Carnauba wax

william kossack wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Mineral spirits?

Patriarch

FWIW, the way I use carnauba wax flakes (recommended by a post here) is by just folding a piece of cotton cloth around the flakes and applying to the rotating piece; the heat builds up and the wax flows out (you can tell by the smell when it starts to work). No scratches, as the wax dries smooth for the next application. The cloth eventually wears out, but it takes quite a while.

So maybe you can just hit the bits with a hammer and shatter them into even smaller pieces, and use those.

only one p in my real address / un seul p dans ma véritable adresse

One of those HUT bars with the abrasive included? Mine is chipped around the edges, too. Unless you got a good melt and puree, imagine the additive would give you trouble.

Just use it. I dropped my Beall bar too. Little shards last an amazingly long time. Or you can use the biggest pieces only. The Carnauba lasts an extremely long time since so little is used after the tripoli and white diamond are used for buffing. A new bar every 500-1000 bowls shouldn't be too major an expense.

I've tried to melt it and form it into a larger bar but that only broke again.

any suggestions?

First a question: is there any reason why it has to be pure carnauba?

If not, I'd suggest using mineral spirits to soften the wax while being heated in a double boiler. Automobile waxes are mostly additives, not carnauba, as pure carnauba is hard as a brick and, as you discovered, brittle. I suspect that even your bar possessed some additives to soften it a little. As those leach out of the wax and evaporate, it become more brittle.

Max

Don't drop the bar.

Melt it again in a double boiler, cast it into a bar and put it somewhere it won't get chipped. Because carnauba is so hard, it is also brittle...like powdered metal gouges. Sometimes you just gotta take the bad with the good. What makes it a good wax makes it hard to take care of sometimes.

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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

Good luck melting Carnauba in a double boiler, since the melting temperture is over 300 degrees F.

James Johnson

I did the same thing with my bar. I melted it in a double boiler (so the melting point is less than 212) but the resulting bar broke into several pieces as it cooled. I assume the outside of the bar cools too rapidly and shrinks faster than the inside, causing the bar to break. It may be possible to cool it very slowly but I have not been successful.

I use the little pieces to load the buff.

Bill

"JRJohnson" wrote in news:wCRRd.14785$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.texas.rr.com:

Carnauba wax has a melting point of about 83 C or 181 F. See: