I would bet up to a 60-40 mix with just enough Vaseline to soften it down would cover about 80-90% of most cast shooting.