# Machinable wax



## Tin Falcon

Well folks there has been a bit of mention about machinable wax in several posts of late. Practice material and cnc threads. I decided to start this thread to focus on the wax without detracting from other threads. 
A good set of recipes here
http://igor.chudov.com/manuals/Homemade-Machinable-Wax.pdf

And a nice selection of commercial wax dimensioned pieces here.
http://www.machinablewax.com/machinable_wax_cylinders.htm
The cost of the commercial stuff is around $ 10 per pound. 
so I did some research on price and availability of materials. 
First off all there is a large price difference in sources of wax. 
Mcmaster carr sells granules of carnuba and candelillia wax for $27 lb yikes and woodcraft has blocks of bees wax and carnuba wax in 1/2 lb blocks for $$$ .
 So back to sanity .
 Camden -Grey
http://www.camdengrey.com/essential-oils/Soap-Making-Butters-Waxes/ 
Has assorted waxes in various quantities at $ 5-$ 6 per pound a bit better. 
This is out of florida. 

and J Edwards Corp of Quincy mass 
http://www.bulknaturaloils.com/Category/546-natural.aspx
Has good price of all wax needed bees carnuba and candillia. 4kg -5kg packs for $ 3.65 lb- $6.82depending on the wax. 
The local commercial bee keeper has the best price on bees wax. 

I should be able to blend the stuff for around $6 per pound. 
Has anyone here blended there own carving or machinable wax?
Tin


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## Tin Falcon

Well it seems there are a couple of ways of making wax hard enough for carving and machining without being too brittle. 
The first one mentioned above is blend natural waxes. Candillia as a base and then the ratio of bees wax to carnuba wax to control hardness 
The second method is to use common synthetic or petroleum based products from what I have seen on various web sites 4-8 parts paraffin to 1 part hdpe(high density polyethalene) aka bottle caps plastic bags etc. 
The other thing needed is an of the shelf kitchen electric hot pot. with temperature control. 
Another convenient thing here is the density of wax is approximately the same as water. specif gravity of .97.
this is where the metric system shines over imperial measurement. 
1 cc of water is 1 gram at room temp. and 1000cc(1 litre) is a 1kg. so no complicated conversions. Ok so that would make a 10 cm cube have a mass of 970 grams . just a little mental calculation. 
Tin


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## Majorstrain

Hi Tin,
I've mixed up a few batches using a recipe from a guy in Perth, Australia. When I find the name I'll update the post.

The first batch was made using cut up LDPE zip lock sandwich bags, and the others were a mix of the first batch swarf and HDPE milk bottle tops.
I purchased the paraffin wax from a candle wax wholesaler here in Perth. The minimum qty was 25kg at about $3 AU a kg.



The first and second batch machined well with a 3mm and 1mm ball mill @ 24,000 rpm and 800mm/min. The car (below) was cut in this first batch.
The third batch I did not add enough HDPE and the wax was a bit gummy when cut. To compensate I had to drop the rpm and reduce the feed rate.
The last job I did was some molds for epoxy coating on peizo electric bender units used here at the university. 

Attached is the pdf recipe I used.

Cheers,
Phil 

View attachment machineable wax.pdf


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## n4zou

I've made and used it. The recipes given work fine. I have found I can get near commercial grade machinable wax by making a batch per the recipes, allow it to cool completely, then milling it into chips and melting it again. If I want high quality commercial grade machinable wax I do this a third time. If I'm going to cast machinable wax parts in wood (or any kind of) molds I'll process it a third time before use. If you want cavity free machinable wax castings immediately after pouring the wax in the mold put it under vacuum in a vacuum chamber. This will suck all the voids out of the wax. Here is an instructable on building a very simple and cheap vacuum chamber. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Ven...acuum-Chamber-quotDollar-Store-Styl/?ALLSTEPS


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## Tin Falcon

thanks for the input guys
Tin


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## Dan Rowe

Tin,
I use machinable wax to make lost wax paterns. I buy comercial wax from jewelry supply places because I want the burnout to work with out any flaws.





Here are two of my patterns. I hope to learn how to use the Taig CNC mill collecting dust to do some of this work soon.

Dan


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## MawitÃ¶

hi guys, i saw the article on machinable wax here:

http://www.machinistblog.com/make-your-own-machinable-wax/

for me was completely free i already had some bee wax and i used ldpe from plastic bags, i tried to color the mix with some acrilic paint ( never try that react very badly so i spent an hour cleaning the mess )

but the mix 4 part wax 1 part ldpe is really nice, i never used the comercial one so i cannot compare but i think to learn how to carv and do some machining work test is really nice and extremely cheap.

Mine is still a little gummy but is hard and machines not perfectly but nice to check thing before try in metal.

Thanks


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## Tin Falcon

well ,stopped by the local beekeeper today.Large commercial operation IIRC they process on average a ton of honey a day. plus wax pollen finished wax products hives supers frames etc. 
Anyway picked up a bock of wax weighs just over 13 lbs. will need to filter it. 
Tin


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## Tin Falcon

well moving forward. did an on line order with Camden-grey the deciding factor was that they carry the titanium dioxide needed for the mix and I can select quantities purchases.
the down side longer delivery time and more shipping cost coming from Florida.  
so:
2lbs titanium dioxide
5 lbs of carnuba wax
10 lbs of candillia wax
I am planing on making the gold charity wax 
this will give enough materials for 25LBS of the gold carving wax. plus extra of the waxes. 
An electric cook kettle from Wally world is something else I am shopping for. 
And need to repair and calibrate my electronic. scale. 
Tin 
.


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## Tin Falcon

The Camden Grey order arrived Yesterday as promised all in good order all items double or triple bagged . It looks like thy package to order. All the packages have the order number and material name an quantity. 
Tin


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## Tin Falcon

well today repaired Frankenscale (A head from one and a base from another.) calibrating it was a real trip as i did not have any good reference . I wish I had borrowed a test kit from work. Will probably do real calibration next week. But I think close enough for now for compounding wax. 

I cleaned up a few pounds of bees wax put a couple inches of boiling water in the bottom of a large coffee can then kept adding wax. The water helps clean the wax and the dirt falls to the bottom. 
I then dipped out the wax and water cast it. Poured a little at a time into a bucket of water added ice at one point. 
I figured if it works works gold it would work for bees wax. The wax floats so have to clean out the cool wax after each ladle full.In retrospect probably would have been cheaper to get flaked processed bees wax rather than the raw unfiltered stuff but hobby time is usually relaxing time. A slow pour will give flaked wax.
Now I need to get some silicone spray and figure out what to use for molds. 
Tin


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## Tin Falcon

A couple weeks ago I measured out a couple of 1 kilo batches of material. Today I finally did a melt and blend. I used a cook pot to hold water and a coffee can to hold the wax unfortunately I got more wax and titanium dioxide in the cook pot than wanted a mess to clean up. On the next melt I think I will leave out the TiO2.Just seems to make a mess and I like the natural yellow color of the waxes. 
The mold I used was an old scratched up non stick cheesecake pan.I sprayed with several light coats of silicone mold release. A buddy from work hooked me up someone gave him a case of it he passed on a couple of cans. 
Right now the cake is in the oven cooling . I preheated the mold to 170 then turned the oven off. Letting it cool slow to prevent cracking. hopefully i do not get stratification.  I will pop it out of the mold in the AM 
Tin


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## Tin Falcon

Her indoors wanted the oven back so had to pull out the mold put foil on the top and wrapped in a towel. The wax is still warm to the touch in the middle but solid . i just about jumped out of the mold. a little left behind around the edges but nothing to worry about. . I ended up with a piece about a 1/2 in thick and 8 x 12 or 48 cubic inches. the next pour will be a different mold and a different thickness. I am going for assorted sizes. 
There have been only a couple of responses to this thread . So I am thing is there interest? but over a thousand looks so I guess folks are following this blog and my experience. 
Tin


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## JorgensenSteam

Tin-

I am interested in machinable wax, and have been following your thread.
Don't know much of what to say except if you succeed, I may try it also.

Thanks for posting, us lurkers are out here and reading this info.

Pat J


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## Tin Falcon

Thanks for the support pat .
I know we would all do well to keep a note book to log our successes and failures. I am not consistent in this area . so this thread /blog is kind of doing that. I am figuring this out as I go . There is some info out on the net but not doing what I want. I could buy candle molds for $10- $15 but that could get expensive trying to do a variety of sizes. 
I am noticing this sheet is not anywhere near flat. so will have to deal with that. I kind of expected rough size on this and will have to square up. I saw some mini cake pans at wally world . IIRC 12 cavities about 2 x 3 x 1.5 I may do that next . 
Interesting though every scratch on the old pan was transferred to the wax. I felt like i needed to push forward on this project and do something and since the weather outside is frightful a good day to do it.
Note to self: Do not use good cook pots as the wax and TiO2 are a bear to remove from stainless steel. 

here is the mandatory photo:









Tin


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## Tin Falcon

I tried scoring it with a plexigass cutter it scored nice and clean seems to carve nicely but the break did not follow the score line oh well nothing ventured nothing gained.Some time learning what does not work is as important as learning what does.I went about an 1/8 deep with the scoring.

Tin


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## John S

Tin,

Been making this for a while and it works well, hard to find the materials cheap, the way from hobby stores is quite expensive.
First try I got some reject candles about 4" diameter and 6" high from Ikea at £1.00 each and I managed to scrounge some virgin LDPE pellets from a moulding company.
These were all melted in a £10 deep fat frier bought just for the job, the initial melt takes some time before the two parts mix but after that it's very quick.

Next lot I found some damaged candles on ebay and bought a pallet full for £80.
Sorted these out as there were many in shrink wrapped boxes that weren't damaged and Gert resold these.

Now got enough wax to keep me going for ages.

We use this at the shows doing demo cutting, All I have to buy now is colouring because with the mix we are getting right weird colours but they smell nice ;D

John S.


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## Tin Falcon

John thanks for your input. What do you use for molds ? I want to mold up some round pieces about 1/2 to 5/8 and some bigger. 3"" long probably enough. 
Thank to all reading. 

I did another melt and pour today this time used a stainless steel dry wall mud pan as a mold. This one is much narrower so will have thicker material. 
As decided did not add any TiO2 but there was still enough in the bottom of the pot to make the batch white or cream color.
Tin


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## Tin Falcon

finally got to hooking the cnc wiring back up after shop rearaging of weeks past . tryyed cutting some of the wax. 
sawing band saw works fine hand sawing clogs blades.
milling cuts nice and fast. aggressive cuts will chip out edges. 
overall the stuff cuts fast and clean but will chip and slightly gummy. the best and worse of charatoristics. HMMM
but still a good tool to learn on.
Tin


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## JorgensenSteam

Tin-

This post has started me thinking about some other alternate materials, maybe melted pop bottles, or rigid styrofoam, etc. that could perhaps be used.

It seems like the machinable wax that can be purchased is expensive.

Seems like lead-free solder would be good if it were not so costly.

Pat J


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## Tin Falcon

Johns idea of plasticized way is probably a good way to go . 
between the outlay for wax and time spend blending and getting wax to a real shape the commercial stuff may be a bargain. but I am learning it is all good. 
Tin


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## woodnut

Hi Tin

Not sure if you are still playing with this. Like to know how things have turned out?

I have used ABS pipe in the past for wax molds, just put a cap on one end. You can usually buys 3' lengths at the hardware store cheap. Pull the cap off after it cools and you can push out the wax.
I have found putting it into the fridge right after pouring it gives a smoother finish on the sides. 

John


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## Tin Falcon

John:
Yest still playing with it ,sort of still trying to learn the cnc thing and the best way of learning it. 
you say ABS pipe.
Here in the states most home water pipe is pvc . and comes in 3" lengths at the home improvement stores, 
I do want to mold some rod pieces. thanks for the info. 
Tin


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## Henry

I am a goldsmith, and we have been using wax for casting for a long time ;D. The wax is not that expensive, if you think that you can find different quality, brittle, flexible that it is easy to repair and is prepared for a full burnout without ashes that can destroy a casting, there are multiple shapes already prepared that can you save a lot of time.
Another option that I am using is to design CAD models and send the file to be prototyped, you will have in three or four days your complex wax milled to 0,02 mm and ready to be casted, I am using Rhinoceros for that.
I am not sure if it is correct to say brands or use links here, but if someone is interested send me a PM.


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## Tin Falcon

Henry:
Thanks for your input .
in retrospect I probably would have been better off buying some assorted shapes would have saved time and money . but now have probably a lifetime supply of wax. 
as for sending out to be machined the purpose of the wax was to learn how to use MY cnc with minimal risk of tool wear and damage from mistakes. Guess you could say more focused on the journey than the destination. 

As far as brands and links usually not a problem as long as you are posting as a happy customer. I have mentioned brands and retailers I am happy with many times. and have posted links to there sites. Now if it is a brand or site you own and are doing it for personal gain that is advertising an against forum policy. 
When you get a chance Please post an introduction in the welcome sub fora tell us a bit about yourself ,your home shop, your interest in model engines and your location .
Thank you for your interest in this forum.
Tin


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## MachinableWax

I wanted to take the time to commend Tin for his efforts in making this post.  My name is Wes, and I work for one of the companies linked in the op.  I harbor no angst what so ever for leading people on a path to making their own home blends of the stuff we sell.  I am a big DIYer myself.  Google, and Youtube have saved my behind plenty of times for stuff I would other wise be too overwhelmed to attempt. Someone mentioned, the end cost may, or may not be worth it for this application.  I think your response; "Guess you could say more focused on the journey than the destination." holds true to many projects I take one myself.  I admire that.  Plus, you can melt it down, and reuse what you have for the rest of your home CNC life span.  

One thing I wanted to add to this is that the Titanium dioxide, and possibly other plastic materials people may add will yield a poor burnout for people using this for casting.  There are dyes that can be added instead to make it easier to see the contours of what has been cut that will also have a very small ash content.  I don't want to promote any particular source, but just note that I said dye, and not pigment.  TiO2 is a pigment.  For anyone using this home blend wax in the manor Tin has, this in not an issue.  I just wanted to throw that warning out there in case anyone tried to use it for casting.  

Any updates on how this has been working out for you since the last post Tin?  

As a side note, this site has peaked my interest in dusting off my old RC cars, and trucks.  With the snow already here in Norther Michigan, I just may have time to do that this season!


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## Tin Falcon

> Any updates on how this has been working out for you since the last post Tin?


Have Not done much with the wax or the cnc mill. Have been distracted by Life , work and the 3d printer. I do poke my head in hear on a regular basis ad keep an eye on things. 



> One thing I wanted to add to this is that the Titanium dioxide, and possibly other plastic materials people may add will yield a poor burnout


good point  I was not very happy with the TiO2. tends to settle to the bottom of the mold not consistent. Can not see where it adds to the mix . Makes it sort of whiter but not really would likely be happier with a nice gold color. 
Casting of some sort will likely happen and investment casting not out of the running. either with wax or 3d printed PLA pattern. 
Tin


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## MachinableWax

Tin Falcon said:


> Casting of some sort will likely happen and investment casting not out of the running. either with wax or 3d printed PLA pattern.
> Tin



Just proving the concept for the first time yesterday, but wax can be printed too.


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## aonemarine

Machinable wax,  Im curious how and what you used for the wax to print it.  I do alot of lost pla casting and would love to have a printable wax filament.


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## MachinableWax

aonemarine said:


> Machinable wax,  Im curious how and what you used for the wax to print it.  I do alot of lost pla casting and would love to have a printable wax filament.



Are you by chance the gentleman that has the video with the Yoda head key chains casting with a tree technique?

What is pictured above is a blend similar to what we sell for our machinable wax blends.  I can't say exactly what it is, other than a synthetic wax.  The burnout would be drastically better than PLA.  Ash content estimate of about 0.005%.


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## aonemarine

Yes, thats me,  that video is pretty outdated compaired to what i do now. I want some of this wax!!!!  Whats the lowest resolution you can print it at?  I typically print at 80 microns, but sometimes will do 50 microns.


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## Tin Falcon

Kai Parthy the inventor of laywood  has just  announced MOLDLAY  Pintable wax.  
It prints 170- 180c print bed 40c and liquifies at 270c. 


http://www.3ders.org//articles/20150128-filament-wizard-kai-parthy-unveils-his-new-moldlay-wax-3d-printing-filament.html
Supposed to be availabe at dealers in the next few weeks. This stuff is out of germany. But yest would love to try some. 

MW do you have filament available or is still in the testing phase. 
Tin


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## aonemarine

Great find Tin,  maybe something like this will keep me from having to buy a new printer.
Question is, what does it print like, and whats the thermal expansion like?


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## MachinableWax

We are still testing.  Previously with just small 1-2 foot strands.  We made a spool to trial later today.  I am excited to see how it does with larger prints.  

The small clip that was first printed was a 150 micron resolution. At least the setting on the printer was.  The wax extrudes at a slightly smaller diameter than the ABS/PLA does, so that is probably not accurate.  

I stumbled on the MOLDLAY yesterday too.  I am skeptical on how much it is actually a wax given the temperatures stated.  Most parafins don't like to see 270*F, let alone 270*C just to liquify!  I didn't see a stated diameter, but from the picture I am guessing it is for the 3mm filament printers which will also limit the resolution capabilities.  From their video, it seemed the burnout is not as clean as we hope to achieve with our version.  Still looked to be an improvement over PLA though.


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## aonemarine

Well to throw all the mumbo jumbo aside, I need something that can be printed at 100 microns or less with a much lower thermal expansion than pla.  I can get great results with the lost pla casting, but when it comes to certain things (like small blind holes) lost pla just isnt cutting it because of the thermal expansion. Even a loss in z resolution would be acceptable if it meant being able to get more lost wax like results....


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## MachinableWax

Some minor progress from yesterday.  Had a go at the STL of the recent NASA wrench scaled down to about 30mm.  I am going to try it again today with a finer resolution, and larger scale.


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