# A little liming wax



## DKMD (May 31, 2015)

Steve Walker called the other day after texting some pictures of a candle stick dyed and then finished with homemade liming wax, so I thought I'd give it a try. 

This bowl is about 12" by 6". It's elm that had some ugly spalt in the sapwood, so it was a decent candidate for the black dye. The wax is Minwax paste wax with a lot of baby powder and a little mineral spirits mixed in.

For those who want to try it, turn and sand as you normally would then apply the dye... I used the black from CSUSA. After that, apply a coat of something thin... I used Formby's tung oil finish. After it dries, give it the Karate kid treatment(wax on/ wax off) with your homemade liming wax making sure to fill all those little pores. Steel wool helped with clean it up for any stubborn wax spots. 

Oak, ash, and elm are good candidates for this treatment. Honey locust is probably a good choice as well. I'd avoid maple, cherry, and walnut... You want pronounced pore rings.

Steve is working on different colored waxes, and he's done some black wax over a white finish that looked really cool.

C&C always welcome.

Reactions: Like 4 | EyeCandy! 3 | Way Cool 11


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## manbuckwal (May 31, 2015)

looks great Doc, I like that contrast look you achieved !

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## gman2431 (May 31, 2015)

That is awesome! 

I'm just starting to play with dyes and this is super cool. Once I get a little more dyeing experience (mainly getting more on the wood than myself) I would love to try this.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (May 31, 2015)

Wow, I like that! Will have to give it a try someday when I have the right wood. Thanks for the tips, I have a can of that wax that I rarely use, looks like a good use for it...

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## TimR (May 31, 2015)

Nice piece Doc. Your description of process is sure to make some others want to try.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Jerry B (May 31, 2015)

great looking bowl, and excellent explanation re: the process
liming is another thing on my to-do list

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Nature Man (May 31, 2015)

Very nice! First I've heard of liming. Result is incredible. Chuck

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Schroedc (May 31, 2015)

Wow. I like how that turned out. I wonder if you could use other powdered minerals for that same effect but with different colors.......

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## DKMD (May 31, 2015)

Schroedc said:


> Wow. I like how that turned out. I wonder if you could use other powdered minerals for that same effect but with different colors.......



I think so. Steve has used powder charcoal to make black wax, and he was in the process of acquiring some colored chalk line powder for other colors. I would think that any fine colored powder would work. He's done some white pieces using shoe polish(scuff repair) with the black wax that looked really cool... Kinda reminded me of bleached wenge.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Kevin (May 31, 2015)

Got any pics of it before you hid the wood?


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## The PenSmith (May 31, 2015)

Very nice ! Great contrast. And it only takes a very small amount of LW, I was amazed the first time I used it.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Sprung (May 31, 2015)

Keller, that looks awesome! I've played with dye on a couple pieces I've done, but that's just a whole new level of awesome! I'm definitely going to have to give this idea a try sometime.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## DKMD (May 31, 2015)

Kevin said:


> Got any pics of it before you hid the wood?



Nope, but it looked like elm with dirty sapwood.

Reactions: Like 1


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## JR Parks (May 31, 2015)

That bowl looks elegant. Thanks for the tip - on my gotta try it list.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## gman2431 (May 31, 2015)

After filling the pores can you then apply a finish over that? Just kinda brain storming here and was wondering.


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## NYWoodturner (May 31, 2015)

Looks great David. I would have never considered making my own liming wax

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## DKMD (May 31, 2015)

gman2431 said:


> After filling the pores can you then apply a finish over that? Just kinda brain storming here and was wondering.



I doubt much would stick over the wax... Maybe shellac, but I haven't tried.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## bench1holio (May 31, 2015)

Awsome looking bowl david, I need to try some of that wax


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## Steve Walker (Jun 2, 2015)

Ok folks, here it is in a nutshell......just not saying what size of a nut......
Being as I'm waaaay underfunded (read tight ass) , I'm always looking for the alternate (read cheap) ways of accomplishing some of my random ideas. The latest idea was for ash candlesticks, but I wanted to try out the liming wax.
Problem, my "local" woodworking stores are an hour away, and I really didn't want to drop 25 bucks on an 8 oz. can of wax, let alone spend two hours of driving just to go get it (read lazy tight ass). Solution, (this is where the nut starts getting bigger) I work for my neighbor (2nd job) on his farm, and do most all of the spring planting. The seed that is used these days is mostly all treated with all kinds of combinations of critter/fungal killers, which are somewhat humidity sensitive. Because of this, we add talc to the hoppers when filling with seed, which acts as a lubricant of sorts, to keep the seed flowing thru all the planting mechanisms. So, my addled brain tells me that the talc should work to make my own liming wax.
Solution part 2, I had a can of Minwax paste wax that had obviously been on the store shelf since Noah beached his boat ( when I opened it, it was so dry, it had cracked into several separate glacial chunks), So after a bit of web surfing, and reading MSDS sheets, I find out the Minwax uses mineral spirits as the solvent in their paste wax. I've got some of that.

Long story shorter, 2 oz. of paste wax, a "short 1/4 cup of talc, and a dollop of mineral spirits......BINGO, 3 ozs. of liming wax for I figure about 2 bucks or less.

Hints: melt the wax before adding the powder, and add the mineral spirits if you a using ancient wax. With fresh wax, no MS needed.
For colors, a coffee grinder does a decent job of powdering charcoal, but I found an alternate solution. The blue BORG sells chalk line chalk in black.....whodathunkit????? 
of course, the also have red, blue, and fluorescent orange. I've only found yellow online, no one local has any yellow

THE WOOD MUST BE SEALED BEFORE APPLYING!!!!!! other wise you fill every void there is, instead of just the grain lines.
and wipe the wax off as you apply it, DO NOT LET IT DRY BEFORE WIPING!!!!! I learned that one the hard way, but I figure a bone dry piece of ash slathered in wax will make a great fire starter.

Happy wax making to all, and holler if I wasn't clear on any of this.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 2


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