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  • Bee Hive building & a place to share howto's on equipment
Bee Hive building & a place to share howto's on equipment
 #6328  by APD
 11 Apr 2020, 09:27
Hi all.

I've got a large lump of wax (1.5-2kgs) that I rendered from cappings, old brood frames etc so have taken loads of crud out by initially filtering it through muslin.

There is quite a bit of general crud left around the edges and base of the block and wondered what would be the best way to try and get rid of this? Couldn't work out how to attach a photo but by crud I mean dark bits of comb and general detritus.

Warm up again on the hob, scrape off any floating rubbish and put back through the muslin, or, something else?

Any help would be very much appreciated as internet searches haven't been that helpful so far.

Thank you, Rob.
 #6329  by AdamD
 11 Apr 2020, 09:48
The junk (slum gum) tends to be under the block of wax once it solidifies; it can usually be scraped off (a slightly blunt chizel works for me) until the bottom is fairly clean. Sometimes a second go is needed - Muslin should be fine, although an old T shirt or whatever you have should work as a straining material.

I would not be allowed to use the hob in the kitchen for such a thing! :lol:

Welcome to the forum.
 #6330  by Chrisbarlow
 11 Apr 2020, 09:48
Scrape off and remelt and then remold and repeat

Could melt it in the oven but have a filter over a pot and the hard wax in the filter so as it melts , it's filters as well. The oven temp needs to be at least 64°c but less than 90°c

This is someone's blog as an example... https://www.betterhensandgardens.com/rendering-honey-beeswax/

If you've got a warming cabinet that gets to at least 64°c then you could use that instead.
 #6331  by Chrisbarlow
 11 Apr 2020, 09:49
I would suggest do not melt wax over an open flame or in a microwave
 #6333  by Patrick
 11 Apr 2020, 13:54
Ah Rob, rendering wax to pure yellow loveliness - there lies madness and domestic disharmony.

Madness = as your standards keep rising over your initial laissez faire expectation and it still persistently has a flock of something in it.

Domestic disharmony = as you are ingeniously tempted to bring into play more and more bits of kitchen equipment which, once they have even smelled wax, refuse to ever return to their former condition despite your increasingly desperate attempts :lol:

More usefully...try to find a melting vessel for your bits and bobs of wax that is relatively tall for its circumference. That way, the cheese of wax as it slowly cools can settle out the crud on a smaller area of underside. Then ruthlessly scrape that back to clean part. If you are concerned about the amount of wax you have also pared off with the last of the crud you can put it aside for your next melt up or only have to further heat up a much smaller amount. What you are trying to do is not repeatedly heat the whole mass to simply clean up a small amount.

The degree of purity you are aiming for rather depends on the end use. Personally I would only be filtering for something like candle wax or polish, as I just hate all that congealed filter cloth business.

It’s a labour intensive business but a nice solid yellow block is a thing of beauty. :)
 #6368  by AndrewLD
 12 Apr 2020, 10:17
In the interests of domestic harmony one might try a Kochstar from E H Thorne - great for heating out honey and rendering wax but sadly, pricey.
A much cheaper alternative at £158 is a honey warmer and beeswax melter sold by Cornish Honey; here's the address https://cornishhoney.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=462&ceid=j2hv2kpi33br622am8nshtt2pl
Let's face it; we are not going to get the kitchen to ourselves for some months :(
 #6379  by Chrisbarlow
 12 Apr 2020, 17:35
Or cheaper still but I think the same idea...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Catering-Warming-RCMW-27DTB-Temperature/dp/B07DPL77GR/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Royal+Catering+Mulled+Wine+Warmer+Warming+Pot+RCMW-27DTB+%2827+L%2C+1.800+W%2C+Drain+tap%2C+Temperature+30%E2%80%93100+%C2%B0C%2C&qid=1586709349&sr=8-1