Waxing Yor Own
Recently there was a string about home made dubbing wax on a BB, I have forgotten which.
At the time I wanted to pass on this article which was given to me 2 or 3 years ago.
"Waxing Your Own by Marvin Nolte, Bar Nunn, Wyoming
Make your own tying wax? It is not difficult or expensive. And there is a big advantage: just as with tying your own flies, you can make exactly what you need and what you like. Most tying waxes contain beeswax, rosin, and a softening agent in varying proportions. The amount of rosin determines the adhesiveness of the final product. I use as little as 10 percent rosin in a wax designed to be applied to your fingers instead of the thread, to as much as 70 percent in my favorite thread wax. Pure rosin is too hard to use alone. Beeswax provides some flexibility as well as tackiness of its own. As softening agents I have used lard, beef tallow, castor oil, and sperm oil. Lard or beef tallow were commonly called for in traditional recipes. I use castor oil in most of my current concoctions. Sperm oil makes some superb wax (with a catchy name, folks sit up when I say I am using sperm wax) but, as no one is rendering sperm whales anymore, supplies are limited.
Making tying wax is a matter of melting and mixing the ingredients. I start by melting the beeswax then adding the rosin and the softening agent. Use a low heat (number two out of seven on my hot plate) and mix thoroughly. A long wooden stick makes a good mixing tool. CAUTION! This stuff is hot and sticky; spill any on yourself and it will adhere and burn. The mixture is also flammable. If the mixing pot begins to smoke reduce the heat. Some instructions say to use a double boiler to melt the ingredients. Much safer, yes, but much slower. I have never had a fire using a saucepan directly on my hot plate. Use a saucepan you do not mind dedicating to wax production. Cleaning the wax out of a pan is possible but not easy (he said, understating the case).
I have seen recipes for extra-tacky tying wax, which contain little or no wax. They are made of turpentine and rosin. The liquid waxes you occasionally see advertised are made this way. The rosin is melted and the turpentine added until the desired consistency is reached (talk about flammable, what we have here is crude napalm). This makes a substance that is truly adhesive, but has a least one shortcoming. The turpentine eventually evaporates leaving a powdery residue. This is not a problem if you do not care how long the fly remains intact. Waxes made with beeswax and a stable softening agent stay flexible a long time. Decades in my experience
There are different waxes for a variety of uses: general purpose, traditional (old recipes), finger wax, even wax to polish surgical gut so it resembles silkworm gut. I make a lot of wax; I also give a bunch away. At my last two tying demonstrations (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and West Yellowstone) I gave folks a good five-dozen cakes. The point being that I buy ingredients in bulk. Beeswax is cheapest from a beekeeper (I prefer raw wax; as a bonus you get bee parts and dead larvae). Someone who wants to make a little for
themselves can find cakes of beeswax at craft and leather stores. My last purchase of rosin was two-and-one-half kilos. Rosin can be had for the picking off of wounded pine trees. The dried pitch that has dribbled down the bark makes superior, and wonderful smelling, tying wax.
Here are the recipes for my two favorite waxes. The first is designed to be used on your fingers rather then your thread. Many tiers have discovered that their fingers are too dry to dub fur easily. If they could just make their fingers slightly tacky, dubbing would be easier. This wax is designed to solve that problem. Just rub a little on your thumb and forefinger then dub as you normally would. Rub and dub--sounds like a sexual perversion.
FINGER WAX
Rosin: 15 parts
Beeswax: 30 parts
Castor oil: 5 parts
Paste fly floatant: 50 parts
Melt the beeswax, then add the other ingredients. Mix well. Pour the melted mixture into any container you wish.
The second wax is designed to be used on your thread. Rubbed rapidly over the thread it leaves a fine coating that is very sticky.
FORMULA 721C
Rosin: 70 parts
Beeswax: 20 parts
Castor oil: 10 parts
After melting and mixing, the wax is poured into a small mold. I use non-stick muffin pans for molds. After cooling, the mold is inverted and struck lightly. If the wax cake does not fall out, put the mold into your freezer. Leave it in there for a half hour or so. The wax should pop out of the mold after this treatment. Note that the formula number is actually the proportion of ingredients (C is for castor oil). I have made so many different formulas over the years I had to start numbering them."
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Donald/Scotland
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