# Removing Hot Wax



## haddenhailers (May 9, 2013)

Got a dumb question for y'all, I ordered some wood off eBay and it came in completely sealed in wax. I need to get a moisture reading on it, plus I need to get as much of the wax off as I can so I can cut it up and send it to my wood stabilizer. Anybody have any experience pulling all that wax off without sanding it, or planing it down?

Thanks ahead of time!

Andrew Hadden


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## DKMD (May 9, 2013)

Boil it


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## haddenhailers (May 9, 2013)

DKMD said:


> Boil it



Fair enough. But what will it do to the moisture content of the wood?


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## Outdoormarsh (May 9, 2013)

Don't plane it. I've heard the wax hunks up the blades a ton. Maybe you could scrape it off with a knife or put it in the microwave. You could search this question on Www.thogamecallsforums.com, youd be very welcome there because you're a call maker, and im sure someone there has the answer.


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## haddenhailers (May 9, 2013)

Outdoormarsh said:


> Don't plane it. I've heard the wax hunks up the blades a ton. Maybe you could scrape it off with a knife or put it in the microwave. You could search this question on Www.thogamecallsforums.com, youd be very welcome there because you're a call maker, and im sure someone there has the answer.



Thanks David. I frequent tho quite a bit!

Thanks,

Andrew


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## DKMD (May 9, 2013)

haddenhailers said:


> DKMD said:
> 
> 
> > Boil it
> ...



I'd imagine you'd want to dry it for a bit after boiling, but I don't think it would take very long. I honestly don't know the answer though. If the wood has been sealed completely, I suppose it may not be fully dry anyway.

I'd probably boil, dry it, and cut it into blanks... That would allow you access to the inner part if the wood for moisture readings.


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## Kevin (May 9, 2013)

What is the species?


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## haddenhailers (May 9, 2013)

It's spalted hackberry Kevin.


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## phinds (May 9, 2013)

I use a paint scraper to get most of it off, as long as the wood is flat


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## haddenhailers (May 9, 2013)

Thanks guys for all the ideas, I'm gonna try the scrapping thing and I read somewhere you can freeze it to make it more brittle. Might try both!

Thanks,

Andrew


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## Kevin (May 9, 2013)

Scraping is what I usually do also. Boiling hack won't hurt it a bit though.


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## haddenhailers (May 9, 2013)

Kevin said:


> Scraping is what I usually do also. Boiling hack won't hurt it a bit though.



Awesome! Gonna try it tonight, then I will need to get this stuff dry. Anybody got a kiln I can send this stuff too?

Thanks,

Andrew


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## DavidDobbs (May 9, 2013)

I use a heat gun works great


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## haddenhailers (May 10, 2013)

Now I know why it was covered in wax!!! :dash2: Sucker pinged out my moisture meter. 

Boo to ebay!


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## Kevin (May 10, 2013)

Seal it back asap if you haven't already.


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## Molokai (May 11, 2013)

Pressure wash it !
it will remove all the wax, i presume. Never did try it....


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## Kevin (May 11, 2013)

Gotta be careful wityh a pressure washer. It can gouge or even rip apart a seemingly solid blank if you get too close..


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## Outdoormarsh (May 11, 2013)

Especially a spalted blank. I wouldn't be comfortable shooting a pressurized stream of water into a spalted (potentially punky) piece of wood


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## dbroswoods (May 13, 2013)

haddenhailers said:


> Kevin said:
> 
> 
> > Scraping is what I usually do also. Boiling hack won't hurt it a bit though.
> ...



Andrew I have a kiln if you need to get the wood dry.

Mark


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