I have an older hand pump wax injection pot with some old pink wax in
it that I’m sure I way over heated. I think I killed it by over
heating and it totally needs replace, and I want a wax I can carve
after injecting. I’m curious what would be the best way to go about
cleaning and replacing the the wax in the pot? Any good tips or
tricks would help a lot this being the first time I have ever
replaced wax in a wax pot. I order some of the new Kerr carveable
injection wax to replace it with and was wondering if anyone has had
experience with it yet and what they think?
Donnie
Don- I’ve done this many times. Warm up your pot. Pour out the old
wax and very carefully wipe clean with a paper towel. Then you add
your new wax. I have yet to find an injectable wax that was hard
enough to carve like the hard carving wax. The carving wax is not
very good for injecting waxes.
Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
www.timothywgreen.com
Hi Donnie,
I use a handle to pull most of the old wax out of my injectors. You
need to get a hold of the block of solidified wax so you can pull it
out. Metal chain you can get at a hardware store, with links around
1/2" works well. Use a piece around 12" long; shorter on a smaller
wax pot. With the top lid off your injector, lay a length of metal
pipe or rod or a wood dowel across the top, and drop both ends of the
chain into the liquid wax so the middle will lay over that rod. Now
turn it off, and let it solidify.
When solid and cold, turn the heat back on. Check it every few
minutes to catch it when just enough wax melts around the edges so
the large chunk of wax will pull free and lift out. Lift it out with
the chain that is stuck in the wax. You need to work it around any
points that stick into the pot like the temperature probe, or if the
nozzle outlet sticks in. Try to get as much out in one chunk as you
can.
Once you have the big chunk of wax out, turn off the pot. As the wax
starts to cool, but is still soft, you can scrape the sides and
bottom with a plastic or wood spatula or stick (not metal - you
don’t want to scratch it up).
For the last little bits remaining, turn the pot back on to melt
again. Use a paper towel to remove the last of the wax, and all of
the garbage and dirt at the bottom. Then in goes your new wax.
I have not used Kerr carveable wax. I have used a blue carveable wax
we got from Rio Grande, and liked it quite well.
Good luck,
Paul
I'm curious what would be the best way to go about cleaning and
replacing the the wax in the pot? Any good tips or tricks would
help a lot this being the first time I have ever replaced wax in a
wax pot. I order some of the new Kerr carveable injection wax to
replace it with and was wondering if anyone has had experience with
it yet and what they think?
I clean out my wax pot whenever I change waxes. First I heat it up
and pump out all the old wax I can get out. I empty it into disposable
deli containers. When I’ve got out all that will pump out, I melt
some plain paraffin wax in it and pump that out to flush it out. (Be
careful, paraffin sticks to skin and will burn you! and it will
spatter like mad when the pot gets close to empty…) I melt a couple
pounds of paraffin at a time until it comes out clear instead of
colored with dye from old waxes. When no more colored wax is coming
out, then I wipe out the pot with wads of paper towel until it’s
completely clean. Then I do any necessary maintenance such as
changing o-rings or seals before refilling it.
I was using the Kerr accucarve purple wax and liked it, but I think
the formula got changed a couple years ago. It went from carveable to
brittle in one shipment of wax and never changed back. I switched to
the blue Plast-o-wax (Castaldo, I think?) and I like that much
better.
Kathy Johnson
Feathered Gems Jewelry
Simple enough. As Jo says, heat it up, pour out the old wax into
whatever container is handy (I pour it directly into a half full
trash can) and wipe it out with paper towels. If you ever wish to use
that wax again, use the cheap Rubbermaid containers. If I am changing
to a different kind of wax, after the above two steps I flush it out
with paraffin by filling it about half way, heat it up until it has
the consistency of water, air it up, squirt some out of the nozzle,
pour the rest out and wipe out with paper towels. Fill it with the
new wax, heat it up, air it up and squirt some out of the nozzle
until it comes out with no paraffin.
Five minutes of labor punctuated by hours of heating.
I use Plast-O-Wax mainly. It is kind of carveable, but no wax that
works well for injecting is ever going to be really good for carving
and vice versa.
Dave Phelps