Wax question??

paraffin wax and regular candle wax are pretty much the same thing.
You can get plane paraffin wax in bars or pellets at your local supermarket. I get it at Safeway.
melting the candles will work fine too

I dont know exactly what beeswax will do, but it has a nice texture to it, like butter almost. I'd assume it could be used in place of the microcrystalline wax though your end product will be harder I think.

I enjoy working with it, I didn't mix up the best batch, but it's still great to work with

good luck!

 

KW is the carving wax expert. I used brown, parrafin, beeswax and talc and it wasnt quite as hard as I wanted it to be, probably because of the beeswax which is quite soft (and smells like honey!) and not enough talc.

 

Carving Wax

I believe that candle wax is composed mainly of paraffin, so it would work.

That Jacquard Batik Wax from Dick Blick, which is 50/50
paraffin and microcrystalline wax look like it might work !!!
If you end up buying that (it seems like a good price - $7/lb)
your recipe might look like this (by weight):

1 pound Jacquard Batik Wax (50/50 paraffin/microcrystalline wax)
1 pound talc

The recipe that I am currently using is basically:

(All parts by weight)
1 part paraffin (or white candle wax)
1 part microcrystalline wax
2 parts talc (hydrated magnesium silicate)

I was never able to find industrial talc at a good price.
Everyone was selling 25 pound bags, and I didn't need that much.
So I ended up using Baby Talc Powder (Ingredients: Talc, Fragrance)
The Baby Talc Powder came in 14 ounce containers,
so that was my base weight part.

14 ounces paraffin wax
14 ounces microcrystalline wax
28 ounces Baby Talc Powder
--
56 ounces Total

That makes about 3.5 pounds of Carving Wax.
Because of the Fragrance in the Baby Talc, my carving wax smells like a freshly
dusted baby's bum. :XD

However, I experimented with the recipe, and ended up making about 10 pounds
because I had to convert the experiment that didn't work, into a good batch.
I am so happy that I have 10 pounds of carving wax !!! )

My bad recipe, that I did not like at all, left out the microcrystalline wax,
and only used white pillar candle wax. It was just too brittle for my preferences.

Martha Armstrong-Hand's carving wax recipe looks like this:

(Measured by weight)
9 parts paraffin (Paraffin that melts at 165 degrees F)
9 parts talc (fine grade talc sold through ceramic supply companies)
1 part beeswax (bleached beeswax, sold through candle supply companies)
1 part carnauba wax (hardest wax known - from candle supply company)

As you can see, I left out the beeswax and carnauba wax from my recipe.

My recipe is a modified version of waif's carving wax recipe, which she
modified from Martha A-H's recipe.

(Parts by weight)
450 gm paraffin
450 gm microcrystalline wax
900 gm industrial talc
100 gm beeswax
100 gm carnauba wax

You've got the right idea !!!
It is an amazing material !!!

Not only was carving wax used by Martha Armstrong-Hand to make porcelain BJDs,
it is used by Tim Bruckner, as described in his book, Pop Sculpture to make resin Garage Kit figures, and jointed resin Action Figures.

Basically, the process is:

1. Model the original doll in a soft, easy to use material, such as oil-clay, over a wire armature, supported by a modeling stand.

2. Remove the oil-clay from the modeling stand.

3. Cut the original oil-clay sculpt at the limbs, and head. The wire armature is destroyed. There are six parts: head, torso, arms, legs.

4. Make waste molds of the six parts. Tim Bruckner makes silicone rubber waste molds. Martha Armstrong-Hand made plaster rough shell molds. I make hot-pour moulage molds, which are reusable. For plaster waste molds, the molds must be saturated in water before you pour wax into them. Water and wax do not mix, so the water-saturated molds work just fine. Carving wax does not stick to hot-pour moulage or silicone rubber molds.

5. Pour carving wax into the waste molds. After the carving wax thickens to the thickness you want, pour the excess carving wax back into the wax pot. You end up with hollow castings !!!

6. Balls for joints are also made in carving wax. Martha A-H used plaster ball molds.

7. Tim Bruckner and Martha A-H used a wax pen for working with carving wax. I use a combination of various metal tools that I heat up over a jeweler's alcohol lamp, as well as a low-wattage 25W soldering iron that has the tip forged into a flat spatula shape.

8. Cut the carving wax parts, and add the balls and sockets for joints. The wax pen is used to weld carving wax parts together, such as a ball to a leg to make a hip joint.

9. Test string the carving wax doll parts.

10. Refine the carving wax. It may be smoothed to glass smooth.

11. Use the refined carving wax doll parts as patterns to make the final molds for the doll. If you are making a resin doll, you will use the carving wax to make silicone rubber molds. If you are making a porcelain doll, you will use the carving wax patterns to make the plaster slip casting molds.

12. After your molds are made, you can remelt the carving wax patterns for your next BJD project.

I have other detailed threads here about carving wax.
I also have some information about using it at my weblog.
Carving wax is the bees' knees !!!
)

 

I bought some batik wax (paraffin/micro 50/50) from another company but I have not yet made my carving wax. Maybe I will this week since I went and got baby talc powder too.

One disappointing part of buying things by weight online is when they don't send you the proper weight without saying it is an approximate. 0.o

 

carving wax

I come from a background of casting waxes in silicone rubber molds, or water-saturated plaster molds, so this concept was not difficult for me to grasp. I also have a background of casting ceramic slips, as well as doll composition slips in plaster molds, so the idea of getting a hollow casting is not too strange for me. What was difficult for me to understand was how resin was cast in a flexible mold. Simply put, a resin casting is not a uniform thickness. That was a difficult thing for me to understand.

With the carving wax, and porcelain slip, or composition slip, the idea of the poured liquid making a hollow casting with uniform thickness walls, is all the same. The poured liquid will thicken along the walls of the mold. When the thickness is what you want, pour the excess carving wax out of the mold, into the wax pot. You get a hollow casting.

The carving wax is tough enough to withstand elastic tensioning.

And yet, at the same time, you can modify the carving wax. Carving wax is like having a cast resin doll that you can easily modify. You won't know until you have tried it.
If I thump my Carving Wax Test Doll with my finger, it sounds like I am thumping plastic.

Seconded !!! I am always interested in reviews from new users.
Carving wax has a steep learning curve !!!
Be prepared to experiment.
It requires the kind of patience that drip-drip-drip-scrape requires.
Martha A-H was a perfectionist, and she was highly technical,
according to her fellow doll artists at NIADA.

Carving wax is a professional doll making material.
If you are a dilettante doll maker, nevermind.
:XD

 

hi, i use special sculpting wax from willowproducts, its great wax for sculpting.

 

wax

Someone else is also using the willowproducts wax?
FUSE? Morgan?
http://www.denofangels.com/joints/showpost.php?p=15828&postcount=3

This is the thread:
Wax as a Doll Modeling Material

 

I finally made my carving wax today. Since I used a 2 quart slow cooker I didn't make a whole lot of it, but I think it turned out well.

I used batik wax that was 50/50 paraffin/micro. Make sure when using batik wax that you know what mix of wax was used since I have seen some that are 50/50 paraffin/beeswax.

I have not done any carving yet, but it seems to have turned out well. It is solid and takes scraping well. It does not crack. So it seems a batik mix should be fine. I used baby powder (talc) instead of industrial Talc Powder.

If you want to see more details on my process, please check my blog post on it. Lots of pictures.
Making Carving Wax (Pic Heavy)

 

One tool I use when melting any kind of wax is a thermometer with a stem (for deep-fry?) that I can stick in the molten wax to measure the temperature of the wax. They only cost $2-$3. It is a good idea not to overheat the wax when melting it. When I am melting wax, I hover, and I do not leave my studio for any reason unless I turn the wax pot off. It will take some practice, but you will learn what the best temperature is for pouring wax into different kinds of molds, such as silicone rubber, water-saturated plaster, or hot-pour moulage molds.

If using water-saturated plaster molds to pour carving wax into, you can make more than one casting in the mold, by simply immersing the mold in water (helps the wax casting to release), then dabbing out the excess water from the mold, binding it with rubber bands, and pouring again. Often, I can get three or four castings from a plaster rough shell mold before it gets too rough to cast more into it.

 

That should make you about 4 pounds of carving wax !!!

I am looking forward to hearing about your experiences with your carving wax.

Mothi: Thanks for the link to your weblog, and for sharing your carving wax experiences !!!

I love my carving wax !!!

Carving wax has a steep learning curve, so don't get discouraged.
It is well worth spending the time needed to learn how to use it.
Remember, you only have to do that steep learning curve once.
After that, you'll just get better and better with it, and it is reusable.

 

Miss_Pygmalion: Did you buy the batik wax? Are you going to try carving wax? The stuff is just awesome. I bought 1 pound of Jacquard Batik Wax from dickblick when I ordered some moulage and oil clay. I would love to hear about your experiences with it if you do make some carving wax.

 

I know you can pour carving wax into a silicone mold since I have done it. I would check with the brand you are using and see what materials it says you can cast from it.

You can color the wax. I thought of using crayons for that. Me personally, I like the gray/beige color of my carving wax. The melting wax pot didn't turn the gray/beige until the talc baby powder was added. I don't know if that is because of the baby powder or it is what talc powder does.

I personally really like the carving wax. I love how it doesn't leave a sticky or filmy residue on my hands. It smells nice with the baby powder, it is reusuable, it can be melted and poured into certain molds, and it can be hardened by cooling. But one thing you can't do that you can with clays is hand shape it. Well I suppose you can try that when it is hot, but you will likely burn yourself... so still no.

 

Be sure to post your experience.

What color are you planning on making your carving wax? I would think making the carving wax a little darker would help better view the sculpt, but if you make it too dark I think it would be harder to photograph details. Just like trying to take a picture of a black dog... all you get is a shadow with 2 eyes...ROFL

Some items I find very helpful when working with my carving wax sculpt is a candle warmer and a cup with a pour spout on it with wax in the cup. Although it doesn't melt the wax very quickly, it does bring it to a good temperature and allows me to have hot wax available without having to melt larger quantities. I also do have an alcohol lamp, but I found my style tended to work better with a cup of melting wax nearby. But make sure you stir the wax good prior to using because the talc seems to settle when melting for a while. I do also have a cheap battery operated wax pen for welding parts when needed.

I hope you enjoy your carving wax.

 

I poured my excess carving wax into silicone cupcake molds. Then put those carving wax cupcakes...lol into zip lock bags. That way I can pop a cupcake in the wax pot if I am doing a larger pouring or into my wax cup on the candle warmer.

No idea on the wood burning tool, but seeing as it burns wood... yeah. Probably will burn the carving wax. Don't inhale the wax burn off.

Now that is tempting me to add some blue and gray into my carving wax. hm...

 

Miss Pygmalion, be careful about the jar you put on your candle warmer!
Unless the jar is tempered to withstand heat from the bottom it could crack or worse.

I still need to color my wax. It's super hard to see detail in the beeswax as is.

 

I have an electric hot plate and an old aluminum pressure cooker pot (no lid) that I use for my wax pot. Over the years I have made marks on the dial of the hot plate, so I know exactly where to turn it in order to melt wax, or to just warm it up for modeling.

When I melt wax, I always have an extra water-saturated plaster mold to pour the wax into. It is a flat mold. Before the wax hardens in that mold, I score it with a knife, so I can break it up into pieces later on. This post has an example. Little tricks like this can really help in the studio.

Also, when I melt my carving wax, the talc will migrate to the bottom of the wax pot, so I use those pieces of carving wax to stir the melting carving wax in the wax pot really well before I pour it into my molds. I have found that stirring with pieces of carving wax also helps to cool the molten wax down just a wee bit. You'll have to experiment to find out what works for you.

I am looking forward to seeing what you do with your new carving wax, and to hear about how you like it.

 

To stir I just used a bamboo kabob stick. So it can be something simple. I do throw away the stick when I am done though. In my wax cup that sits on the candle warmer, I use a metal sculpting tool to do the stirring. So I suppose a metal spoon or fork would work. The only thing with metal is that it can scrape the sides and leave possible scratch marks long term? No clue. Just make sure what you use can withstand the temperature, is strong enough, and if it is disposable that it won't collect a lot of wax you can't salvage off of it. Otherwise you end up throwing away good wax. Oh and you want to make sure what you use is for the wax pot only and not for eating from...haha

 

I would use the pot that is large enough to melt all the wax and talc.
The crock-pot I would avoid because I do not know what the temperature settings are?
Also, you said it was too small to melt very much wax?

You do not want to ever use a wax pot for food, once it has been used as a wax pot.
Use an old stainless steel spoon to stir the wax and talc. Do not use the spoon for food again.
Melt the wax, then stir in the talc. Do not let the wax get too hot.

BE SAFE.
I never leave my wax pot when I am melting any kind of wax.
If you must leave your studio for any reason when the wax is melting, turn off the wax pot.

Have everything ready before you start melting the wax.
Are your molds ready to pour? Have you dabbed out all excess water in the molds?
Is there a nice level space to set them for pouring?
I always pour wax into molds that are setting on newspapers, in case of spills.

How are you going to pour the wax? Are you going to pour it directly from the wax pot?
Do you have some leather gloves to handle the hot wax pot?
For small molds, I use a metal pouring cup with a handle, dip wax from the pot, then pour it into the molds.
But for large molds, I pour directly from the wax pot.
That is another reason I like the aluminum wax pot. I think it is lighter in weight than a ceramic crock pot?

Also, where are you going to put the wax that you do not use?
Are you going to leave it in the wax pot?
What if you have a lot of wax left over in the wax pot, and only need to melt a small amount for the next mold?
Are you going to remelt all the wax in the pot for one small pour?
See my previous post about handling excess wax.

These are just some things to think about.
I have been using waxes of various kinds in my studio for decades, and have not been hurt.
Safety First! Treat molten wax with a lot of respect.
Know what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, and work safely.
Working safely includes having everything prepared, wearing proper clothing,
using proper safety equipment, and following proper work flow procedures.

Hopefully helpful.