Prep wood for casting?

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Brooks803

Brooks803

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I've tried my hand at casting some burl cutoffs already but as I'm going through my box of cutoffs I'm coming across some that have wax in the ridges of the wood. I'm fairly certain that leaving the wax on there and casting is a big no no bc it probably won't bond. Is there anything in particular that's best for taking care of the wax? Soaking in acetone maybe or DNA? Any tidbits of knowledge would be appreciated from anyone who has delt with this.
 
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Don't use wood that has wax on it! If that is not an option, Naptha is the best solvent for wax but even then, you run the risk of some of it still being in the wood. Boiling will remove it 100%, though.
 
The good thing about boiling is that the wax is lighter than water so when it is heated and turns to liquid, it floats out of the wood. I found it best to be sure to weight down the wood so that the wax that accumulates on the surface does not just get back on the floating wood! Also, I found it best to leave the wood in the water until it all cools down. That way the wax will solidify and be easier to remove from the surface of the water.
 
MesquiteMan said:
The good thing about boiling is that the wax is lighter than water so when it is heated and turns to liquid, it floats out of the wood. I found it best to be sure to weight down the wood so that the wax that accumulates on the surface does not just get back on the floating wood! Also, I found it best to leave the wood in the water until it all cools down. That way the wax will solidify and be easier to remove from the surface of the water.
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What Curtis said and if you want to speed it up once the pot cools down some stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours...just make sure if you have any teenagers to tell them it is NOT Soup (DAMHIKT)
 
ElMostro said:
What Curtis said and if you want to speed it up once the pot cools down some stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours...just make sure if you have any teenagers to tell them it is NOT Soup (DAMHIKT)
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HHHHhhhhhhnnnmmmmmmm...........cheap dinner!!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
If you boiled a piece of burl with wax on, how long would the wood then take to be back to the dry state it was before boiling?

As sure if you have a nice dry burl, then boil it. You don't want to have to wait the usual year or so for air drying? Or would it equalize faster as it was previously dry?

PHIL
 
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