Bees Wax vs. Paraffin Wax

Re: Bees Wax vs. Paraffin Wax

Moses Yoder

The main difference is that paraffin is CnH2n+2 and beeswax is C15H31COOC30H61.

Re: Bees Wax vs. Paraffin Wax

Howard Acheson

Bees wax is not a good lubricant. It's gummy, sticky and soft.

Paraffin wax is what you want to lube the heli gears on table saws. It's hard and much more slippery. Work it into the teeth of the gears using an old tooth brush.

Re: Bees Wax vs. Paraffin Wax

JL

What Moses said.

Paraffin waxes are generally a mixture of hydrocarbons. Oft times can include some branches as well as straight chains - but generally mostly straight chains.

Beeswax typically is a mixture of fatty acid esters. Generally it has one (or more) long chain fatty acids. As an example it can have a fatty acid ester linked to another fatty alcohol. It can also have diesters, triesters, free fatty acids, free fatty alcohols and a few other compounds.

The presence of the free fatty acids and alcohols has a tendency to "gum" things up (IMO). Just like you don't use soap to lube screws and other things (soap being the salt of a fatty acid) - you don't want to use beeswax.

Re: Bees Wax vs. Paraffin Wax

Bob Lang

I like to use beeswax for screws, because of the stickiness. I keep a 35mm film canister (if anyone remembers those) stuffed with a hunk from a toilet bowl ring. I can stick a screw into the wax and just the right amount sticks to the screw. Paraffin tends to crumble when applied to the screw. That's the only place I use beeswax, as the sticky properties do tend to gunk things up.

The reason I've heard for not using soap is that it draws moisture and could make the screws rust over time.

Paraffin is better to make saws and plane soles slippery as you can quickly rub some on.

Bob Lang

The biggest difference is Paraffins can't fly

translation

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

paraffin is a hydrocarbon. As such it is in the family of stuff like mineral spirits and mineral oil, just a larger molecule so that it is waxy instead of oily.

Bee Wax is in the family of vegetable and animal oils and fats, but again a bigger molecule such that it is waxy instead of oily or greasy.

So chemically they are worlds apart.

Screws will benefit from what ever is at hand.

Johnson's past wax for this job

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

It was recommended by the Delta service man, and it is easier to pack in these places.

Re: Bees Wax vs. Paraffin Wax

Lee Schierer McKean, PA

Beeswax is sticky and will stick to your screw threads, so it works well as a lubricant for screws. Paraffin is harder and tends to flake so it doesn't stick to screw threads well. If you want to lube a saw or plane sole, use paraffin. Old short candles work well. Just scribble a few lines on the blade or sole before you make a cut. It works great.

Toilet bowl rings contain some type of wax, but they also contain oils to keep them soft and pliable at room temperature. I don't recommend it for fine wood working as the oil can leave stains or cause blotching in finishes. Most solvent based finishes will dissolve beeswax so they don't pose this problem. Beware if you use water based finishes that you must remove all trace of bees wax or paraffin to avoid problems.

Visit your local bee keeper to get a lifetime supply of beeswax and also some great honey.

Lee

another alternative

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

"The reason I've heard for not using soap is that it draws moisture and could make the screws rust over time."

Soap will promote rusting but the reason is more complicated than the moisture part. Bottom line, don't use it.

Shops that cut metal with a band saw have a stick of some sort of sticky wax that they use to lub the saw blade. It comes in a cardboard tube about a foot long by 1.5" diameter. This stuff is both soft and sticky and it sticks to screws ideally.

Re: another alternative

Bob Lang

OK Bill,

You've aroused my curiosity about the reasons for soap making screws rust. I'd like to hear the complex version if you have time to write it.

regards,

Bob Lang

Warning.....you asked for it

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Corrosion is Black Art. Boggling complicated.

Part 1 Facts: Corrosion can be thought of as an Evil Battery, doing bad. The metal surface will divide into regions of anodes and cathodes. Metal will dissolve (rust) from the anodic regions. (these can switch around as corrosion persists so the whole surface eventually corrodes) Current must flow between these regions to preserve electrical neutrality and for current to flow there must be something to conduct electrons and/or a flow of ions. Soap is a salt and salts are good conductors of electricity. Wet salts are even better and it may be that soap will absorb sufficient water to make it an even better conductor, but it doesn't need to be wet to do its evil deeds. Wax, oil, grease, paint etc are poor conductors so a coating of these things on the surface retards or stops corrosion.

anybody dozed off yet?

Part 2 Speculation Much like a tree oozes sap to protect itself from assault, metals form protective layers of corrosion products that can interfere with the Evil Battery chemistry and slow it down. Some chemicals closely related to the chemicals in soap attack the protective layers or iron and render them less effective. Soap chemicals may behave similarly.

Part 3 Fact : A screw buried in wood presents a special and insidious case of corrosion. The entire buried part of the screw can be the anode and it can corrode like crazy if there is a conductive path from screw to the outside world, as provided by the layer of soap, with or without water.

Part 4: given that we are taking about corrosion there are likely several other soap effects that are also playing a role that I can't think of or don't know about.

Re: Yawn...

Al Stokka - Cambridge, Iowa

Bill,

Good stuff. I don't feel the least bit sleepy either.

I always enjoy and appreciate your chemistry lessons.

Al

Re: Johnson's past wax for this job

John Lucas

I've been using Johnson's paste wax for many years on my saw gears and table tops. I tried using it on my handplanes to make them glide easier but it's much simpler to just use the old candle I've been using forever. I assume the candle is Parrafin.

I use Johnson's paste wax for lubing screws. It's just too easy to just stick the screw in.

I have not used wax on saws. Will have to give that a try.