Sending wax-sealed envelopes thru the mail

[tfwall]

Yes, I'd worry about breakage of a thin seal cast with traditional sealing wax. The Atelier stuff though isn't at all friable, it can easily be bent ninety degrees with no ill consequences. The only time I've seen that it is at all delicate is the fifteen seconds or so when it is neither fully molten nor set but in a transition phase. That's the only time I've damaged a seal (by pulling the signet out just a second too early).

[Djehuty]

That's the only thing I find disappointing about the modern waxes like Atelier Gargoyle's. The wax can't be broken, so it isn't really a seal, just a decoration.

 

That isn't meant to cast aspersions at Atelier Gargoyle, though, it's only a lamentation over modern circumstances which make a genuine letter-sealing seal impractical. Atelier Gargoyle's sealing wax is made exceedingly well, it's a great product which is both attractive and durable. And they're very nice people, too.

 

[Titivillus]

That's the only thing I find disappointing about the modern waxes like Atelier Gargoyle's. The wax can't be broken, so it isn't really a seal, just a decoration.

 

That isn't meant to cast aspersions at Atelier Gargoyle, though, it's only a lamentation over modern circumstances which make a genuine letter-sealing seal impractical. Atelier Gargoyle's sealing wax is made exceedingly well, it's a great product which is both attractive and durable. And they're very nice people, too.

 

Hold on a second :ltcapd: there is still actual real shellac based not flexy wax being produced and I've got a dozen or so sticks of it to prove it I've also got a few different paper folds that when sealed with wax ( or a stamp) do exactly what traditional wax would do. So don't dispair as there is still the possibility of using fountain pens there is still the opportunity to use real sealing wax.

 

K

 

[tfwall]

I'm looking to buy something different in terms of a seal. Does anyone have custom seals that'd like to share? I'd be interested to see what others have beyond the standard craft store clipart types.

 

I'd be cool if you could post pictures of them here and even maybe send postcards or letters with them affixed to those interested.

 

Is there any interest in this?

[Djehuty]

Mine is the same image I use for my avatar pic. It's a pair of hieroglyphs, the ibis on a standard for Djehuty, god of scribes (Thoth if you're feeling Greek) combined with the glyph of the scribal toolkit.

 

[southpaw]

I've played around a bit with this for about a year now and have arrived at something that works very well for me. Initially, I bought some cheap wax from that auction site, and much of it didn't make it through the postal machines. Also, I was applying a very thick seal. As time went on, I decreased the thickness of the seal, yet kept the amount of wax sufficient to get a crisp and full imprint. The cheap wax still didn't fare too well. I then obtained some good sealing wax - Stuart Houghton. It's rare that one doesn't make it through now. To me, the key is not going overboard with the amount of wax used and using a good wax. For the record, I only use real wax, not the faux stuff or the flexible stuff.

[wacbzz]

I'm currently looking for someone who'll do a better, deeper seal, and won't charge me $500 for it.

 

Have you found this person yet? I am looking to have a seal made and the wax-works site interested me very much, but your *review* of your seal has kind of dissuaded me...

[Djehuty]

Nope, no luck yet. If you know what you're doing, the wax-works person isn't necessarily a bad choice. The engraving is done by a computer-controlled machine. The problem I had was that I wasn't aware of the limitations of the machine, and he didn't warn me that my design would result in very shallow engraving. So, if your design has relatively thick lines, or you know how these engraving machines work, then $45 for this guy's work beats $500+ for a professional hand-engraver.