hot WAX, with oil
Try this one if you use oil finishes on furniture or turned wood. I think you will like it. The surface will have the soft warmth of the beeswax in both appearance and feel, but it will be more durable than a beeswax that was applied after the oil finish had cured. This is because the soft wax is captured in a matrix of solid finish, and is not just a layer of wax on top of the hard oil finish.
This works best when used as the last coat for an oil finish like Waterlox or a homebrew that contains varnish resins. It doesn't work very well with the Watco Danish Oil, but it works very well with the Watco Teak Oil finishes. It also works with the partially polymerized Boiled Linseed Oil finishes such as True-Oil, Bush Oil, etc. I haven't tried it with any other oils, and I haven't had much luck with any of the Polyurethane finishes. I think the reason is that the Poly finishes can't take the heat. You are on your own if you want to go those routes.
the Recipe
It can't get any easier than this.
Melt 1-ounce of beeswax in a wide-mouth Pint Mason jar. Don't bother to measure. A little bit either way won't hurt anything.
I use a coffee-cup warmer to heat the wax and oil. Put the Mason Jar in a pan of boiling water if you don't have one.
Fill to 3/4 full with the Oil Finish you are using.
Continue heating until the oil is hot and then stir to blend the beeswax into the Oil Finish.
Allow it to cool to room temperature and sit for a couple days to a week before using. This stuff is like spaghetti, it improves with age and reheating. The wax will separate and settle to the bottom of the jar, but don't worry about that. It will go back into solution with the oil when it is reheated.
to use It
The hot mixture is applied just as you would the final coat of the oil finish by itself.
Reheat until the wax goes back into solution, and stir to mix well. If you want to measure, heat to at least 150 F. This is the melting temperature of the beeswax.
Cheesecloth makes a good applicator.
Apply a thin wet coat of the hot mixture as the final coat of a cured oil finish. Continue rubbing until it starts to cool. Wipe off the excess just as you would with a coat of oil. Let it dry overnight, and buff with a soft cloth or cheese-cloth.
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