Waxing your own thread

[Baelfore]

Hello all,

Quick quetion for leather workers,

specificly anyone who waxes their own thread. how do you go about it?

up till now I have been using pre-waxed nylon thread, but thats nearly out.

I i'm off with the missus for the weekend and have a few bits of chrome tanned deerskin from Tandy left over,
and i'd love to be able to do up a few peices around the in the evenings.

I have a lump of beeswax left from making green wax.

any help is much appreciated.

Regards,
Baelfore

 

[mikew]

I just hold a lump of beeswax in one hand with the thread between my thumb and the beeswax then just pull it through with the other hand. Does that make sense??

 

[greensurfingbear]

I have a block of bees wax and pull the thread I over the edge if it with enough force so the thread goes into the wax


Orric

 

[Baelfore]

Thanks guys that's great.

I thought it might be something like that but just thought that must be too simple.

cheers!

Regards,
Baelfore

 

[Harvestman]

For some strange reason I thought this was about the threads we post on here, as in the discussion topics

I need more sleep...

 

[KIMBOKO]

When you have drawn the thread through the wax you leave wax on the outside of the thread. If you use a piece of leather to protect your fingers and pinch the thread between thump and forefingerthen draw the thread quickly through your protected fingers several times, the friction will melt the wax and penetrate to the inside of the thread.

 

[mikew]

When you have drawn the thread through the wax you leave wax on the outside of the thread. If you use a piece of leather to protect your fingers and pinch the thread between thump and forefingerthen draw the thread quickly through your protected fingers several times, the friction will melt the wax and penetrate to the inside of the thread.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[Oldwoodyrock]

I use code, which is a mixture of bees wax, and pitch. For the pitch, I usually just collect a bag full off the nearest pines I can find. A mix of one part pitch to three of bees wax is a good start. The old method for making code is to melt the two, stir, then pour the mix into cold water just enough to make golf ball sized lumps. Of late, I have been just filling wee plastic cups (one ounce) with the hot code, letting them cool, and popping them out. The wax with pitch locks your thread in much better than does plain wax, and does aid in preservation of the thread. BTW, there seem to be about ten ways to spell code.
Woody

 

[Jomo]

always use linen thread its much better than new synthetic threads. Although not as strong it doesn't stretch and when waxed is rot resistant and sets and holds itself in place when sewing unlike synthetic threads

 

[alpha_centaur]

The best way I've found of waxing thread is to take a scrap of soft leather. Put your piece of wax in it and the place the thread on top.

Fold the leather so that it lies over the top of the thread and then draw the thread through a couple of times.