Paste wax

[ScooterDawg]

My best bud and neighbor and I share shoptime. Currently we are in an ongoing process where we build White Oak Toy chests from our own milled white oak for the grand kids 1st Birthdays and Walnut book cases for their 5th.

Paul is in love with wiping on Armour-Seal as the final finish...we have had challenges in cleaning up glue squeeze out and he uses massive amounts of TiteBond III in the panels we make as we rip everything down to 8" to run them thru our Shellix jointer...we've tried using blue tape but now he is wiping the panels with Johnson's pastewax as we dry fit prior to gluing. We then pop the squeezeout when dried and scrub the wax off (we hope) with mineral spirits and a green pad. He tried this on our last project, a Walnut bookcase and said he saw no problem with finishing...the toychest we are building now (these chests get converted to blanket chests as they age) will be the 1st we've done out of white oak & I have concerns about the wax interfering with the finish. Am I right to be concerned??? TIA

[jteneyck]

There was an article in FWW a year or two ago from Michael Fortune who advocates using Waxilit to keep glue squeeze out from wetting onto adjacent wood. He cleaned it off with MS, IIRC, and said it doesn't interfere with even WB finishes. I found that hard to believe but have never tried it so I can't say. But with an OB finish I'd feel pretty confident it would be OK as long as you do a good job scrubbing it with MS.

John

[ScooterDawg]

Yeah Waxlit is what got us started down this path in the 1st place...Lee Valley used to carry it but don't anymore so we just wiped on some paste wax along our 90 degree joints....for years and years used the water, tooth brush and wipe method and not always satisfied with the results as the water/glue combo seemed to 'size' the pores... and of course the glue residue doesn't show up until you have applied the finish. blue painters tape works OK but we got lazy plus invariably we would tear the tape off at the joint and have to scrape away thin pieces of tape.

We are at the point on this chest where we will be applying finish in the next day of two so guess we will find out. He plans on filling the pores so....

[JR1]

I tried using water and a paper towel on unfinished wood and was not happy with the results. That's why I went to finishing before glue up (that and the ease of spraying).

[MichaelMouse]

ScooterDawg said:

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Yeah Waxlit is what got us started down this path in the 1st place...Lee Valley used to carry it but don't anymore so we just wiped on some paste wax along our 90 degree joints....for years and years used the water, tooth brush and wipe method and not always satisfied with the results as the water/glue combo seemed to 'size' the pores... and of course the glue residue doesn't show up until you have applied the finish. blue painters tape works OK but we got lazy plus invariably we would tear the tape off at the joint and have to scrape away thin pieces of tape.

We are at the point on this chest where we will be applying finish in the next day of two so guess we will find out. He plans on filling the pores so....

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Water and water soluble glue can foil a stain job. I just wait until the squeeze gets leathery (30-45 min) and use a scraper.

[jteneyck]

If this is the Waxilit product you used, you can still buy it.

John

[ScooterDawg]

Thnx everybody! Appreciate the inputs.

[Cooler]

I also like to see squeeze out. I firmly believe that if you don't see a little squeeze out you are probably glue-starving your joint.

But usually I just wipe off the excess with a wet paper towel. I keep exposing clean areas of the towel to clean off the excess. When I run out of clean areas I grab another paper towel.

[JR1]

I pretty much finish—at least first coat—after trial assembly. The glue (I like TB III) doesn't stick to the finish and is easy to pop off. Yes I use a lot of green tape but overall I find the approach easier, particularly as I can spray without worrying about back spray and corners. (I usually just wipe off the TB III with a soaked Rags in a Box™ before it sets.)

[Howard Acheson]

I have been a applying paste wax to a "dry-fit" joint for a number of years and taught the process in a woodworking class. I think I got the idea from magazine write-up years ago.

If you apply a minimal amount of wax, then scrape and sand the joint being sure the glue is fully dried, the process works fine and there is no interference with finishing