Crayons

[letumgo]

The dark color comes from resin. Here is a link to an article describing how to make your own cobblers wax.

http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/dubbingwax/

[GlassJet]

That is brilliant, thanks!

I made some light coloured wax, by blending bee's wax with a touch of olive oil and some coconut oil. This last ingredient on the suggestion of my girlfriend, who has been known to make her own cosmetics. It worked very well, as the property of coconut oil is to be solid at room temperature, but touch it and the warmth of your skin causes just the surface to melt. It works for me!

So now I need some dark rosin to colour it.... thanks again.

Andrew.

[Roy]

the property of coconut oil is to be solid at room temperature, but touch it and the warmth of your skin causes just the surface to melt.
Andrew.

So will it act as an effective floatant
??
should be harmless to aquatic fauna, biodegradable and cheap

hmmm!

Roy

ps, yippee, my server is working again

[GlassJet]

So will it act as an effective floatant
?
Roy

ps, yippee, my server is working again

Hi Roy,
I hadn't even given that a thought!
Might be a bit of a draw-back in a wet fly?

It makes it very easy to work with though, for waxing silk thread. You just put your finger on the block of wax and pull through the silk and job done.

You got me thinking about a floatant though, in it's pure form I mean. Might have to give that a go...

Andrew.
ps - Glad to see the world is no longer isolated again... re your server.

[wsbailey]

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.

Traditionally cobbler's wax was made with pitch which is boiled pine tar. Alone, pitch is both brittle and liquid. That is, it will shatter if hit but will flow into a puddle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_%28resin%29. Other ingredients are added to soften the pitch to make cobbler's wax. Pitch gives the color which is transparent unlike pigments which are opaque. I would describe the color as yellow brown with burgundy overtones but this is subjective. I make my own cobbler's wax and white (colourless, transparent) wax for tying flies. Bill

[daringduffer]

Black pitch wax used to be available here in Sweden. I have a piece sourced from http://www.slojd-skinn.se/index.asp?id=106 . If you click "VISA BILD" on the first product "Vaxbeck, svart 100 g (UTGÅTT)" , you will see what it is like, except the only thing you see is the paper around it with some text. "UTGÅTT" means "no longer available".

If someone is interested I can look for it elsewhere. It is a Swedish made cobblers wax that received a prize from the Swedish king in 1889. It is also available in "yellow".

dd