90% beeswax, 10% paraffin for burnishing edges

[NeilMott]

@DwightSo, if I'm guessing correctly, the neatsfoot oil is going to add a bit of the shine like the carnauba wax?  I already have NFO on hand which would be great.  

I mainly make watch straps but would also like to use this for other small goods like coasters and down the road wallets, etc.

I was planning on using that heating iron that I posted originally, and finishing with canvas.

Neil

[fredk]

The nfo doesn't help with the gloss. It helps the wax mix be absorbed into the leather. Without the nfo the wax mix just sits on the top layer of the leather. The carnauba wax gives the shine but its a really hard wax so its mixed with the softer beeswax to make it workable

[Lobo]

For years my preference was a mixture of 50% beeswax and 50% paraffin. I had a lady who made candles mix it for me in her wax melting machine, poured into small muffin-size chunks for use in the shop. Rubbed onto the edges at room temperature, then burnished on a hard felt polishing wheel turning at about 1700 RPM, which quickly builds friction to melt the wax and force it into the exposed edges.

A single 2-ounce "muffin" of wax mixture would easily do a hundred holsters or belts. After dressing the edges on a drum sander, beveling, and dying if needed, the actual burnishing process takes about 2 or 3 minutes per product. The result is a perfect high-gloss edge that is very resistant to wear or abrasion.

Wearing a belt right now made about 12 years ago and finished that way. All edges remain well sealed and presentable. Holster I'm wearing dates to about 2008, still looks and functions just fine.

Caution: Melting waxes will produce vapors that are easily ignited, so mixing the waxes can be dangerous when there are exposed heat sources. It is possible to mix and melt the waxes in containers (heavy duty freezer bags) immersed in a pot of boiling water without generating the flammable vapors. Personally, I provided my candle-making friend with 10 lbs. each of beeswax and paraffin wax, let her do it in her special machine, and paid her a buck per pound for her efforts. 20 lbs. of finished "muffins" gave me all I needed for a decade of production work.

[Dwight]

2 hours ago, NeilMott said:

@DwightSo, if I'm guessing correctly, the neatsfoot oil is going to add a bit of the shine like the carnauba wax?  I already have NFO on hand which would be great.  

I mainly make watch straps but would also like to use this for other small goods like coasters and down the road wallets, etc.

I was planning on using that heating iron that I posted originally, and finishing with canvas.

Neil

Honestly . . .  I don't know the chemistry and so forth of it all.  I just know it works.  

I make holsters . . . belts . . . knife sheaths . . . and I do not wax all of them.  

Those that I do . . . I rub the compound onto the product . . . go over it lightly with my heat gun . . . it melts everthing and it is absorbed into the leather product.  A few light coats of that later . . . and I can take a wash cloth and shine it up right real nice.

May God bless,

Dwight