Melting Sealing Wax

[jbb]

Do you melt your sealing wax directly over a flame or in a spoon of some sort? I'd love to see pictures of any apparatus you're using as I think I'd like to upgade my sealing wax set up. Are there little pots people use?

[Stargazer34683]

I do mine the easy way. A flameless lighter straight over the wax. Poof done

[jbb]

I do mine the easy way. A flameless lighter straight over the wax. Poof done

What is a flameless lighter? Is there a brand you like?

Edited August 28, 2010 by jbb

[ehoh]

I use a creme brulee torch as recommended by others on this board. It melts the wax without any soot.

[jbb]

I use a creme brulee torch as recommended by others on this board. It melts the wax without any soot.

Speaking of which, I recently had the most exceptional dessert I've had in a long time: Chocolate "foam" (a very light textured, but wonderfully dark chocolate ganache) over a perfectly prepared crème brûlée. OMG! It might be too dangerous (to my diet) to have a crème brûlée torch in the house .... but I'm considering getting one anyway.

[Stargazer34683]

I do mine the easy way. A flameless lighter straight over the wax. Poof done

What is a flameless lighter? Is there a brand you like?

 

I bought it at home depot. It is meant for starting your barbecue pit. It spits out a blue flame like a jet engine. Melts the wax almost instantly. Probably about 5 seconds before I have enough melted to make a seal. Creme Brulee torch would work the same. That sounds delicious btw!

Edited August 28, 2010 by Stargazer34683

[Enai]

Chocolate foam? Can we keep this thread on topic please? LOL, just kidding. Wax seals and chocolate, what can be better?

 

Here's my simple setup, JBB. I do use a "melting spoon" because it works best for me; it's easy and I can control the wax better. My melting spoon is a regular soup spoon that I found in the thrift store. One just needs a thick spoon and not a flimsy one. Melting wax over a tealight using the spoon does not really generate enough heat at the end of the spoon, so it's safe to hold the spoon handle at the end (again, as long as it's a thick spoon). An advantage of using a melting spoon is one can mix wax colors to create new colors, and maybe add glitter (glitter, do I have your attention yet JBB?). I also like to use wax beads because then I don't have to cut up wax sticks, which tend to be plasticy and difficult to cut.

 

 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Zw92qAkQFhw/THlsGH0guHI/AAAAAAAADRA/b8iRcN24cqE/s800/meltingspoon.jpg

 

As usual, be careful when playing with candles.

[Stargazer34683]

Chocolate foam? Can we keep this thread on topic please? LOL, just kidding. Wax seals and chocolate, what can be better?

 

Here's my simple setup, JBB. I do use a "melting spoon" because it works best for me; it's easy and I can control the wax better. My melting spoon is a regular soup spoon that I found in the thrift store. One just needs a thick spoon and not a flimsy one. Melting wax over a tealight using the spoon does not really generate enough heat at the end of the spoon, so it's safe to hold the spoon handle at the end (again, as long as it's a thick spoon). An advantage of using a melting spoon is one can mix wax colors to create new colors, and maybe add glitter (glitter, do I have your attention yet JBB?). I also like to use wax beads because then I don't have to cut up wax sticks, which tend to be plasticy and difficult to cut.

 

 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Zw92qAkQFhw/THlsGH0guHI/AAAAAAAADRA/b8iRcN24cqE/s800/meltingspoon.jpg

 

As usual, be careful when playing with candles.

 

 

Mixing. I have never had successful results then again I don't use this method. I would like to use my various colors to make a burgundy seal with silver marbled into it. Never works though. The silver just sits on top of the burgundy.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Stargazer34683

[Stargazer34683]

Disregard added another reply on accident.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Stargazer34683

[jbb]

Chocolate foam? Can we keep this thread on topic please? LOL, just kidding. Wax seals and chocolate, what can be better?

On topic, of course it's on topic!

There are only six degrees of separation between chocolate foam and sealing wax.

1. Chocolate foam creates endorphins
   
2. which make you more open to people
   
3. which gets you to post on FPN
   
4. which makes you sign up for pen pals
   
5. which instills in you a desire for more beautiful correspondence
   
6. which makes you need sealing wax.
   

 

 

P.S. - Where did you buy the wax beads?

Edited August 28, 2010 by jbb

[Enai]

 

On topic, of course it's on topic!

There are only six degrees of separation between chocolate foam and sealing wax.

1. Chocolate foam creates endorphins
   
2. which make you more open to people
   
3. which gets you to post on FPN
   
4. which makes you sign up for pen pals
   
5. which instills in you a desire for more beautiful correspondence
   
6. which makes you need sealing wax.
   

 

 

P.S. - Where did you buy the wax beads?

 

Man, I never thought of it that way. Thank you soooo much for enlightening me. I need more chocolate.

 

Letterseals. Don't get their blue, though, because the color sucks (you can't mix it with yellow to get green). Red is okay. I've mixed their red and yellow to get different shades of orange. I haven't tested their other colors.

[redshifteffect]

Stargazers you can actually mix the two colors very easily. Just melt them both on the same spot and use a Popsicle stick or spoon to "swirl" them together. If you want you can also use the wax stick. I've done this with two colors before with good effect.

[drgonzo2]

The only modern way to melt sealing wax! An S.T. Dupont lighter!!! Admittedly, you're talking $300 for the cheap silver version ( hey, it does for me), but XXXX CENSORED DUE TO ALCOHOL AND OTHER INFLUENCES>>>>XXX

[kiavonne]

Well, I do have these...

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Wax%20Jacks/My%20Wax%20Jacks/MyWaxJacks.jpg

 

 

But of course, I do not use them. Four of five of these wax jacks hold original wax, the iron one in the middle over 300 years old. I don't think I want to burn it. So, I use a fireplace lighter with my Atelier Gargoyle or J.Herbin supple wax at the moment. One of these days I'll invest in torch. Until then, a little soot adds character.

[Pentech42]

Do you melt your sealing wax directly over a flame or in a spoon of some sort? I'd love to see pictures of any apparatus you're using as I think I'd like to upgade my sealing wax set up. Are there little pots people use?

 

never had good luck with a spoon but I did use a low heat glue stick pot to heat a bunch of red wax at one time. For most correspondence I use a cigar lighter ( blue flame).

 

 

 

[jbb]

Well, I do have these...

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Wax%20Jacks/My%20Wax%20Jacks/MyWaxJacks.jpg

 

 

But of course, I do not use them. Four of five of these wax jacks hold original wax, the iron one in the middle over 300 years old. I don't think I want to burn it. So, I use a fireplace lighter with my Atelier Gargoyle or J.Herbin supple wax at the moment. One of these days I'll invest in torch. Until then, a little soot adds character.

Have you already told the tale of WHY you have these? If so I'd love a link, if not you've got some tales to tell.

[kiavonne]

 

Have you already told the tale of WHY you have these? If so I'd love a link, if not you've got some tales to tell.

 

 

Ha! Tales to tell, huh?

 

Well, jbb, there isn't much of a tale to tell, but I'll give a history of how I came to find them.

 

After the tornado last year, I was feeling particularly selfish in spending. After paying for repairs with the insurance check, I was still short and ended up cashing out my inheritance CDs from my grandmother. Then, with leftovers (and not being too bright sometimes to think of the future), I bought my antique desk, and my wax seal collection grew a smidge, too. I think I came across the wax jack during a search on antique wax seals in google, and some 20+ pages in. I'd never heard of them before. But I was instantly fascinated. Wax jacks were used to melt the wax for sealing letters and documents. They all have some kind of thumb hold so the wax could be tipped over onto the document. The sterling silver and silver plate wax jacks would have been awkward, I think, but that was their purpose. I had to have one. Found one. Bought one. And wasn't satisfied when I saw more... Oddly enough, though, the oldest was the least expensive. It may not be pretty or covered in silver, but it has definite charm. It has simple ornamental footing and a design on the square base thought to be Gaelic or something similar to the region.

 

The original wax is rolled into long, thin rolls and then coiled, and it is wicked. It is very thin, and there is no one who makes replacement coils. It was not burned for illumination at all, the only purpose was for wax seals. The stuff you see today on coil candles is very, very thick in comparison, and although beeswax, it doesn't burn very nicely as a candle, and it wouldn't make a good seal at all. This is the wax you see coiled around the brass wax jack. The seller added it to make the wax jack look more appealing or functional in a sales photo. The "modern" stuff is basically just a novelty item.

 

Anyway, I finished out the money when my car died, and so my spending spree on frivolous things has ended. I may or may not add to the collection at a later date. Medical bills are getting my attention now.

Edited August 29, 2010 by kiavonne

[jbb]

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Wax%20Jacks/My%20Wax%20Jacks/MyWaxJacks.jpg

 

Thanks for sharing Kiavonne. I've never heard of a wax jack but now, of course, I want one.

[Shangas]

I do it the old-fashioned way with a cigarette lighter. Not the most graceful of ways of applicating wax, but it works.

[Pentech42]

Wax jacks were used to melt the wax for sealing letters and documents. They all have some kind of thumb hold so the wax could be tipped over onto the document. The sterling silver and silver plate wax jacks would have been awkward, I think, but that was their purpose.

 

 

Almost the purpose! The wax jack was used to heat the sealing wax as if it were a candle! The jack stayed upright on the desk and the stick or spoon of sealing wax was moved over to the paper.