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Machine wax


Mr Tig
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Can anyone help please? I'm getting to the end of my tub of machine wax and would like to buy some more here in France.

I have tried the usual brico places and our local wonderfully old-fashioned hardware shops (brown coats, separate cash desks, hose, fork handles etc.) with no results. My requests for cire de machine have resulted in blank looks, and attempts to explain what it does have been unsuccessful. Do the questions are:

What's it called?

Where can I buy it?

Thanks in advance,

Brian
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I don't know if it's the same stuff as you want but I  (used to) make my own.

Some beeswax and a little real turpentine gently warmed together - I did this outside over a camping gas stove.  Lovely stuff.

Cheapest place for beeswax I found was a wholesale supplier of beauty products - I don't want to know what they used the wax for [:'(]

EDIT:

Hmm it seems it's not at all what I was thinking of but I found a LINK to make your own

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Ah! By machine wax I meant the stuff that you apply to beds of things like table saws. It prevents rust and also reduces friction for the wood sliding over the table but without staining it.

And thanks for the link. I'm not sure if it's the same stuff. I used to use an Axminster product (http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-machine-wax) but they're a bit cagey as to what's in it.
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This is what I use on my band saw table and the bars and tool rests on my lathe

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-maintenance/bike-lube/bikehut-dry-wax-bike-lube-125ml

It works a treat and doesn't get sticky with dust.

Some more info on the krytol in it as well

https://www.rocol.com/pfpe?keyword=krytox&matchtype=p&gclid=CjwKEAjwhdOwBRDFsYTfhvzX1hYSJAAfCUcLltG3x178vDVORpQNiR0olqftIrXtkOeuJs7aBffxFhoCvJnw_wcB

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Thank you very much, John and Pierre.

I wonder what the French word for this stuff is?

The dry bike lube sounds like the sort of thing the average supermarket should stock so I'll have a search and see what I find.

Thanks again.,

Brian
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I use this product (all that is available locally) Guilbert Express Lubrifiant 'Glisse Bois'.

Unfortunately it is only available in aerosol which I find is wasteful and tends to also end up where you don't always want it to, but it is very good swag.

If I have a relatively large (cash wise) order with 'rutlands.co.uk' I sometimes stick on an order for their Dakota Non Friction Machinery Paste - 70gram - £9.95. Delivery to France is £12.95. Hence the large order reasoning.

regards

cajal

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I have found that if you have an aerosol like that then the least waste is by spraying it onto a cloth and then applying it. That way all of the spray is on the cloth. OK you loose some onto the cloth, but as long as you ain't going to hang around it covers a large area..

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Thanks Cajal,

That gives me a definite product to ask for in the local hardware shop. By searching online I also found a number of French mail order sources in case my request still produces looks of complete bafflement!

And John's tip is a good one. For other aerosols I tend to spray onto kitchen/workshop paper towels add I find I don't waste add much as when I use a cloth.

Brian

Brian
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Its also a good safety measure, it is claimed that dried rags impregnated with Danish oïl can self combust and I'm sure I've seen the same warnings on some of my finishing waxes, not sure if I believe it but I will adopt the tip just to keep the product on the rag useable and to avoid waste.
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A good safety measure, but the danish oil, etc on rags will normally only self combust if they are screwed up, somewhere like in a bin. So laying them flat to dry is OK, but not if you are going to use them again.

The same goes for paper towelling of course. Don't just screw it up and bin it. Lay it out to dry and then bin it, much safer.

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