Do you wax your rods?
Moderators: pmcroberts, uniphasian
Re: Do you wax your rods?
#41Only during bikini season.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. T.R.
Re: Do you wax your rods?
#42I occasionally put Minwax paste wax on my rods (wax on wax off) shotgun stocks *and* barrels, and other firearms, metal parts, wood parts.
Tom Harmon (RIP) owner of the old Harmon’s Fly Shop, Sheridan, MT, taught me that trick years ago. He was the most knowledgeable gun guy I’ve ever met. He said he used it on everything. I now do.
Tom Harmon (RIP) owner of the old Harmon’s Fly Shop, Sheridan, MT, taught me that trick years ago. He was the most knowledgeable gun guy I’ve ever met. He said he used it on everything. I now do.
Re: Do you wax your rods?
#43Ditto!Hellmtflies wrote: ↑10/30/13 16:29I used to wax my rods with Butcher's too until I was cursed by a notable rod maker. His concern was that varnish needs to breath. Once you place wax over the varnish that halts the exchange of air and gases and moisture. Also, having the wax build up was a nasty issue to deal with when making a repair. It apparently creates a mess while trying to remove old varnish if needed and replace it with the new coat. I have stopped the practice of waxing rods.
Varnish is the finish and if anything needs polishing, it should be the varnish. As for impregnated rods, that's a different story.
Re: Do you wax your rods?
#44Hellmtflies wrote: ↑
10/30/13 16:29
"I used to wax my rods with Butcher's too until I was cursed by a notable rod maker. His concern was that varnish needs to breath. Once you place wax over the varnish that halts the exchange of air and gases and moisture. Also, having the wax build up was a nasty issue to deal with when making a repair. It apparently creates a mess while trying to remove old varnish if needed and replace it with the new coat. I have stopped the practice of waxing rods."
I'm pretty sure this is false. Several years ago, the Forest Product Lab did some tests on the "moisture excluding effectiveness" of different wood finishes. That is, how effective finishes are at slowing the exchange of water vapor between wood and the environment. Paste wax had close to zero effectiveness. So, wax is an excellent repellent of liquid water but not water vapor. It also will absorb the small dings that would otherwise nick the varnish. It also will make older varnish that has dulled shine brightly (cosmetic).
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1987/feist87a.pdf
As far as being a mess to remove, again this is false, unless we're talking about silicone-based wax because it's near impossible to remove silicone contaminants. Naphtha makes short work of paste wax removal. The reversibility is the reason that museum conservators use wax on historic pieces: makes them shine, protects the original finish from acidic dust (yup - it's a thing in a museum), and can be removed without harming the original finish, assuming it is intact and not softened or over-oxidized.
--Rich
10/30/13 16:29
"I used to wax my rods with Butcher's too until I was cursed by a notable rod maker. His concern was that varnish needs to breath. Once you place wax over the varnish that halts the exchange of air and gases and moisture. Also, having the wax build up was a nasty issue to deal with when making a repair. It apparently creates a mess while trying to remove old varnish if needed and replace it with the new coat. I have stopped the practice of waxing rods."
I'm pretty sure this is false. Several years ago, the Forest Product Lab did some tests on the "moisture excluding effectiveness" of different wood finishes. That is, how effective finishes are at slowing the exchange of water vapor between wood and the environment. Paste wax had close to zero effectiveness. So, wax is an excellent repellent of liquid water but not water vapor. It also will absorb the small dings that would otherwise nick the varnish. It also will make older varnish that has dulled shine brightly (cosmetic).
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1987/feist87a.pdf
As far as being a mess to remove, again this is false, unless we're talking about silicone-based wax because it's near impossible to remove silicone contaminants. Naphtha makes short work of paste wax removal. The reversibility is the reason that museum conservators use wax on historic pieces: makes them shine, protects the original finish from acidic dust (yup - it's a thing in a museum), and can be removed without harming the original finish, assuming it is intact and not softened or over-oxidized.
--Rich