On 30 Oct 2004 15:26:16 -0700, (Trent D. Sanders)
wrote:

What wax

There are two useful sorts of wax; one is hard, one is soft.

Hard wax is used for initial finishing on a piece.
The hard wax is a mixture of beeswax / paraffin wax, but also about
15% or carnauba or candelilla wax to harden it. I use Liberon's "Black
Bison". It has a lot of solvents mixed in with it, so that you can
apply it - once they've evaporated, it's hard work. I use a variety of
brushes to apply it, depending on size, from shoe-polish brushes to
doorstep scrubbing brushes (breech cleaning brushes from Chieftain
tanks are excellent, and I bought a large quantity as surplus). For
"aged" work, I use a nylon bristle rotary "wire" brush in an electric
drill.

Soft waxes are used for cleaning and polishing by your maid. They
avoid carnauba, because it's impossible to rub out. Good ones are pure
beeswax, and a little something to make it workable. Modern commercial
waxes can have all sorts of junk in them.


It's worth buying raw beeswax from a beekeeper. If you have to, try
making your own wax recipes with it - although most beekeepers who
sell wax also sell it ready-made into a polish, which saves some work.
I've posted wax recipes to here and rec.knives before, so Google for
them.
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...ai%404 ax.com

--
Smert' spamionam