FLYMPH FORUM

Has any one any thoughts on using crayons for waxing silk.

Tied a few today at work and only wax I had was a crayon one of the kids had left in the car - seemed okay to me.

Interesting.

I dropped a couple chips of black crayon into a batch of bees wax based wax I was making and it was perfect to add some color, but I haven't tried crayon on it's own. That would be some hard wax, but it would certainly have its uses.

btw, I added one chip too many to my batch and it came out way too dark. had to pitch it.

A few years Allen Podell on another board said in a pinch to use non-medicated chapstick. That works like a dream...in a pinch.

w

About a month ago, I've seen similar idea in new book called "Tales of flies" (my translation; sorry...). Authors used crayon to darken yellow body thread (or silk) in step-by-step overview of Greenwel's Glory. Authors of the book are Goran Grubic and Aleksandar Panic, book is published on Serbian language, and chapter dedicated to Greenwel's Glory was written by Dr. Andrew Herd.

Frontpage (only!) of book mentioned above could be seen here:
http://www.flyandtrout.com/priceomusicama.htm

...and site of Dr. Andrew Herd is this:
http://www.flyfishinghistory.com/

Great idea. I'm not sure crayon would work as a dubbing wax (not very tacky), but it would probably work great to for adding just the right tint to a silk body. Now I have to see if my kids still have any old crayons...

Hi all,
I'm not too keen on using crayons. Why, well they are essentially paraffin and pigment. Paraffin is, basically, a petroleum product, which, in my opinion, is not the best to apply to silk. Of course, nobody expects flies to last a long time, unless of course, you are using them in a display. I guess in a pinch, it's okay.

Beeswax is not petroleum & will withstand the test of time. I know this because there are wax paintings that were done in ancient Rome that look as if they were painted yesterday. Beeswax is a very stable medium. I managed a few hot wax painting while studying in college. Mixing melted beeswax with pure pigment results in some very saturated paints.

I guess those little bees know how to do things. Beeswax and of course Honey is terrific. Honey is the only known food which will not spoil.

Mark

Fascinating comments Mark. I had never heard of wax painting and I had never heard that about honey. Very cool.

With you on the bees wax and honey,too many honey facts to list here. Just two, honey was found in the pyramids still edible,bacteria cannot penetrate honey they used to use it on cuts. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.

Does anybody know what is used in Cobbler's wax to give it that dark colour? I've tried to mix a piece of cobbler's wax I have with beeswax (by melting them both together, with a spot of olive oil for softening) and although it all seems to mix when liquid, as it cools, the dark colour must be denser as it makes its way to the bottom by the time it has set.

Any thoughts?

Andrew.

GlassJet wrote:Does anybody know what is used in Cobbler's wax to give it that dark colour? I've tried to mix a piece of cobbler's wax I have with beeswax (by melting them both together, with a spot of olive oil for softening) and although it all seems to mix when liquid, as it cools, the dark colour must be denser as it makes its way to the bottom by the time it has set.

Any thoughts?

Andrew.

Perhaps here is what you search for:

http://www.edinburghbagpipes.co.uk/inde ... cts_id=249

Perhaps this thread is better:

http://uilleannforum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=981


Greeting