Normal Wax

[John Martin]

I've used normal wax and I've gotten a black to dark red coloring on my pieces. I just snuck some of my mom's candles outside and used them. If I don't get all of the scale off the scale turns a deep red. It's strange. Any ideas? anyone else ever tried it?

[jayco]

My wife gets the inexpensive candles at discount stores(Dollar General, etc.) They are usually made of parrafin.
She saves the 'stubs' for me. I take 'em to the shop to use for simple finishes.
I can't recall having any problems with 'a deep red color' though.
I sometimes touch a bit of candle to a warm punch or pair of tongs......merely as a rust preventative.

[easilyconfused]

I have similar problems where I get certain areas that go rust red under the wax and nobody could really answer why either.

[RainsFire]

same happens to me for beeswax.. I actually like it though so no biggy..

[Paragon]

It is probably the oxidation. Once you are done forgins, let it cool down and clean the piece with wire brush/wheel then heat it and then apply the wax. With the low heat needed for the wax application, you shouldn't have any issues with oxidation. Doing this, I didn't have any issues with coloration.

[John Martin]

Okay. Does this way have any disadvatages or advantages over beeswax. Except you can usually get these candles cheaper, like motives, or stick candles.

[gerald]

I'd guess that the red color comes from rust that was on the piece before you began forging and stayed on the areas that you didn;t get as hot as the heated and forged areas. For instance, if you are making an S-hook, the two ends are heated to a forging heat which burns the rust from the surface. The area toward the middle of the hook probably didn't get hot enough to burn the rust off and it got dirty/sooty from being near the fire. as you put the wax onto the surface, the dirty stuff is cleaned off and red (rust) shows thru.

If you want to use parrafin , you can buy it at many grocery stores in blocks. This is usually a cheaper source of parrafin than a candle, votive or otherwise.

[John Martin]

Thank-you for that information, I will look into our local grocery stores for parrafin.

[fat pete]

minwax wax, johnsons paste wax and butchers wax are real good