Make a Historic Beeswax, Oil & Turpentine Furniture Polish Finish
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2017
- Joshua Farnsworth shows how to mix melted beeswax, boiled linseed oil, and turpentine to create a lovely historic wood finish and furniture polish. Here are links to products used in the video:
* My source for beeswax: amzn.to/2WA284s
* Boiled Linseed Oil: amzn.to/2Nxw8tH
* Turpentine: amzn.to/2pDS7qK
* Some of the above affiliate links can earn me a small commission if you make a purchase (no cost to you)
✪ See the article here: woodandshop.com/make-a-histor...
✪ Visit my Hand Tool Buyer's Guide: woodandshop.com/which-hand-to...
✪ Visit my Power Tool Buyer's Guide: woodandshop.com/woodworking-p...
✪ Subscribe to my TH-cam channel: th-cam.com/users/WoodAndS...
✪ Watch our Amazing Woodworking Workshop Tours: woodandshop.com/traditional-w...
✪ Join our free Hand Tool woodworking Forum: woodandshop.com/forum/
✪ Shop at our Traditional Woodworker's Store: store.woodandshop.com/
✪ See our Traditional Woodworking School: woodandshop.com/school ***Affiliate disclaimer: When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Flammable turpentine next to an open flame and using your wife's bowl - You are a brave man!!!
Linseed oil is very flammable as well, keep in mind he is using a makeshift double boiler as to not directly heat the mixture.
Don't let fear guide your life
😂
Did anybody die? Lol
I find this method easier :
Put your beeswax in a glass jar.
Put the glass jar in a pot and fill water around the jar (but not so much as to make the jar float / or put a thick bolt in with the beeswax to weigh it down)
Heat water and wax - take your time !
When wax is melted, lift out of water & add the remaining ingredients.
This saves pouring & cleaning another vessel.
Thanks for the tip. Hot wax can make quite a mess to clean up.
You have to be careful not to drip water into your wax. I suggest canning tongs. If you don't know them, the tongs are used to place and retrieve jars from a hot water canner. Sturdy and they extend your grip by six inches.
Is the mixture good for protecting wooden panel in my backyard ?
@@rezamovie - It's better than nothing of course, but not something I'd recommend. I'd go for a coat or two of oil or paint -- something you can apply with a brush or roller; a wax finish usually involves a lot of rubbing and I guess the surface of your backyeard panel is too rough for that sort of treatment.
I do the same, much better method 👍
I'm in the middle of restoring an 1861 rifled musket. In my research for the correct finish I happened accross the 1860s US Army Ordinance specifications for their muskets and this is exactly the recipe for that. Thanks for a clever way to mix it.
That's really cool to hear...thanks!
Hi Josh, I have been looking for a suitable finish for a piece for my dining table since May and just came across your video tonight. It's exactly what I've been searching for. I wanted a natural, less glossy finish with a beautiful smell and you've provided all of these. Will go sourcing for products tomorrow. I live around 5 hours from Sydney so may have to wait until the next farmers markets for the beeswax though. Thank you so very much!
Same recipe for blacksmith finish too. Been using it for years. Applied to warm iron, it makes a good durable finish for my outdoor items.
Thank you for the advise on making this traditional polish.
Thank you Josh for sharing this is a finish I'll be using from now on. I can't wait not only to have it but I look forward to the smell !
Just made my first Jar, doing exactly what you said, worked beautifully, I am no way by any means a experience woodworker but I do like to play around in the shop and this is perfect for the little things that I do thank you so very much
Great thanks for this recipe and tutoriial, I love the natural finish
Made my first batch Works 10 times better than store-bought!
Really beautiful finish!!
Both a woodworker and a chef of many years, and might I proffer this advice. gradually stir the cold ingredients into the hot, that is the turps and oil mixture into the hot bees wax which will prevent it curdling.
Loved it thanks, will be making some for furniture shop
Thank you so much for this tutorial! It's made the process seem less daunting.
Nice. Thanks a lot. Its simple and easy
great choice of materials for wood working
Outstanding, many thanks
Thanks for the info Josh!
Muito agradecido pela sua bondade de levar conhecimentos aos seus semelhantes.
Amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing, you are good! Learnt a lot.
Great tutorial, great recipe, I’m off to to workshop to make some. It’s just what I was looking for. Thankyou
I can't wait to try this, thanks a lot.
Thank you so much! I'm actually planning to use it on a rune set that I'm crafting, just small wood pieces with rune carvings to scry on, and I was looking for some organic varnish for that ^^
Nice, thank you.
I just made this and I couldn’t be more proud.
excellent tutorial, and enjoyable, thanks Joshua
You're most welcome!
I've made similar but with pure flax oil with food-grade bees and carnauba waxes. Works great and is safe on surfaces that may touch food.
Great video thanks for sharing.
Great video thanks for posting 👍
I am a beekeeper and just made my own turpentine through distillation over a campfire so this is perfect! Thanks for sharing.
what did you distil?
Nice video. I'll have to try this.
I enjoy the intro music. Despite what others say, I like that the intro is long, and it's inspiring to watch traditional woodworkers do their work.
And ride the elevators up and down to listen to the music too. lol, just kidding.
The song is “Hard times come again no more” by Steven Foster 1854
Love this and your shop!
Perfection
A rice cooker works great and you can add all the ingredients at once. Great video, thanks,
Thank you!
It was interesting and useful to watch your movie!
Thank you
Thanks very much!
Just started a muzzle loader build. Thanks for this vid and it's good info. Plan to use this finish on it after staining the wood with a propolis tincture. All from our own bees.
You the man! That propolis is damn fine stuff - as a fellow keep, I’ve used the mix for boots, gear, wood, iron etc - but that propolis is the bull horn! Excellent stuff for instrument (musical repair) etc. 👍
I really like to try this one! Thankscand subscribed 😊👍
Fabulous
Thank you.
Great video!
Those Talenti ice cream jars are great for lots of things around the shop. I always save mine.
Ha, ha, yup, they're great!
Thank you it was very helpful much appreciated
You're welcome Elaine!
Good work I like it.
Once again thx for the great info
You're sure welcome Josey!
Very helpful, thank you for taking the time to record this.
Great video,
I've been using Hagertys vernax since the mid 1970's, great stuff, same stuff as your recipe
I have seen pumice added to the mix and it does some fine sanding for you, possibly more appropriate for woodturning.
Good job 👍
I’m glad I’ve stumbled into, onto, whichever...happy to subscribe!
welcome Tom!
Very good..
Great recipe. Simple and easy. I like that. Thanks!
Excellant
Glad to see I'm not the only one who hoards talenti gelato containers
Yes sir...the gift that keeps giving...around the shop and around the waist line!
Gerçekten güzel anlattınız. Teşekkürler
Ne oluyo bu simdi
Just cooked up a batch of this as my first wax based finish and it's great! It was easy to apply, dried super fast (with a bit of help from a blow dryer to work it in better). I have one question though: how long does it take for the smell of the turpentine to fade away after application?
Really good video!
Thanks Amanda!
Thanks, I will try it out. Have some oak bed to do.
best regards.
Church furniture finish ! 😊
Hell yes!
Still good information look forward to hear from you...
I just joined your community this is very interesting have you ever used soy lecithin granules you should use it like beeswax and do the same thing with it? It's something you could add to your beeswax as well it would make it a heavier body I have some beeswax I'll have to try this with and walnut oil instead of the trip in time four bowls and spoons and things like that be a good idea with the soy lecithin granules
I really want to try this! FYI, the markings on the jar are called "graduations".
lol, no, they are not.
@@NobleSteed00 lol, yes, they are. If you ever took chemistry classes, the tubular containers you poured chemicals into, that had ml or cl markings on the side, are called "graduated cylinders." They are so called because the cylinder has "graduation" marks printed on the side of glass container. FWIW
@@kevinf6413 just took IPS but even I definitely know this.. some people 🤣🤦🏾♂️
Thank you. I'm looking to experiment for the best things (for various people's preferences or various options to offer) when it comes to the insides and outside of wooden flutes, such as Native American-style flutes. I need to keep the mouthpiece 100% food-safe, but I don't see why I can't use some of my copious quantities of regular boiled linseed oil on the rest of the instrument. Beeswax and oil is a major tradition with these, but I don't mind the thought of incorporating an oil that will eventually tend to polymerize even if it's over time. I don't have turpentine but I have "Turpentene" which I guess is too much of an unknown. A turpentine mimic with petroleum. I'm trying to use some things I already have, which includes beeswax, boiled linseed oil, safflower oil, olive oil (I hear that spoils in wood, whereas it surely doesn't on my veg-tanned leather, I suppose because of the tanning preservatives), 90% mineral oil with 10% lemon oil, coconut oil, and tea tree herbal anti-fungal oil mix that's supposedly ok to chew your nails with. I will definitely use some of that to fight mildew. And I do not mind making two batches (one for mouthpiece and one for the rest).
Thanks for your videos
I actually made this for my cutting board, but without turpentine and with wallnut oil instead instead of line seed oil.
Josh, I really appreciate the preservation of historical woodworking methods, especially in today's age of instant...everything! While I live in Alaska now (totem poles are some examples of traditional Tlingit and Haida wood working), my family is from North Carolina and probably came over on the Mayflower (Thomas Rogers signed the Compact). I own 30' fiberglass sailboat but she has some nice teak both inside and out and people are always amazed at how beautiful my teak is when it's done w/ teak oil and a good quality clear varnish. To get the oil to soak in, I allow pieces to soak in the oil overnight and then do 5-6 coats of varnish that dry for 24-48 hours. It can take a week to finish one piece! I plan on retiring in a couple of years and moving back to the Carolina's and exploring some of the traditional and historical aspects of the lives of these early pioneers. Thanks for contributing to the continuation of the knowledge of traditional woodworking techniques.
Cool Wade! I used to live in Alaska. A very magical place, but also tough place to live.
Josh, I've been here for almost 28 years and since I boat in SE Alaska, I get to see a lot of timber! And whales. It is magical and I love being able to get out and get into wildlife. Hope to visit Colonial Williamsburg after retirement.
Wow, sounds like MY dream come true to boat around Alaska. I lived in Fairbanks, so I didn't see the coast.
Did you retire?
@@HighTone45 yes. 4 years ago…
I will give this a try but what I have used in the past is just beeswax And food safe mineral oil. 1 1/2 cups of oil to 70 g of beeswax. You can adjust the amount of beeswax that you want to use.
I've never put turpentine in my oil n wax. Ill give a try when it stops snowing
Love the stool!
Glad you love it! We have a class on making it, if you live near Virginia
@@WoodAndShop I wish I did but I'm in the UK - if I'm ever over there....
@@deemdoubleu Ha, ha, yeah, that would be a bit difficult. The class is taught by David Ray Pine. He did an article on making the stool in Fine Woodworking Magazine (issue #80). Where in the UK are you? I used to live up in Scotland.
@@WoodAndShop Lancashire, my wife is a Scot (and don't I know it haha). Thanks for the info! BTW how did you find obtaining wood over here? I find it quite difficult to get hold of nice raw materials, certainly not readily available locally. It seems like you just pick it up from the side of the road over the the USA.
@@deemdoubleu Yes, you definitely know a Scot! Where's she from in Scotland? Finding wood here is quite easy, and yes, you can pick up wood on the side of the road! I get free lumber all the time, so I feel spoiled. And yes, much harder in the UK I'm sure. But I guess it also depends on where you live: countryside vs. city.
Thanks for the video - I live pretty close to you-
You're welcome! Where do you live?
Would this be a suitable finish for plywood boxes for my grandson's lego? Ty for the recipe! 👍
I like your little footstool. Do you have a tutorial on that?
👌👌👌
Looks like it would make a good leather seal for boots and shoes.
Turpentine is a "byproduct" of making Pine Tar, which is also a fantastic additive for this finish, especially on woods that will be in high moisture environments or outside. I prefer to use Pine Tar over the linseed oil, personally, because it keeps thing in the family, so to speak, and the pine tar has anti-microbial properties that help prevent mold/mildew blooms and bug infestations. It's not any more durable than the linseed oil, but it also does more to help the wood, in my estimation.
A liquid pine tar ?
@@safecyber7996 Yep. Great stuff. Comes in cans like paint. It's been used for thousands of years and you can even make it yourself if you have some pine and can build a fire.
You can also buy it from places that deal with livestock - vets, country stores, etc. They use it as an antimicrobial/bacterial wound dressing.
If you have a large wood/traditional boating scene near you, those kinds of stores might also carry it.
I just buy mine online. Tenda, Bickmore, and Davey's are good brand names. There's one brand with a big horseshoe on the label that you should steer clear of. They cook their stuff down to a paste like axle grease and then you have to add turpentine to it to make it more usable.
But for preserving wood, there's nothing better, imo. Sailors used it to paint their ships, ropes, and sails because it has that anti-rot stuff in it that preserved their organic material while they were out on the ocean.
You can even mix in powdered pigments to make paint. Iron Oxide + Pine Tar + Linseed Oil..... that's the reason we have barns that are red. The Iron Oxide and Pine Tar worked together to prevent the wood from rotting.
Great stuff, and everyone should have a quart on the shelf.
You could always do this on a hob instead of a gas stove. Far safer! Just made my own mix 50/50 beeswax & turpentine. I'm already thinking I could have used less beeswax. Took me two hours no doubt to make the paste and clean up properly making sure that all my pans were clear of any wax or turpentine. The smell of beeswax I don't actually like. I thought it might be nice.
Vou ensinar a minha receita para a cera que faço: Terebentina;
Óleo de Linhaça;
Cera virgem de carnaúba;
Cera de abelha;
Um pouquinho de solvente água Raz.
Derreta as ceras em banho Maria e acrescente uma parte de cada ingrediente e misture ainda quente. Não dá para comparar! Fica ótima a cera pronta e cheirosa.
Joshua,
Thanks for the tut and the recipe. I'm looking to do this for leather upholstery, would you make any changes to the recipe for leather?
I'm thinking it should be OK but you may have experience in this that I would be happy to hear.
Cheers - Matt from Blue Mtns, NSW, Australia
Great info, thanks! If I wanted to add a mica or pigment powder to color this paste and use it as a decorative furniture wax when I want it to lay deep into carved surfaces, would the ingredients be the same? How long does this mixture take to cure and not feel "greasy"? Thank you again.
You can temper both so wax emulsion is easier
Do you have a suggestion for a large western red cedar sculpture that will be outside mostly undercover in a cool rainy environment?
Thank you! I know you must receive a gazillion of questions from us, but I'm taking my chance: I have an oak buffet that's finished with stain and protective lacquer. What should I use as a final finish to give it a nice look (not mate) over the lacquer, bees wax, some kind of mix?
Thank you for your excellent video.
I am french polisher and have been trying to get in touch with Don Williams, not much luck.Can you help?
Jacob
put all the ingredients into the double boiler and heat them up together, stirring regularly. Eliminates the suspended wax particles and gives you a uniform paste with the consistency of shoe polish. Use more BLO and turp to give a more vaseline consistency.
Turpentine and linseed oil are flammable, it was even mentioned right in the video.
Having read most of the comments, I would like to add something.
This is the same premise of 'homecanning' process. We're we would 'cold pack' the jars with the ingredients, then place them into a 'hot water bath' that would then cook them and seal up the jars at the same time. So my hillbilly brain says why not, cold mix the ingredients in four or five jars, put the lids and rings on them and do a cold pack canning of them that way you'll always have some to give as gifts to other fellow wood craftsmen, or even sell them at craft shows and give explanation of their historical importance.
you just have to be super careful, turpentine and boiled linseed oil are both very flammable. I have heated it using a double boiler before, but i will till do it outside. the way he did it inside is really the only safe way to do it in my opinion.
It would be a bit dangerous I am thinking putting the lids on as turpentine and linseed are flammable. I would melt wax in the jar in a hot bath water without lids remove from hot water and then pour the linseed and turpentine in slowly stirring and mix.
Hi! Can I use Tung Oil + Limonene for the same recipe? It´s for a cutting board (meat, bead etc) and spoons. Thanks!
Would this work well in very humid environments like hawaii? What could be added as a hardener?
I'm a beekeeper so I have my own wax. Thanks for the recipe.
I'm a beekeeper too, but all my bees died :(
Wood and Shop I'm doing 7 hives this year
This is a great finish but Joshua is showing the messy method. The easiest way to do it is add all the ingredients into a jar as described BUT use a crockpot with water in it. Measure the beeswax by weight. 3 OZ of beeswax coincidentally weighs 3 OZ, how convenient. Set the crockpot on medium and let the wax melt. Stir as required. Done. No mess. Btw, any thrift shop will have a crockpot for a few bucks.
Yes, that is certainly more convenient. The only downside is that occasionally the jars crack, causing an even bigger mess. Thanks for sharing!
just use a crockpot, you don't need water, even better heat the separate ingredients in crockpots and they blend much better, I have been making something similar for 35 years.
Once you have the three components mixed in the jar you may want to try placing the open jar into the hot water (no fire) to remelt the wax and then re-stir the mixture. Also, when you refer to "historical" you may want to briefly explain from where and when the process came. It adds to your credibility as a resource/authority.
very well said Steve Frank
how can I make a similar finish for cutting boards?
culinary wood projects could use beeswax melted with mineral oil
Half and half? I've been turning some goblets lately and was debating on how to finish the outside. The insides I use melted pine rosin with a little beeswax melted in but it can get tacky with hand temperature.
I made a wax for spoons using equal parts cold press walnut oil and coconut oil. Use the same 3:1 wax ratio.
What do you think about using this on oak veneer plywood?
I've never seen an All-Clad on a Coleman before.
LOL. Neither have I until I did it!
Will you please confirm what is the stated in the video regarding proportion (quantity) of all the three ingredients in making this wonderful wood polish.
What would you recomend for wooden floor finish?
Awesome video, Joshua, I really enjoyed it. One thing though: you might want to use an electric heater around flammable materials. Fire, solvents and lots of dry wood aren't the safest combination.