Bee’s Wax Finish

[Flash Pan Dan]

A few months ago I made some grips for a revolver and I decided to try using bee’s wax for a finish. So all I had handy was some bow string wax I made a long time ago made mostly of bee’s wax. I put it on and it looked pretty good.

Now it has been 7 months and many thousands of rounds later, and some of those rounds were fired in bad weather, the grips are still looking pretty good.

So how good is bee’s wax as a finish? Is it traditional? Is there a preferred way of putting it on?

 

[tallbear]

Dan
While I know of no record of it being used on guns but it was used in the period as a wood finish.There are records of it being used as a bar top finish.Gary Brumfield one of the Master Gunsmiths at Williamsburg used it quite often and was his go to finish. After speaking to him about it I tried it and was very pleased with the results. Basically using a heat gun you melt the wax into the wood soaking it with several applications until the wood will take no more. A gun will absorb a piece of wax about the size of a lemon. Using this method the wax soaked right through to the barrel channel on the thinner sides. I did find that it needed touching up a couple of times a year and for that I dissolved beeswax in turpentine to the consistency of Vaseline. Rub in and buff off.After four years of heavy use the gun still looked great when I sold it.

Mitch Yates

 

[david50]

give this stuff a look,i have finished two rifles with it and they turned out great. http://www.thegunstockdoctor.com/Products.html

 

[Flint311]

I've used it on more than just gun stocks. Like Tallbear said, heat it in. Repels water well and doesn't make it slippery in wet weather.

 

[Vaino]

Does it become sticky in hot weather? Surely should be "water proof" w/ that much absorbed into the stock. Why the couple of "touchups per year.....evidently the beeswax on the surface wears off and needs replenishing? Sounds interesting.....Fred

 

[gland]

Dan
It's real hard to beat plain old Johnson Paste wax from the yellow can. A little heat and a bit of rubbin' with the heel of your hand. Nice soft look that stands up good. I used to use it on saddles when I was building them.
FWIW

 

[tallbear]

Fred
The finish doesn't become sticky in hot weather or attract bees as some one once asked me :grin: :grin: :grin: .The reason for the touch ups I think is the finish is more in the wood than on top of the wood so with heavy use it shows some dullness .I should add that since I build full time I don't use the finish a lot as the need for touch up does't meet my customers expectations of what a finish should be.I used it on my own rifle as an experiment to see how it would stand up under heavy use.It stood up well and certainly is something to keep in mind when playing with finishes.

Mitch

 

[tallbear]

Here are some pics of the rifle with a beeswax finish.The beeswax was melted into the wood with heat until it would take no more.It is a rifle based on an original South West Virginia style rifle about 1810.

Mitch

 

[Rifleman1776]

Does it become sticky in hot weather? Surely should be "water proof" w/ that much absorbed into the stock. Why the couple of "touchups per year.....evidently the beeswax on the surface wears off and needs replenishing? Sounds interesting.....Fred

When I got my first lathe my first project was a mallett. I finished it with beeswax. Wadda mess. :td: Did not take evenly and left a sticky ugly coating that to this day is even uglier. Picks up dirt and gets extra sticky on hot weather. I have also used a beeswax based finish (Kramer's) that is, in my experience, totally unsatisfactory. Glad you others had good luck. Personally, I don't like sticky.

 

[Robby]

Nice gun Mitch. I like the looks of the finish and have always wanted to try it but lacked the gutzz, HAH! Next one for sure. Thanks!!!
Robby

 

[Vaino]

Really like the low sheen look of the beeswax finish and do obtain nearly the same look w/ my present finish...possibly not quite as "soft". Beautiful LR as usual....Fred

 

[MSW]

i like it! lovely rifle, and i really like the soft finish ... the permalyn stuff is grreat if you want a finish that is (forgive the pun) bulletproof - i've used it on shaving brush handles and it lasts and lasts ... my own brush gets used veery other day and is still unmarked after the better side of a half decade... but it does have that sort of plastic effect which i personally find off- putting in a rifle finish ... i'll give it a try on a test piece ...

do you use plain old beeswax, such as i would get from a beekeeper?

thanks!

 

[blackdog of vt]

I use plain yellow beeswax on all my projects, guns, canoe paddles, knives etc. Nothing but good things to say. Can be buffed with a brown paper bag for shiny finish otherwise its got a great glow. I buff with linseed turp wax combo maybe once a year or so.

 

[MSW]

a brown paper bag ... whoda thunk it ... gotta rememebr that one- thanks!

 

[Robby]

Rifleman, I did put a beeswax finish on a stacked leather handle once. I put on my lathe and spun it at high speed adding wax and holding a terrycloth raw to it till it as too hot to handle. When it absorbed about as much as it could it started to take on a hard shine and when cooled was not sticky. I don't know why but the finish was hard and would scratch like old varnish. My thinking at the time was that the constant high heat from the friction changed the character of the wax. Polymerization was the word that came to mind, but don't know if that is correct. :idunno: You might give it another shot.
Robby

 

[blackdog of vt]

If you have a build up on the surface you are using to much wax. When it melts in wipe the excess off with paper towel, let cool then buff.

 

[freekforge]

dad mixed some bee's wax and olive oil to use on leather and now it is my go to finish for just about everything wood leather metal all my guns (except the modern tupperware ones) have it on the stocks and all my knives have it on the handle and blade

 

[tallbear]

Thanks guys for the kind words about my work.This was one of the my first rifles and while the architecture make me cringe a little now that I have more experience I was very pleased with it at the time.

We are all on a quest for the "perfect" gun finish.I am not saying bees wax is perfect but it is certainly better than a lot that I've tried.

Mitch Yates

 

[blackdog of vt]

Organic finish on an organic tool, I call that a perfect match.

 

[50cal.cliff]

I used beeswax on a knife handle that was used constantly as a fish cleaning knife. The handle was black walnut.

I set the knife handle in a small drink can that had beeswax in it and got it hot enough to make the bees wax liquid.

I let the can set on the burner of the stove for about 30 min. with the heat on it. I kept it just this side of boiling, with the knife handle setting in it.

After 30 min, the knife handle would not take anymore wax and I never had a problem with it, and it was constantly exposed to water and moisture. At the time I did a lot of fishing and it was used at least once a week and sometime two or three times a week. The knife never got anything but a rinse when done and it was allowed to totally air dry before returning to its sheath.

After a couple of years I just re-done the handle in the wax again. IMO its the heat that does the trick. I think it could be done with a stock but you would have to have the beeswax hot and rub it in. A heat gun would help to draw it into the wood in the case of using it on a stock!