Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Plane lubricant, candle wax o.k. ?
Alan Tolchinsky
>Hi All,
I saw somebody rubbing something on their plane bottom and thought it looked like a candle. So I tried this on mine and it really reduced the friction. I usually use some Johnson's paste wax but the candle wax is faster to apply. What do you use for the sole lubrication? Thoughts on candle wax? Thanks. Alan in Md.
Re: Plane lubricant, candle wax o.k. ?
Dan Clermont
>I use good old candle wax on my plane soles all of the time.
It has never affected a finish or at least that I have noticed.
Dan Clermont
Ditto
Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
>
Re: Plane lubricant, candle wax o.k. ?
JL
>Renaissance wax for me.
Re: Plane lubricant, candle wax o.k. ?
ydb1md
>I prefer beeswax to candlewax. It's adheres to the plane sole better than parrafin wax and smells good to boot. Waxing the bottom of the plane provides an amazing difference in the effort needed to work the wood.
Re: Plane lubricant, candle wax o.k. ?
Greg Bétit, Vergennes, VT
>I use canning parafin- it comes in 1/2" X 3" X 5" blocks. I like to keep the planes off wooden surfaces (on the theory that wood is somewhat anhydrous...), so I set them on a block of parafin for storage. Makes the parafin handy (- pick up the plane, a couple swipes with the parafin block, and I'm ready to go.)
Greg
And also
Jim Reed @ Tallahassee
>Make sure the bottom of your plane is bright and shiny. Dark spots and brown rust create lots of friction.
Anhydrous? 'Splain Greg
Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(
>
Me three...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>Parrafin wax is wat I use too.
Re: Yup!
William Duffield, on the Cohansey
>Same here. There is a block of beeswax in the same drawer as the old candle stubs, so whichever is at hand is used.
Re: And also
Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(
>Rubbing beeswax on your habdsaws is also a good practice. Really makes a big difference in the quality of the cut I find.
Todd O.
I don't get it Greg
Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(
>I like to keep the planes off wooden surfaces (on the theory that wood is somewhat anhydrous...),
I finally looked up anhydrous in the dictionary and it says:
1)without water 2)having no water of crystallization;not hydrated
sooooooooooooo what's this to do with setting planes onto wood? I'd think that this would be exactly the type of surface that you'd want. It's what I use. Can't believe that it could be harmful in any way.
Todd O.
Re: Plane lubricant, candle wax o.k. ?
John Snyder, Pocono's PA
>Me too - paraffin seems to work best in my shop. I drill a hole through a block of it & hang it on a finishing nail by the vice in my bench - always there when I need it ...
JS
Is anhydrous the right word here?
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>Dictionary.com says: "free from water and especially water that is chemically combined in a crystalline substance." Chemically combined, no, but I haven't seen much wood, except maybe in the Painted Desert, that's free from water.
Re: Is anhydrous the right word here?
Warren in Lancaster, PA
>Hygroscopic (readily taking up moisture) might be a better choice in this case. Many anhydrous chemicals are also hygroscopic.
Re: Is anhydrous the right word here?
Greg Bétit, Vergennes, VT
>Bill's right, what I meant is the exact opposite of anhydrous.
Wood attracts moisture somewhat, or it seems to- I noticed old tools that were in contact with wood for long periods of time sometimes were pitted more at the point of contact than other places. For example folding draw knives- pitted at the point that the wood handle touches the blade. And saws- rusted more where wooden tooth guards touched them. So I don't like to leave planes touching bare wood.
Greg
Re: I don't get it Greg
Greg Bétit, Vergennes, VT
>Sorry Todd for the confusion. I used the wrong word. (Check my post above.)
Greg