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137598 Bill Kasper <dragonlist@u...> 2004‑10‑08 Re: How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)
and small is defined how?

one shopping bag per big *ss pot of water?  or?

having three bags of unprocessed beeswax, and having read john's very, 
very cautionary tale, inquiring minds, etc.

thanks.
bill
felton, ca

On Oct 8, 2004, at 11:53 AM, Arthur Bailey wrote:

> The main advice is to
> melt small batches.


137590 John Lederer <john@j...> 2004‑10‑08 How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)
Well SWMBO was out this morning.  This was essential to my cleaning of 
the grocery bags of beeswax I snarfed up for almost nothing.

You see, I had a plan.  Not just a plan, but a better plan.  I was going 
to combine two steps of cleaning -- I would put the beeswax in 
*weighted* panty hose in a pot of hot water. The soluble debris would 
dissolve, the sinking debris would go down, and the floating debris 
would stay in the pnthy hose, sunk at the bottom of the pot. No need to 
scrape the bottom of the block.  Ingenious, yes?

I knew just the pot.  My wife has this humongous "stock pot" -- tall, 
deep, a 6 lobster pot.  But, wise from 35+ years of marriage I knew 
that  , despite the reasonablenes of the request, the assurances of 
washing, the gentle kiss,   she would balk.

Best wait till she was out.

So this morning I found old panty hose, shoveled in beeswax, put in some 
stones, tied it all tight, sank it in the near full pot, and turned on 
the burner.

Nothing.  Nothing. Nothing. Big, big, pot. Watched. Not hot.

So I decided I would check the news on the computer.  Check the sports 
scores. Read Oldtools. Check out the new JibJab. In a seeming flash of a 
moment, I heard "shooshing" noises from the kitchen.  Comprehension was 
immediate.  I leapt up.  So did Beaker my trusty Springer Spaniel, who 
slightly more nimble and speedy tried to pass me in the hallway.  A 
moment of confusion and I was pitched forward on the floor, sliding into 
the kitchen, and sort of right on down the floor on a slick pad of foamy 
beeswax and hot water.   Fortunately stopped by a bag of potatoes I have 
not yet taken to the basement.

A leap to the burner with a wary eye to the fire extinguisher. The pot 
is flinging gobs of foaming beeswax out 1-2' .  Burner off.   Poured a 
bowl of cold water into the pot.  Surveyed the mess.  Everything smelled 
of honey.

Paper towels, string mop (I'll have to get a new head),  dtergent, floor 
cleans up OK.  But..stove has congealed.  Find that panty hose actually 
cleans congealed wax best-- sort of rubs it off like a screen sander for 
wall board.  I have a big bag of panty hose.

But it doesn't quite get it all off.  A thin film is left.  But rubbing 
that with a rag sure leaves a nice shine.

So when SWMBO gets home, I plan on telling her I polished her stove. 
Beaker won't say anything.

Regards,
John Lederer
Oregon Wisconsin

 


137592 "Wendrzycki, Raymond NAVAIR" <raymond.wendrzycki@n...> 2004‑10‑08 RE: How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)
:o)  From: John Lederer=20
:o)  Subject: [oldtools] How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)
:o) =20
:o)  Well SWMBO was out this morning...



John tells a waxy tale of an exciting afternoon.=20

Boy that really made my afternoon, very vivid mental images! Thanks John =
and glad everything stayed un-ignited.  As for that thin film of wax, =
alcohol would work.  It's in those tall thin bottles right over there.  =
But I still have one question ... you *were* talking about the mop, =
right?

:o)  Paper towels, string mop (I'll have to get a new head), ... =20

Raymond Wendrzycki
Trenton, NJ Galoot

=20


137597 "Arthur Bailey" <curiousart@e...> 2004‑10‑08 RE: How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)
Galoots:

Beeswax is an essential ingredient in accordion building and repair. I have
a bit of experience in handling this stuff, and if you do a search on
accordion wax at rec.music.makers.squeezebox, you can read a few cautionary
tales of igniting beeswax and skin grafting. Of course, this is followed by
flaming (no pun intended) posts along the lines of "I've been melting wax
since before you were born, who are you to tell me..."

 It's never happened to me, but according to others, beeswax will ignite,
and water doesn't do much to put out the fire- it just serves to fling
flaming gobs of wax everywhere, maybe even on you. The main advice is to
melt small batches. Be careful out there.

Art Bailey
Queens, NY.

John says...
> Nothing.  Nothing. Nothing. Big, big, pot. Watched. Not hot.


137599 "Arthur Bailey" <curiousart@e...> 2004‑10‑08 Re: How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)
Hi Bill and all..

> and small is defined how?

> one shopping bag per big *ss pot of water?  or?

Well, in accordion terms, you're not going to need much even for a big
refurbishing job, so we're talking a small, standard, stove top double
boiler. I guess the question is, how much do you *really* need to melt in
one sitting?

 I missed the part about the boiling water, and I suppose that would negate
the whole "flaming wax" part of my post.. But, part of what makes beeswax
so great for accordion repair is (according to folklore) the oils in it
which help to keep it from getting brittle for a long period of time.
Wouldn't boiling it in water somehow remove whatever useful oils are in the
stuff, suspending it in the water? Kind of like making beeswax broth? I
might be in over my head here.

Art


137620 "Phil and Debbie Koontz" <pdknz@h...> 2004‑10‑09 RE: How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)
Thanks John for this story.  These little slices of life are what I really 
like about the OT list.

Seems like I had a similar experience with beeswax once, although maybe with 
a bit less adventure involved.  Beeswax is so nice to have around, though.  
I remember keeping it on the back of the bench for all kinds of things.  
Lubricating screws comes to mind, of course, and it's great for the 
occasional swipe along a sawblade to stop that annoying wiggly vibration.  
And turning the edge on scrapers--don't forget that.

But I guess the best part is satisfying the little bit of 10-year-old 
firebug that still resides inside us.

PK
Whose next OT chore is regluing all the chairs that seem to keep falling 
apart around our place.


137943 "John Sawchak" <jherbs@e...> 2004‑10‑24 RE: How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)
hehehhe... now you know why I am a fan of the toilet bowl source for
beeswax!

John Sawchak
Don't pollute, be a galoot!

> [Original Message]
> From: John Lederer 
> To: oldtools 
> Date: 10/8/2004 12:29:40 PM
> Subject: [oldtools] How to polish the stove (beeswax cleaning)

> A leap to the burner with a wary eye to the fire extinguisher. The pot 
> is flinging gobs of foaming beeswax out 1-2' .  Burner off.   Poured a 
> bowl of cold water into the pot.  Surveyed the mess.  Everything smelled 
> of honey.
>
> Paper towels, string mop (I'll have to get a new head),  dtergent, floor 
> cleans up OK.  But..stove has congealed.  Find that panty hose actually 
> cleans congealed wax best-- sort of rubs it off like a screen sander for 
> wall board.  I have a big bag of panty hose.
>
> But it doesn't quite get it all off.  A thin film is left.  But rubbing 
> that with a rag sure leaves a nice shine.
>
>
> So when SWMBO gets home, I plan on telling her I polished her stove. 
> Beaker won't say anything.



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