I picked up a bunch of exotic wood pen blanks online for next to nothing. My thought was they'd be perfect for end grain cutting boards. Not being a wood turner, I wasn't anticipating the paraffin coating on the pieces. I appreciate that it's there to retain moisture in the wood, however glue doesn't play nicely with paraffin.
There's all kinds of forums and discussions about getting rid of paraffin, but that's mainly among wood turners - I have yet to find anything about gluing up once-waxed wood.
To get rid of the paraffin, I can scrape off the worst of the wax with a scraper. I've tried running the wood through a surface planer or jointer, but that doesn't do much other than redistribute the paraffin on a slightly thinner piece of wood. I've also used a heat gun, which helps get rid of more paraffin, but I still don't get the best glue bond between pieces.
In lieu of the electric planer, I'm considering a hand plane, as it won't generate the heat. Thoughts?
Would mineral spirits or acetone help get rid of it?
Someone suggested boiling the wood. I imagine that would do a good job, but then the concern would be cracking as the wood dries. Thoughts?
TIA
There's all kinds of forums and discussions about getting rid of paraffin, but that's mainly among wood turners - I have yet to find anything about gluing up once-waxed wood.
To get rid of the paraffin, I can scrape off the worst of the wax with a scraper. I've tried running the wood through a surface planer or jointer, but that doesn't do much other than redistribute the paraffin on a slightly thinner piece of wood. I've also used a heat gun, which helps get rid of more paraffin, but I still don't get the best glue bond between pieces.
In lieu of the electric planer, I'm considering a hand plane, as it won't generate the heat. Thoughts?
Would mineral spirits or acetone help get rid of it?
Someone suggested boiling the wood. I imagine that would do a good job, but then the concern would be cracking as the wood dries. Thoughts?
TIA
