I have a small amount of ebony that I need to mill into boards and dry. We're only talking about 5-10 boards here, so I don't need a lot, but I do want to seal the ends with wax. I've seen references to a wax + turp mixture or else some off-the-shelf stuff. Does anyone have a recommendation for a retail product or else a recipe for mixing something up if I have to?
todd
For an off the shelf product, Anchorseal. Rockler sells a namebranded equivalent. Woodcraft has it too. Also works even better is canning wax, melted in a pan and painted on. Second choice, a far distant second IMHO, is old latex paint. I have used paint, and I have been sadly disappointed, so I won't do it again. For your Ebony stash, canning wax melted in a garage sale electric skillet would be my choice. Just dip an inch of each end in the wax.
--
recommendation
disappointed,
Maybe paraffin disolved in xylene? We use a lot of it in histology. The xylenes should evaporate and leave the paraffin behind forming a seal deeper in the wood. It might take some time for the xylenes to escape.
Agkistrodon
For small quantities of dense wood like ebony, then anything (including leaving it bare) would probably work. Plain wax, applied hot and molten, is probably the simplest real technique. Heat a shallow tin of wax, then dip the ends.
If you're doing it on large quantities of rough-sawn timber outdoors, then I wouldn't use hot wax. It has a tendency to freeze as soon as it hits the cold timber, thus giving a poor bond that flakes off later. It's especially awkward for rough-sawn ends.
For "timberyard" scale work, I use a commercial wax emulsion in water ("Chestnut Endseal"). I've also made this stuff at home, but the emulsifier is hard & expensive to get hold of in under 40 gallon quantities. Buying it ready made was cheaper! You _can_ even make it from wax, water and cheap hair shampoo - the main ingredient is a reasonable wax emulsifier.
_Latex_ paint is a particularly bad choice as it is permeable to water vapor--exactly the opposite of what you want in this application.
I usually melt it in a double boiler on the stove but an electric skillet is a great idea.
Maybe but dipping in hot wax is simpler and does not expose the woodworker to xylene vapors.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.