Tip for melting solid beeswax

[Tarbicus]

Take a cheese-grater to it and melt the flakes in a microwave. Dead easy. No pots and stuff.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Must be a bugger scooping it out of the microwave! :wink:

[Tarbicus]

That's the fun bit.

[Robert]

Why flake it, anyway? Doesn't the microwave just melt the outside to a liquid and then the ball melts in the heated wax? That is the way it works with melting butter. No offence meant, just wondering at the mechanics of it.

[Tarbicus]

I thought it would melt like butter, too, but beeswax actually takes a while to melt in a microwave. For about 3mm melted worth in a cup it took around 1.5 to 2 minutes. Much, much longer than butter. The idea was flaking makes the heating more efficient, where the heat from the already melted wax would work from the exterior of the flakes over a greater combined surfac area, at the same time as the microwaves are cooking the interior and surface.

[Epictetus]

Silly question from a non-reenactor: what do you do with beeswax? Isn't that used in writing tablets?

[Robert]

I see your point, Jim! Thanks for the tip.

@ Epictetus It can also be used to coat the inside of vessels to make them waterproof (but not for hot liquids!)Instead of linseed oil, I have used it to treat horn handles of my knives, allowing the hot wax to soak in. It makes for a lusterous finish when polished and protects the horn from drying out.

[Tarbicus]

@ Epictetus: When mixed with olive oil, it can also (apparently) be used to protect kit. There are wax sprays available for adding a protective layer to ancient finds.

@ Robert: You're welcome.

[M. Demetrius]

Olive oil + beeswax was used for various things, including a base for lip balm and face cream. It will also do a fair job of protecting iron/steel against rust. And it is food safe, as mentioned below, for gourds, wooden canteens, etc. Not so sure linseed oil is safe for those tasks. By varying the amount of olive oil in the mix, one can get a thicker/thinner product. The wax has to be melted, though, to mix with oils.

Beeswax/oil can be used to pretty much waterproof some kinds of leather, too. God bless the bees. :!:

[Crispvs]

If you mix melted beeswax with soot you can also make a dark paste which can be used to show up the recessed decorations on carved bone and wood, as well as being used to mark the numbers on dice. Once it has cooled and hardened up again, it will stick in the recesses for years.

Crispvs

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

And if you add a little pine pitch to that, you get a really good glue! 8-)

[Frank Anthony]

If you mix melted beeswax with soot you can also make a dark paste which can be used to show up the recessed decorations on carved bone and wood, as well as being used to mark the numbers on dice. Once it has cooled and hardened up again, it will stick in the recesses for years.

Crispvs

Crispvs, Is this also mixed with the oil or just brushed it the recessed areas while hot?

[Doc]

I wonder Crispvs, if this formula you mentioned could be used for beltplates to simulate niello. Material wise, its
more accurate than black epoxy resin. It could be possible that niello was not the only black paste used for
inlays. Unfortunately, the evidence only suggests the bronze, sulfur, lead mixture at the moment (I think these are the ingredients)