making bees wax workable

[bubby]

What can ya do to make natural bees wax more workable? can it be mixed with to keek it in a softer state?

[JW_Halverson]

I mix it 1 part beeswax to 3 parts olive oil to lube patches for a muzzleloader.  Also makes a really good lip balm and callous softener at that ratio. 

For bowstrings, I use it straight, uncut.  Tried cutting in a little olive oil and it stopped holding the strands together when I tried twisting up loops.  Whatcha using it for?

[bubby]

On my native bows I rub it in to seal the finnish, get it waterproof, but it sets up fast and is a ton of work to rub in. Thank's, I'll try some oil, see how it work's, I know they do something to snowseal to keep it soft, and it's bees wax. Thank's, Bub

[JW_Halverson]

A hair dryer will warm up the wood enough to get the wax worked in. 

[bubby]

Thank's JW, I'll give it a go

[JW_Halverson]

The smell of warm beeswax...mmmmm.   It makes a nice looking finish on hardwoods if you really take your time sanding and then burnishing the wood. 

[HatchA]

The smell of warm beeswax...mmmmm.   It makes a nice looking finish on hardwoods if you really take your time sanding and then burnishing the wood. 

Sweet!!  Friend of mine keeps bees and gave me four cans of his own beeswax (shoe polish tins).  Was wondering if it'd be suitable for sealing a bow with.  I know it's a great polish/finish, but wasn't sure about handling the flex of the lims etc.

Do you think it could be used over snakeskin on a bow?

[Marc St Louis]

I mix it with about 30% P jelly for use as a string wax and it works quite well

[sadiejane]

the swedes mix 1 part beeswax to 2 parts walnut oil(melted together) for wood curing. might work as well on bows.
made some and tho its does set up its quite workable as is, or can be heated a bit.
have been hand rubbing it into an osage orange bow i just finished as someone else told me
it would slow down the natural darkening process of osage. this one is an experiment, see if that actually happens.
if so may use it to make patterns on the back of other osage bows.

[Pat B]

Sadiejane, unless you eliminate or block the UV rays of the sun the osage will darken.

[Bevan R.]

I mix it with about 30% P jelly for use as a string wax and it works quite well

I assume you mean petroleum jelly?

[boo]

I mix my bees wax with deer tallow. Just render down the deer fat, screen the liquid in a bowl, mix around 50/50 with liquid bees wax and your done. I adjust the mixture until i get the constancy i want for different things. I use it on my bows, shooting patches, leather goods, Knife handles, and what ever else i can come up with.
 

[JW_Halverson]

I used the 1:3 beeswax to olive oil mix for muzzleloading patches until I learned that it fouls barrels badly on hunid summer days.  Now I use straight deer tallow.

[JackCrafty]

I dunno.  I've used straight beeswax on a couple bows and it didn't look too good.  It looked dull and "powdery" after a while.  So I heated the beeswax with a heat gun and rubbed some tung oil into the finish.  Worked like a charm.

You can mix beeswax with just about anything.  If you mix it with fat, it will stay soft.  If you mix it with a drying oil (tung, linseed, walnut) it will harden over time.

[CraigMBeckett]

To make beeswax workable for spreading on you bow melt it with pure gum turpentine, this makes a wax paste, the original wax polish used on furniture. Spread it on thinly, let it dry for a while then polish off, repeat as many times as you think necessary to build up a wax skin. I make mine in glass jars with airtight seals, grate the wax chuck it in the jar add a small quantity of turpentine, (don't use mineral turps it is claimed not to be as good as the pure gum type for this particular application), leave for a while then give the mixture a stir. If it is still too stiff or has not all dissolved into a nice workable paste add more turps, if too runny add more wax or leave the lid off to allow some of the turps to evaporate.

By the way I would first treat the bow with a number of coats of linseed oil first, using the application method used by old furniture makers. A coat an hour for a day followed by a coat a day for a week etc. just apply thinly with a lint free cloth then with another cloth remove the excess.

Do not use the paste on your string pure beeswax is best for this, other claim beeswax with a small amount of resin or is it rosin melted into it is good for strings.

Craig