| Zen Cue Wax Chemistry [message #1006611] |
Sat, 06 May 2006 18:17 |
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It's been about four years since I last made a batch of cue wax. The
formula is pretty simple:
40% pure carnuba wax, melted in double boiler
20% beeswax or paraffin
40% ... was it acetone or toluene?
I had some acetone on hand, so I tried that first. Hissss, POP,
crackle! The stuff foamed and jumped like water in hot oil. I'm still
scraping hardened wax off the stove.
A quick Google informed me of my error:
Carnuba wax melts at 83 degrees C.
Acetone boils at 56 C.
Toluene boils at 110 C.
At any rate, now I have a pint mason jar of cue wax which will last
another four years. Cost: about $20.
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| Re: Zen Cue Wax Chemistry [message #1006640 ] |
Sun, 07 May 2006 15:37 |
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"Dhakala" <NoPoliticalCalls [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1146932240.515246.288780 [at] i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> It's been about four years since I last made a batch of cue wax. The
> formula is pretty simple:
>
> 40% pure carnuba wax, melted in double boiler
> 20% beeswax or paraffin
> 40% ... was it acetone or toluene?
>
> I had some acetone on hand, so I tried that first. Hissss, POP,
> crackle! The stuff foamed and jumped like water in hot oil. I'm still
> scraping hardened wax off the stove.
>
> A quick Google informed me of my error:
>
> Carnuba wax melts at 83 degrees C.
> Acetone boils at 56 C.
> Toluene boils at 110 C.
>
> At any rate, now I have a pint mason jar of cue wax which will last
> another four years. Cost: about $20.
>
You're lucky to be alive and unhurt.
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| Re: Zen Cue Wax Chemistry [message #1006642 ] |
Sun, 07 May 2006 18:21 |
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Roger Orsulak wrote:
> "Dhakala" <NoPoliticalCalls [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1146932240.515246.288780 [at] i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > It's been about four years since I last made a batch of cue wax. The
> > formula is pretty simple:
> >
> > 40% pure carnuba wax, melted in double boiler
> > 20% beeswax or paraffin
> > 40% ... was it acetone or toluene?
> >
> > I had some acetone on hand, so I tried that first. Hissss, POP,
> > crackle! The stuff foamed and jumped like water in hot oil. I'm still
> > scraping hardened wax off the stove.
> >
> > A quick Google informed me of my error:
> >
> > Carnuba wax melts at 83 degrees C.
> > Acetone boils at 56 C.
> > Toluene boils at 110 C.
> >
> > At any rate, now I have a pint mason jar of cue wax which will last
> > another four years. Cost: about $20.
> >
>
> You're lucky to be alive and unhurt.
Aren't we all, in these perilous times? :-)
This mishap reminded me of my early experiments with batik dyeing. I
was in second grade, and one of the original latchkey kids of a single
mother who worked retail hours.
I'd read about batik, a technique in which cloth is painted with molten
wax and dipped in dye, leaving the waxed parts undyed. I decided to try
it on the kitchen stove.
We didn't a double boiler, so I found a small cosmetics jar, perhaps
1.5 inches in diameter and three inches tall. I filled it halfway with
bits of parafinn and put it on the gas stove's burner.
The results were fascinating. The wax quickly melted, then boiled, then
skyrocketed out of the narrow jar.
The stove caught fire. Black soot stained the ceiling. I don't recall
what I yelled but it was loud.
I turned off the burner and put the fire out with a wet dish towel. I
cleaned up the spots of molten wax as best I could, but the telltale
ceiling stains were beyond my reach.
The next thing I knew, I was in a Catholic military school!
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| Re: Zen Cue Wax Chemistry [message #1006643 ] |
Sun, 07 May 2006 18:41 |
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"Dhakala" <NoPoliticalCalls [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1147018912.789795.132330 [at] j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> The next thing I knew, I was in a Catholic military school!
>
Aren't all Catholic schools military in nature?
Roger - proud product of Catholic grade school and high school, and brother
of a nun who was, until recently, the principal.of a Catholic grammar
school.
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| Re: Zen Cue Wax Chemistry [message #1006644 ] |
Sun, 07 May 2006 19:30 |
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Roger Orsulak wrote:
> "Dhakala" <NoPoliticalCalls [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1147018912.789795.132330 [at] j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >
> >
> > The next thing I knew, I was in a Catholic military school!
> >
>
> Aren't all Catholic schools military in nature?
Yes, in terms of regimentation and inculcation of blind obedience. This
one had the advantages of overt drill sergeants, a hierarchy of ranks
that allowed older students to bully younger ones, marches with
shouldered rifles as punishment for dropping one's missal during Mass,
etc.
Oddly, I won a medal for being the Outstanding Cadet of the year in 6th
grade. The following Fall, I finally figured out how to get myself
expelled without tarnishing my preciouse "permanent record."
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| Re: Zen Cue Wax Chemistry [message #1006647 ] |
Sun, 07 May 2006 23:38 |
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Roger Orsulak wrote:
> "Dhakala" <NoPoliticalCalls [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1147018912.789795.132330 [at] j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
>>
>>The next thing I knew, I was in a Catholic military school!
>>
>
>
> Aren't all Catholic schools military in nature?
>
> Roger - proud product of Catholic grade school and high school, and brother
> of a nun who was, until recently, the principal.of a Catholic grammar
> school.
>
>
I've got Catholic kindergarten through high school and 1 year catholic
college. Plus I've been beaten by a nun. Unfortunately I married a
heathen Luthern 40 years ago and was told by a priest that I was
excommumicated for such a terrible sin. I wonder what happened to the
same priest when he married a nun. LOL
PatH... a fallen angel
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| Re: Zen Cue Wax Chemistry [message #1006689 ] |
Mon, 08 May 2006 20:14 |
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>The following Fall, I finally figured out how to get myself
expelled without tarnishing my precious "permanent record."
Now, *that* sounds like a story worth telling, or re-telling by a
Hamster!
Teo
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