Preventing checking

Yes. Candle wax is fine. Take some old candles and melt them. Dip the ends of your stock in there (do each end 2 times and tip the wood a little to make sure you get complete coverage over the ends) and set them aside to dry slowly.

Of course, candle wax and paraffin isn't terribly durable so if your blanks are going to be hit or moved or just touched much then you should use a harder wax like beeswax (still pretty soft too) or carnauba (hardest natural wax known). When I used wax to coat the ends of my logs, I used a mixture of

2/3 paraffin (old candles too) & 1/3 carnauba. That was pretty durable. You can get paraffin at a grocery store that handles canning supplies (bottles, tops, etc.) and the carnauba is probably best bought from an online woodworking store. Kinda expensive that way but it's either that or you get it like I do ... 50 gallon drums or 50lbs at a time.

Beyond just common wax, there are lots of commercial preparations like Anchorseal you could use too. But those are REALLY expensive if you're doing more than just a couple of blanks.

- Andrew

Thanks guys. I do have a couple chunks of beeswax that I'll try. I've only got about 10-12 pieces so I'll keep it cheap for now.

Thanks again, Todd

Anchorseal

doesn't penetrate as good as Anchorseal, which is a wax emulsionWax also can get chipped or peeled off, allowing the wood to check IMO, Anchorseal is the best thing you can use to endseal your wood.

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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

Does this belong in the "Stubby" thread?