I’ve been asked to teach a short class at a jewellery school here in
lost wax casting using a variety of waxes and so I’m making up some
sculpture wax - this recipe I’ve found has 1 part each rosin,
paraffin, bees wax. And so I need pine rosin. Can anyone help with a
supplier, please?
Brian
B r i a n � A d a m
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
www.adam.co.nz
Hi Brian, try an artists supplier. Rosin is used as a resist in etch
printing as well as a varnish.
Eileen
The only time I’ve ever used rosin, it was back when I was a kid and
studying cello. I imagine that string players still use it, so music
supply places might be a source. Just a thought–
Noel
You can get rosin from a musical instrument supplier. It’s used for
“roughing” horsehair bows on stringed instruments.
Tony Konrath
Gold and Stone
www.goldandstone.com
tony@goldandstone.com
Players of bowed string instruments have traditionally used pine
rosin on their bows. I don’t know if they still use the real stuff
(it’s a long time since my fiddling days), but it might be worth
trying a music store. Good luck.
I had to think back to being a Boy Scout and archery. I’m Pretty sure
we used pine rosin on the sting of the bow to help hold the arrow from
slipping from its position. I suppose you could start from that
direction…archery supplies. Ahh those were the days.
Ron
Violinists use rosin on the strings, so perhaps a music store? Here
in the western U.S. it is sold in 1 lb. bags from companies which
have rodeo supplies…used by bull riders on their gloves. I don’t
suppose you have those kind of shops in N.Z. though.
Donna in VA
Hey, I can help you on this one! Joan Dulla just made some of this
stuff and the rosin is the same as is used on the bows of stringed
instruments such as violins and cellos. Know any musicians? Or try a
music store. Some of the powdered stuff used for climbers and
gymnasts hands are rosin.
Pam Chott
Song of the Phoenix
brian - if it’s regular pine rosin/resin (interchangeable name for a
natural material) try a local sporting goods store who carries ‘pine
rosin bags’ for ball teams - they could put you in touch with a
supplier for larger quantities. good luck - ive ps: just watch the
handling, i used to have a time getting it off my hands,
etc. after being a ‘tom boy’ shortstop in guys’ ball games in a younger
time.
Dear Brian, I went to Google to look up pine rosin and found quite a
few leads. Oddly Ganoksin came up first and the second one was your
own posting in 1997!
Here’s some links:
http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/9709/msg00374.htm
http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/9705/msg00171.htm
http://www.pillc.com/_disc3/00000024.htm
http://hongha.vitranet.com.vn/FEID2/_c/TDT/00000006.htm
Marta
Hi Brian, This may be a “long shot”, but could be worth exploring if
nothing else pans out. Consider trying a large sporting goods
business… possibly wholesale if you can find one. I know American
Baseball players use pine rosin to enhance their grip on bats… maybe
Cricket or Polo players use the same in NZ?
Just an idea! Good luck!
Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com
Brian, Seeing as you are a long way off… my best suggestion would be
to find a rodeo rider - I know for a fact that some very good ones
come from over there! They use rosin powder on the glove, and the
rigging or bull rope. Generally bought in chunks (what you are
looking for) and then pounded to fine grit/dust. This is put in a
coarse cloth bag and dusted on the gripping surfaces. Beleive me, it
does give you a better grip! Most any rodeo cowboy will have some, or
can tell you where he/she gets it…
Brian P. Marshall
Stockton Jewelry Arts School
Hi Brian, I wanted to make the Japanese wax Mitsuru-which contains
pine resin. In 2 years of diligent search, no one who would sell me
less than a 100 gallon drum of refined pine resin. Finally at a
yardsale in Maine, I found a very old box of grafting wax (used to
graft trees)- I figured it must have pine resin in it- & called the
company on the box. I don’t have the # anymore, as I bought it 6 years
ago, but here’s his address, they don’t usually sell small quantities,
but they did sell me 5 lbs for $15 including shipping. Nice folks.
Walter E. Clark IV 550 Greasy Hill Rd. Orange Hill, CT 06477
Hope this helps,
Kate Wolf in Maine where we’re overwhelmed with azaleas and tulips.
You poor Kiwi. Can you find any microcrystyline wax ? Check the
artmetal casting forum and the old bramblebush casting archives.
Bruce Fink uses rosin in his mix and posted his bulk source a while
back. The brown victory wax is a commonly used microcrystine wax and
there is a black harder version that works well 50-50 with the brown
by itself. right now this is what I am using. The white parafin is
used but does not make a good modeling or casting wax. Beeswax is
pretty sticky . Parafin or melting in some heavy streachy polyethylene
can make it harder and less sticky. Thinking laterly you should have
a few rockclimbers there who will use rosin on their hands… Here the
Bullriders use it to help hold on .
jJesse
I used rosin from a music store. Rosin is used for the bows of
violins and cellos, to help grip the strings. It is clear and I am
assuming refined pine resin that the recipe called for. I was also
told in my search, that the rosin in bags used by baseball players to
make their bats sticky ,so they can hold on to it better, is also pine
resin, but I thought that the powder might not be as highly refined.
The rosin I used came in 1 oz pats, was a clear yellowish brown on a
piece of flannel material. I used equal parts of the impression wax
and rosin, with a few sticks of red sprue wax to soften it up. It was
a whole day process but I have the same striating wax like the book.
Good luck, it is fun stuff…
Joan
Is beeswax the same as impression wax?? The recipe i was given calls
for pure pine rosin (resin) and impression wax, but nor information
as to what impression wax is. A friend told me it is besswax, but
before I mix up a batch thought I’d better check with the experts .
thanks for your help. Alma
Alma, There is an actual wax called impression wax. Vesta Ward has
made a couple of wax working videos and in them she uses impression
wax made by a company called Aluwax. It is used in the dental industry
to make tooth impressions. I bought a box and here is what is printed
on it: Aluwax, the perfect impression wax. Aluwax Dental Products Co.
4180 44th Street, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49508. I am not the
one to give this recipe so I’m not certain this is the product they
were referring to. Also I don’t know if this company’s address is
current. If you need to find it I could go back a few years and look
at some old invoices and possibly find out where I
ordered it from. Annette