Where to get a wax pen?

Jewelry Discussion
1

At a store now for a visit. Owner wants to know where to buy a wax
pen, can’t find them anymore.

I had one. Long pen, electrick, covered in cork on the outside, a
stick of wax inserted and it melts, push a trigger and wax comes out.

Someone suggested to me a hot glue gun, might work, but does anyone
know where to get the real wax pen?

Thanks
David Geller

2

Not sure if you mean a wax pen or a wax gun. The real wax gun is by
the Matt company and it’s easy to find – Rio, I think, Gesswein.

The Matt company has a website, I’m sure they can refer you to
dealers.

Elaine

Elaine Luther
Metalsmith, Certified PMC Instructor
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com ™
Hard to Find Tools for Metal Clay

3

Dear David,

I had a similar wax pen a long time ago, got it from a craft store
for dyeing fabric. Haven’t seen them anywhere in years, but perhaps a
fabric dyer might know of one.

What might work is the Matt Wax Gun. It works on the same principle
as a glue gun but uses Matt waxes that are the same consistency as
their carving wax. Its in the Rio catalog.

Nanz Aalund
Associate Editor / Art Jewelry magazine
21027 Crossroads Circle / Waukesha WI 53187-1612
262.796.8776 ext.228

4

Hi Dave,

You sound like you are describing the wax pen I use. Its fantastic
for wax buildup.

Unfortunately it is no longer available. I put pink 8 gauge sprue
wax in the center. It has an adjustable heat control transformer. The
heated barrel melts the wax. The tip has a lever to control the
amount of wax that flows and a trigger that starts and stops the
flow. If you ever find one for sale buy it. I own two. One for
backup. It speeds up the alcohol lamp process by at least 15 times.

It is interesting how things develop. The pen originally came with
about 6 different grades of wax rods. Unfortunately most of them did
not work well in the pen. They required too high a temp and did not
flow well. They clogged the tip. I was frustrated when the pen did
not work because of a clog. I flicked the trigger several times to
clear the clog. The pen shot out wax onto my desk in a very neat wax
spatter pattern. And so a new wax texture was born. I switched to
pink wax sprues and have never had any more trouble with the pen.

I Use the texture as a background on many of my buckle.

The pen is at least 30 years old. The label on the back says:

Hytronic mfg CO 
Seattle, Boingfield, 
Wash Phone number 206-R03-2859

I don’t think this is valid.

I bought one at a local jewelry supply store and the second from an
unhappy user.

Lee Epperson
Lee

5

RIO…the Matt wax gun pg 47 in the tools catalog, Gesswein has them
also.

6

Whaleystudios.com has an inexpensive wax pen. I’m not sure what the
tip looks like, though. It is not clear on their catalog picture.

Bob Rush
@Bob_Rush

7

Your question happens to come up at Easter Time when the Ukranians
are painting their Pysanky eggs. The process usually involves
multiple dying over progressive layers of WAX. If you Google Pysanky
you just might find someone who is selling a wax pen that we all
don’t know about!

Happy Easter and Passover to all,

Dr. Mac

8

I have a wax pen just like the one Lee described that was made by
Vigor, it is however over 20 years old so they may not be making
them. I have seen similar wax tools used for batik (fabric dying)
design work so that may be an alternative.

9

to a google on “batik”. The process uses wax to inhibit dyeing areas
on cloth. There are numerous sites selling supplies and materials,
many different wax pens available.

John Dach

10

David,

Many years ago I got one from a supplier in Seattle called ITT or
IIT. I am not sure if they are still in business.

Sue Ann Dorman
@Sue_Dorman
http://www.suedorman.com

11

The wax pen David is talking about was made by rey industries, which
was swest. If you want that pc you might check with john canor, his
dad was the maker of the unit

Andy " The Tool Guy" Kroungold
Tool Sales / Technical
Stuller Inc
Phone 800-877-7777 ext. 94194
Fax 337-262-7791

12

Dear David,

Sounds like a Matt product. Adolfo Mattiello is the creator. IJS
doesn’t stock this particular Matt product right now, but can
probably get it.

Dan Woodard

13

Thanks all. The client who wanted one wanted the old fashion one.
Someone told me KERR had pne and I passed that name to him

Thanks
David

JewelerProfit, Inc.
510 Sutters Point
Atlanta, GA. 30328
(404) 255-9565 Voice
(404) 252-9835 Fax
david@JewelerProfit.com

14

I googled Pysanky, and Kistka, to find out about the wax pens
Ukranian’s use to decorate Easter eggs. The elecetric Kistka looks
very much like the one Sara Sanford described in her article in
Lapiday Journal a couple of years ago. She gave detailed instructions
for making one using an electric wood burning tool which she adapted.
It is inexpensive, easy to make and worth investigating.

Alma

15

Its amazing what’s out there on the web. Alma’s post led me to look
for the wax pen used in egg decorating. Its called a Kistka. The old
style is a small metal funnel on the end of a wood handle. Just like
build up with a dental tool the metal tip is heated in a candle then
wax is melted in the funnel. Wax is then applied by the Kistka to an
egg. The funnel has to be continually heated.

There are electrically heated pens that might work well for jewelry
wax build up. My guess is that the electric Kistka pen would have to
be connected to a variable electric source to allow different tip
temperatures for different waxes. It appears that bees wax is
normally used in the Kistka.

Some of the electric Kistka come with interchangeable tips to
control the amount of wax that is applied.

The electric pens are very inexpensive.

There was an electric pen on the jewelry market many years ago that
had a funnel to hold wax. That tool had a trigger that would start
and stop the flow of wax.

You might want to check out these sites if you wish to see what an
electric Kistka pen looks like.

http://craft-stop.com

Lee Epperson

16 
I have a wax pen just like the one Lee described that was made by
Vigor, it is however over 20 years old so they may not be making
them. I have seen similar wax tools used for batik (fabric dying)
design work so that may be an alternative.

I’ll say again, Vigor no longer exists…

17

There are also the “tjanting” wax pens used to make batik–
Indonesian dyed fabric see:

Item Number: BDP

Item Number: 64906-0000

jesse

18

Hi All…

The Vigor wax pen discussed here on Orchid is model CA-2725. The
original unit was the Hytronic unit that despensed wax like a
miniture glue gun. Rey Industries produced model 5373 similar to the
Hytronic unit. Swest bought Rey Industries and produced it as Swest
model 160-770, for a short time. We still have a few remaining repair
parts for these wax pens and may be able to repair a broken unit.

Hope this helps.
John Cranor, The Jewelry Equipment Dr.

19

Just a thought: don’t people who do “batik” use wax as a resist.
Perhaps there’s a tool that they use that might function as a wax
pen, in addition to what others have already mentioned: Matt’s wax
gun.

K Kelly

20

For those interest in wax pens,

Its strange how things work out. I never knew what a kistka was. The
name appears in an Orchid post. A google search shows both simple and
electric wax pens called kistka used in Ukrainian egg decoration.

With in days there is a a Discovery presentation on TV using the
kistka in decorating eggs and an article in Lapidary Journal showing
the use of a kistka to put a wax resist on silver. Check out page 88
and 89.

The kistka, either electric or non-electric, might make a good tool
for wax build up. The tool is very inexpensive. The article says the
kistka can be bought in a hobby store. It is also available through
the web.

Lee Epperson