I’ve bought every wax wire on the market- and felt they weren’t
worth the box that they shipped in. They melt at such a low
temperature, that I’d have a hard time attaching them to my model
without them puddling. They also were too soft.
I’ve tried extruding my own, and had a hard time controlling the
diameter and ‘slubbiness’.
I’ve made molds of an assortment of wire stock (including v’ stock
that Ii fabricated in metal and molded) and this was better. Finally!
There is an assortment of hard wax wires, tubing and other shapes
that are precise, carvable, and a dream to work with. They were
invented by an amazing wax carver by the name of Gary Cowdery, are
distributed through Ferris Distributors, and are being sold now
through Rio Grande and Gesswein (and I’m sure some others too). They
are available in a variety of hard carving wax formulas- in very cool
shapes. These extruded wires, tubing, v-stock, clasp stock, prong
stock and more now make it possible to ‘fabricate’ in wax. I’ve been
playing around with the heavy wall tubing, and making hinges is
easier in wax than i have ever been able to do in metal. For more
info check out:
Thanks for the advice, what a great idea. I’m going to be working
near Lowes tomorrow so I’ll go pick up the supplies. As for the light
dimmer, you opened the glue gun to modify the temperature with a
light dimmer? I’m not clear on this, but maybe I can figure it out. I
can’t afford the extruder gun they sell either, so this is great for
me.
I can produce 0.3mm wax dots all day no stopping to reheat.
Can you build wax wire? even if uneven?
A Matte Wax pen and the red wax pellets (there are red, green and
blue pellets for the gun, each with a totally different purpose)
will allow you to make way wire, and when you get good at it, tapered
wax wire. The fellow who developed the Matte Wax tools was at a demo
I went to about 13 years age and I couldn’t believe what he could do.
Made wire basket settings in minutes, was amazing. Takes a bit
of practice, but what doesn’t to do it well.
I think most of the jewelry suppliers carry the Matte equipment. Got
mine from Swest.
no I didn’t open the glue gun, I built a little unit with a socket
and cable and plug so you plug the gun into the unit and the unit
into the mains. I believe there were instructions for a similar
system in Lapidary Journal some time back.
Someone asked how to attach thin wire to the hot tip, you just wind
a few coils round and leave a little tail hanging out. If you are
cunning you can put in a ‘U’ shape so you get a reef knot shape, and
you have two parallel tails, this will pick up and feed wax quite
well.
I took a waxing course from George McLean at Revere ages ago. George
taught build up technique. And George was a very generous person.
So to spread one pearl of his expertise. We used a needle imbeded in
a wood dowel (sewing needles work well). But what makes it work is
the sharpening of the needle’s end. Sharpen it at perhaps a 45 degree
angle. Use like a writing pen; the wax will flow off easily. On the
other hand if one wants the wax to bead up maybe a blunt tip may be
better.
I generally use Sierra Red. Other waxes give different resuts.
As for the light dimmer, you opened the glue gun to modify the
temperature with a light dimmer? I'm not clear on this, but maybe
I can figure it out. I can't afford the extruder gun they sell
either, so this is great for me.
The dimmer reduces the voltage available to the glue gun or whatever
else is connected to it. This causes the glue gun to produce less
heat.
Usually, a standard duplex electrical outlet is connected to the
dimmer. The glue gun is then plugged into the outlet. By setting the
dimmer to a setting between off & maximum
The parts necessary to make this dimmer are all available at any
hardware or home improvement store.
Here’s the parts I used to build mine.
1, 4" square metal electrical outlet box
1, 15 Amp duplex outlet
1, dimmer switch
1, metal outlet cover to fit the duplex outlet & dimmer switch
1, strain relief connector to fit the knockouts in the outlet
box.
1, 6-10 foot long extension cord. The female end will be cut off
& the rest of the cord used to connect the dimmer switch to the
power source.
2-3 feet of wire for connecting the dimmer switch to the outlet.
It’s best to use a metal outlet box & cover. They’ll stand any abuse
they may receive better than plastic components.
Kevin, can you give a source for the sierra red wax please? I like
it best, of all the waxes for injection. however, it seems like none
of the major catalog suppliers, (Rio Grande, Progress Gesswein,
shor,etc.) carry it – thanks
The book is by Hiroshi Tsuyuki (it is printed in Japan) and it is
called Basic Wax Modeling: An Adventure in Creativity.
I just bought both of these books within the last year - for under
$40 each so I was surprised to read this thread.
I checked Alibris.com ( used book site) and same thing found one copy
for $134+ - I don’t get it because I just went to Stuller.com and
searched and found both of these books in stock.
Basic Wax Modeling stock #62-4450 in stock for $31.15
Practical Wax Modeling stock #62-4452 shows in stock $39.71
Hey, I even added it to my shopping cart at Stuller and it showed
up.
you can also check ottofrei.com
they are listed in their tool catalog…
Basic Wax ($30.00)
Practical Wax ($35.00)
Don’t know if they’re in stock there or not. No relation either way -
just wanted to offer this info (hopefully it’s correct)
When I heard that Sierra Red was being discontinued I got all that
Otto Frei had left in stock.
My suggestion would be to contact Kindt-Collins who is, I think, the
source for almost all waxes and ask them if they can recommend a wax
with the same characteristics as “Sierra Red”.
I use a home made wax pen with a custom tip. The wax pen is made
from a 25 watt soldering pen that is wired through a common light
dimmer. The soldering pen gets far too hot, thus you need to drop
the voltage to get the right (adjustable) heat.The best soldering
pen is one that has a short heater element, a heat shield and a
comfortable wood handle. Also, it should have a screw in tip. These
can be found in most large crafts shops in the “wood burning"
department. The tip is made from one of the round tips provided in
the kit. I use the corner of a cylindrical burr and make a well near
the heater end. Then I file the tip down on the sides and underside
to about 1/16” square. Then file a narrow groove from the well to
the tip and bend the tip about 1/4 of the way around a ring mandrel.
On the underside of the very end of the tip, file it parallel to the
flat surface that you would be working on when you are holding the
wax pen normally. To see an example of the type of work that can be
done with this pen see the August and September 1992 issues of the
Lapidary Journal. I used it on the raised goblet shown in these
issues.
I checked Alibris.com ( used book site) and same thing found one
copy for $134+ - I don't get it...
Yes, you are correct about the price of these books. Metalliferous
also stocks the books for around the same price. Sometimes you can
find them used on say Half.com, but they tend to sell for the same
amount (or more as you saw). It’s nice that they retain their value so
well. I liked the first book much better than the second, but both
are really great. Next gift giving holiday, I plan on asking the
hubby for the first one to add to my library as I don’t have my own
copy yet. For all the lady jewellers out there, jewelry how to books
make excellent small gifts for say, valentine’s day, mother’s day,
easter, etc. I usually ask for a book as a gift and every year my
little library grows.
We used a needle imbeded in a wood dowel (sewing needles work
well). But what makes it work is the sharpening of the needle's
end. Sharpen it at perhaps a 45 degree angle. Use like a writing
pen; the wax will flow off easily. On the other hand if one wants
the wax to bead up maybe a blunt tip may be better. I generally use
Sierra Red. Other waxes give different resuts.
I developed a wax Wolf’s Relief Wax to do this kind of build up. We
started with a carveable injection wax and went through 38 formulas
until we created one that I was happy with (adheres to carving wax,
is a delight to carve, isn’t gummy and doesn’t chip). Wolf’s Relief
Wax melts at 165 f (74 c), and is formulated for creating raised
decorative pattern (faux granules, lines, floral motifs etc…) and
for ‘growing prongs’ on carving wax which melts at a higher
temperature. There is a free tutorial on this technique on my website
For years i used a dental pick over an alcohol lamp to do hot work in
wax. This works pretty well, but I it’s easier to get consistent
results with an electric pen. When using a dial pen, i usually draw
lines on the box to mark the ideal temperature for the different
waxes i use. I find it hard to get wax to flow off a long taper- as
the wax tends to stay up where the tip is hotter so i make the end of
the pick or
wax pen tip blunt (I’m eager to try the shape described above!).
I’ve made lots of wax pen tips, including tubing with a variety of
diameters of wire attached to them for faux granulation (i use what
ever heavy wall tubing i have on hand with 14k yellow gold wire).
I’m enjoying this thread! Have a great day!
Kate Wolf, in Portland Maine hosting wicked good workshops by the bay
I’ll be at Stuller’s Workshop Weekend, I hope to see some of you
there!
can you give a source for the sierra red wax please?
Otto Frei carries Sierra Red in Oakland, CA. 1-800-772-3456,
They also carry Sierra Orange and Sierra Yellow. To the best of my
knowledge Sierra Red, Yellow and Orange are all the same wax just
different colors. My personal preference is orange. I see detail best
with that color. Everyone’s different. As far as I know, you could
mix colors and create your own favorite color mixture.