# how do I get rid of this wax?



## healeydays (Mar 1, 2013)

Folks,

I just picked up some Manzanita burl and the guy slathered wax all over them including all those great nooks and crannies that I love for casting. Any ideas how the heck I get all the wax off these as I can't cast with the wax on the wood?

Thanks in advance,
Mike B


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## LoneStar (Mar 1, 2013)

Heat gun ?


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## Mike1950 (Mar 1, 2013)

Boil it?? I know I ran a couple pieces with wax over my jointer- bad idea- took mineral spirits to get it off.


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## jimmyjames (Mar 1, 2013)

http://www.weiman.com/Products/Specialty/Candle-Wax-Remover.aspx


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## scrimman (Mar 1, 2013)

What a marvelous modern world we live in.....never heard of that stuff. Thanks! I use candle lanterns all the time, and get the resulting wax mess. This should help quite a bit!


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## Kevin (Mar 1, 2013)

Mike, wax is a necessary evil. If he hadn't slathered it on it would crack like the dickens. I bought some manz from one of the manz dealers here and it was coated but cracked all over anyway.


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## healeydays (Mar 1, 2013)

Kevin said:


> Mike, wax is a necessary evil. If he hadn't slathered it on it would crack like the dickens. I bought some manz from one of the manz dealers here and it was coated but cracked all over anyway.



But I like cracks in the wood...

Seriously, I understand that manz is unstable and like to crack. Just want to get it off. That product looks interesting, but in the qty I would need, probably not practical.


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## davebug (Mar 1, 2013)

I vote pressure washer, clamp them to a board so they don't blow away. Probably would not hurt to use hot water with it also. If you don't have one take it down to your local self serve car wash.


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## wyowoodwrker (Mar 1, 2013)

Boiling works great, melts the wax and it will float... only down side adds moisture to the wood.


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## Kevin (Mar 1, 2013)

If the wood is dry yes it will add moisture, but if it's green it will release some of it. Pretty cool.


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## healeydays (Mar 1, 2013)

Pretty green stuff only being cut 2 weeks ago, so boiling could work. Just need a pot that's real big.

The seller will be dropping by offering up some for trade soon...


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## Kevin (Mar 1, 2013)

I use a turkey fryer - works great.


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## Vern Tator (Mar 1, 2013)

I bought an 80 gallon stock pot at a restaurant supply house last fall for $135.00 I use it to boil madrone, i can get half a dozen bowls in it at a time, works great. I heat it with a turkey cooker that I bought before I realized that the pot was really too small for boiling wood. I used a half of a 55 gal drum for a few years, but that stained the burl, so I finally bought the right pot.


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## duncsuss (Mar 1, 2013)

Mike, I don't know if this would work but ...

Coleman's Camping Stove Fuel is rated to be one of the purest forms of naphtha (heptane) and suitable for cleaning oil and grease deposits from the iris blades of lenses.

It might dissolve the wax and flush it away -- I'd try brushing it on with a bristle (not synthetic!) brush, the cheap ones plumbers use for brushing on acid flux.


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## healeydays (Mar 1, 2013)

Couple great ideas. Gonna have to be an outside project, so might wait till later in the month once the snow stops coming down and disappears.


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## treecreation (Mar 1, 2013)

i've loosened up paraffin wax using mineral spirits, making it easier to remove on a lacquer surface...maybe soak it in that for a week and pressure washing all the loose stuff left over...or maybe a hotter solvent like lacquer thinner...? but if that hot wax hit the grain, it's soaked in...so total removal may be impossible....


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## Walt (Mar 1, 2013)

I understand one method of removing wax is to freeze it and then it will shatter. So, don't boil the wood, stick it into your deep freeze and when frozen, take it out and hit the waxed areas to shatter the wax.

Walt


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## hobbit-hut (Mar 1, 2013)

Get the movie Karate Kid. There is something in there about wax on wax off. :rotflmao3::rotflmao3::rotflmao3:


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## brown down (Mar 2, 2013)

duncsuss said:


> Mike, I don't know if this would work but ...
> 
> Coleman's Camping Stove Fuel is rated to be one of the purest forms of naphtha (heptane) and suitable for cleaning oil and grease deposits from the iris blades of lenses.
> 
> It might dissolve the wax and flush it away -- I'd try brushing it on with a bristle (not synthetic!) brush, the cheap ones plumbers use for brushing on acid flux.



thats the same stuff as denatured alcohol and is much cheaper..

I also would recommend boiling it, shouldn't take long to remove


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## Kevin (Mar 2, 2013)

Before boiling it I would try Walt's freezing idea. Never heard of that but if it doesn't work you've lost nothing. If it does, Bob's your Uncle.


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## Mike1950 (Mar 2, 2013)

Now hear me out so nobody takes it the wrong way- but freezing it is out- think about it- where are you going to boil-outside. where are you going to freeze it and make a mes:dash2::dash2::dash2::dash2:s- Mike is married- wants to stay sleepin inside-especially this time of year:dash2::dash2:- need I say any more.


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## Kevin (Mar 2, 2013)

Put it in a bag. Put the bag in the freezer. No mess. No dee-vorce. Simple.


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## Vern Tator (Mar 2, 2013)

Kevin said:


> Put it in a bag. Put the bag in the freezer. No mess. No dee-vorce. Simple.


You may never hear his wife say it, But I think he has a great idea!!" :lolol:


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## healeydays (Mar 2, 2013)

Funny thing is the wife never goes in the freezer as she doesn't cook and I do all the cooking in the house. 

Just found out from the guy I got it from that it was anchorseal so I will boil the wood when I get it setup for the back yard. I hear spring is coming...


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## duncsuss (Mar 4, 2013)

brown down said:


> duncsuss said:
> 
> 
> > ... Coleman's Camping Stove Fuel is rated to be one of the purest forms of naphtha (heptane) and suitable for cleaning oil and grease deposits from the iris blades of lenses ...
> ...



I don't believe so. Denatured alcohol is ethanol with additives (among them methanol, which is why it's called "methylated spirits" in many parts of the world.)

As I understand it, naphtha is not an alcohol, its an alkane (CxHy, not CxHyOz).


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## healeydays (Mar 4, 2013)

I just hear spring is coming, so I'm gonna pick up one of those turkey fryers off craigslist as they never took off in this neck of the woods. People use them 1 time before some friend scares them to death with a video of dropping a wet or frozen turkey into the pot and watching the whole neighborhood burn down. 7 gallon pot should be big enough for what I need to do...


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