I have been using Renaissance Wax for sealing the patinas on my
copper and silver pieces. The problem is that some of my pieces have
a lot of texture which the Ren.Wax builds up in - so it doesn’t look
so great and is time consuming to buff away. Is there a mist type
sealant that would work protect as well as Renaissance Wax?
Thanks,
Margaret
Margaret, I was just waxing my work tonight. I really believe that
Renaissance Wax is the best of all of the things that I’ve tried;
lacquers, varnish, etc… I sing its praises :o)
My work is heavily textured and has lots of recessed areas as well,
and my fingers just don’t heat the wax up enough to spread thinly
and get the wax even and into all of the recessed areas. So, I put
my work on a coffee mug warmer on a low setting after I apply the
wax using an old brush to get it into the deeper areas, and then
when the wax glistens a little, I use a fluffy hand towel to wipe
off the excess and a very soft natural bristled water color brush to
get into the deeper areas. Then I buff the high spots with a
polishing cloth.
Wash the brush out with mineral spirits or some other solvent before
using it again.
I love this wax. I have some pieces that includes some copper areas
that have retained their polish for three years now, no tarnish. And,
I also have some patinas have held up to some abuse. In my experience
it is the best that I have found.
Good luck,
Michael Johnson of Cosmic Folklore Studios
http://cosmicfolklore.ganoksin.com/blogs/
If you are trying to seal high copper alloys, Incralac is great. It
is a lacquer made specifically for copper alloys. You can get spray
cans of it from http://www.customaerosol.com/products.htm
It is a bright/glossy lacquer but this can be “toned down” by
waxing. Used mostly for bronze sculpture surface protection, is UV
inhibiting, easy to remove if needed (special solvent) and
reapplied. Just a thought.
John Dach
Margaret,
It sounds like you are using way too much. You only need a very thin
film. If I accidently get too much down in an area that is hard to
get to, I’ll gently warm it until it melts and then use a cotton swab
or a little cotton spun on a toothpick to remove the excess.
Chris
Margaret,
I found a new sealant quite by accident while sealing my resin
inlay. It’s a laquer based matt spray which really holds up well. Do
a test and see if it works for you.
Rust-oleum Painters Touch Matte Crystal Clear Spray
It’s UV resistant and holds up over time.
karen christians
You can also thin the wax in some type of volatile material (paint
thinner, alcohol, lacquer thinner, etc) them paint the piece with the
thinned wax. It doesn’t build up like the 100% wax.
John Dach
What a pain in the butt,(paint thinner, alcohol, lacquer thinner,
etc)! go to a hardware or hobbie store and pick up a spray can of
Mike
Orchidians,
I worked with the ideas people gave me to reduce and polish the
Renaissance Wax over my patinas.
I was going to use the suggestion of a coffee warming plate to heat
up the pieces and then polish with a soft cloth. I then decided to
try out my heat gun and give each piece a shot of heat before I
rubbed it. It worked great and I think it might have been overall
faster then warming them on the warming plate.
Once I did this I was a little miffed at myself for not thinking of
this earlier!
Thank you much,
Margaret
Margaret,
Renaissance Wax is a superb product, but you are right and so were
others, it is a sealant which must be applied to warmed metal.
Conservationists use Renaissance Wax for much of their metal work
and prefer it over lacquer based spray as it sits in a case free of
friction and minimal dust. However, if the jewelry is being worn and
it rubs back and forth on material, the wax can rub off. IF you are
selling your jewelry with the wax applied, you might include a
"caring for your jewelry" insertion.
karen christians