Anyone make their own carnauba wax?

[WobblyHand]

After looking for ages, finally found a recipe for making carnauba wax. Anyone try this before? From https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/makefurniturewax.aspx

• 1/4 Lb 1/4 Lb. Carnauba Wax (flakes or granules)
• 1 Lb Beeswax (flakes or granules)
• 1 Metal Soup Can
• 1 Qt Turpentine

Start by putting 1 part carnauba wax in the soup can, then place the wax filled can in a pot of hot water and slowly heat until the wax is melted (approximately 185° F.) Once the carnauba wax has melted, remove the can from the heat (it's hot, use some pliers) and add 4 parts beeswax and enough turpentine to cover the mixture. Mix thoroughly, move into an appropriate storage container and let cool.

Think I will try this sometime. Need to get some beeswax and some real turpentine. Oof, real turpentine is expensive!

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[homebrewed]

Turpentine is a solvent in the terpene family of organic chemicals. Another terpene that is relatively inexpensive and readily available is Limonene, also known as citrus oil. I keep some around because it can remove some types of pressure sensitive adhesives that other solvents (like acetone) just turn into slime. I don't like using Goof-Off because it's very volatile and I don't want to inhale its fumes.

So it may be an alternative in your application. And it smells good.

A factoid that is totally different than your need: it so happens that limonene was investigated as rocket fuel because it spontaneously combusts when it comes in contact with RFNA, red fuming nitric acid. It made for a relatively simple rocket engine, but its performance wasn't any better than other already-available fuels. The book "Ignition!", available on the Web, describes it. The main comment was that the combination made the test facility smell "lemon fresh" .

 

[Bruce Billett]

Red Fuming Nitric Acid. Played with that at work. Plugged drains under the tank, things like that. Not NEARLY as much fun as one might think!!

 

[WobblyHand]

I found some turpentine at the paint store. It wasn't that expensive. Hmm, it was $8.95/quart. Not good, not terrible. Apparently a lot of "beeswax" is counterfeit, especially what you buy from A. Lots of folks complaining about terrible chemical smells. Wonder if one of the local farms has beeswax.

 

[homebrewed]

Apparently a lot of "beeswax" is counterfeit, especially what you buy from A. Lots of folks complaining about terrible chemical smells. Wonder if one of the local farms has beeswax.

Stores that sell products for skin care should have the good stuff. I have purchased stuff from soapgoods.com, they carry materials for soapmaking, cosmetics etc. Wanna make your own clown-face sunblock? They've got what you need .

 

[WobblyHand]

Some beeswax on the way. Bought 2 lbs in 1lb blocks, from a beekeeper. This carnauba wax is turning out to be an expensive proposition... But, hey, it will be entertaining, I hope. It will give me an appreciation for my grandfather, long gone, who used to cook up all sorts of stuff on the kitchen stove, for sale in his hardware store, back around 1936.

 

[homebrewed]

Some beeswax on the way. Bought 2 lbs in 1lb blocks, from a beekeeper. This carnauba wax is turning out to be an expensive proposition... But, hey, it will be entertaining, I hope. It will give me an appreciation for my grandfather, long gone, who used to cook up all sorts of stuff on the kitchen stove, for sale in his hardware store, back around 1936.

Beeswax does seem to be expensive but it's been valued for a very long time. Even now on the Oregon coast someone may find a hunk of beeswax that could date as far back as a shipwreck that occurred in 1693. It was a Spanish Galleon. My wife claims to have a hunk of beeswax she found on the Oregon coast but darned if we can find it!

'Course, the reasons for liking beeswax have changed over the centuries. When that Oregon wreck occurred the beeswax seems to have been used to make candles for church use. Apparently beeswax is known for its ability to block the exit or ingress of water vapor -- one project I participated in where I worked was to evaluate the ability of different materials to slow down the ingress of moisture to IC's packaged in various types of molding compound. This was in the 1980's so migrating IC's into plastic packages was at its infancy, and there were many who were very concerned about their reliability -- plastics in general weren't viewed as being particularly good, compared to hermetic packages.

Anyway, it was interesting to work on what must have been one of those fundamental changes in the IC biz, going from really expensive ceramic/hermetic packages to molded-epoxy packages.

BTW, the test "packages" I used in my moisture-ingress study included one that used beeswax. It was really good at keeping moisture out, but other than that had little to offer.