Black transfer wax

Dani Girl

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Can someone save me a minute and do an experiment.

Someone with a can of tranfer wax with lamp black mixed through it.

Try a transfer and spray it with hair spray to fix the design so it can't be rubbed off.

Thanks :thinking::tiphat:
 

Sam

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I have failed miserably at making a black transfer wax, but I can tell you that Churchill mixes a bit of lampblack with transfer wax into a paste and rubs it into the engraving and then wipes off the surface before he pulls the design. I find it cumbersome, mainly because it's not part of my transferring workflow, but he seems pretty comfy with it.
 

Sam

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Since it's a greasy-waxy transfer, I don't think there's anything that will prevent accidental wipe-off.
 

Leland Davis

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I have used the chapstick and black paint pigment for years as an inletting black. I got the recipe from 1 of the flintlock sites. For transfers I had to mix in some bees wax to stiffen the mixture now I am using it for transfer and inletting.
 

monk

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i fiddled with black for a time. initially i thought it was a better way to go. like, sam, i found my expectations were not met. when wax is called for i usually use sams' wax. he sells his in small tin containers. i've probably spent 50 bucks ( us dollars) in trying to find the "holy grail" in waxes. if you experiment with chap stick(lip balm wax) do not use the medicated type !! it is an objectionable odor.
 

Dani Girl

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Latest brainwave...

ground pencil lead or some kind of pigment shaken over workpiece with wax transfer on it. Then hairspray to fix it? No?

I know, i know... i should get in the shed and try it myself, but.... there's a big spider in there.
 

Roger B

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Sorry Danae,

I'm pretty sure the spray lacquer won't set the transfer unless the layer is quite thick - the problem here is that it would probably crack when you try cutting through it. :beatup: As for the pigment I would try lamp black which you can get from artist supply stores.

Roger
 

Crazy Horse

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I use Chapstick and lamp black and it tends to smear too much to my liking, especially when transferring to the opposite side. Sooooo, I decided to add a bit of bee's wax to the concoction to stiffen it up and it doe's work better. How much bee's wax did I add??? I'm not sure, but I'd guess about a half a teaspoon.

Would candle wax work just as well???? Don't know, but it would be worth a try if you don't have Bee's wax.
 

Big-Un

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I tried beeswax with graphite and it worked ok, then tried graphite with Mike's recipe and didn't like it, tried ground pencil lead (hence the aforementioned graphite) and didn't like it either, so I just went with Mike's original recipe and my own concoction of beeswax, tallow and graphite. As they say, it's a slippery slope when playing with this stuff and I've not found anything with blackening yet to my liking.

Bill
 

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