Need a recipe

[Fla._Deadheader]

Been talkin with Frank Pender. I thought he was on the trail of the recipe for Log Sealer. Shipping a drum or 3 to CR would be expensive, soooooo, I been thinkin, if I could get a decent recipe, I could brew up the stuff from local supplies, EH ???

[srjones]

(I have a theory...most threads on FF can or will eventually turn toward food.  )

I don't have a recipe, but I have some ideas that may get you close.  With a little experimentation, you might just get it perfect.  Maybe a chemist can chime in here.

The type of sealer that I'm familiar with is a "wax (parafin) based emulsion"     If you think about it, mayonaise (mayo) is an emulsion, and the key to making good mayo instead of an oily mess is the way the oil is added water based mixed so that the oil is is dispursed into tiny droplets in the solution. 

The key ingredient here is parafin which hopefully you should be able to easily procure.  Another required ingredient might be an acid (like citric or acetic acid).   

From there, it's just like making a BIG batch of mayo or a bunch of small batches of mayo in your kitchen food processor.

Here's a link with a little more info on emulsions.

One other idea:  Search the patent databases.  You might actually find a process or a patented formula for this.  If the patent has expired, you should have no issues using it for commercial purposes.

Good luck!

-srj

[beenthere]

I've been looking for my 'old' recipe for the water repellant preservative that included melting paraffin wax and mixing it with fuel oil (or mineral spirits) and boiled linseed oil (also included Penta for protection against mildew).  I would think you could melt the paraffin (use double boiler method) and mix it with #1 or #2 fuel oil until it stop mixing in, keeping it in suspension. Possibly the boiled linseed oil helps keep the paraffin suspended, that I don't know. I would suggest trying to mix the paraffin with fuel oil and see how little fuel oil is needed to make it work. The paraffin wax will seal the end grain.

I used to use this mix for fence boards, fence posts, and for siding. When we couldn't purchase Penta anymore, I switched to some of the "woodlife' treatments which have also evolved into other brand names.

[johnjbc]

I have used paint thinner and wax about 1/4 bees wax on canvas tents befor and it worked ok. Don't see why it wouldn't work on wood.


Another formula, found in G.B Colby and Bradford Angier's The Art and Science of Taking to the Woods (Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, Pa., 1970), is not for the faint of heart. In particular, remember that most of the solvents described are very nasty to inhale, particularly benzene, and you might find the product safety sheets very sobering reading. If you're still game, and you have that remarkable combination of enough sense to take all the proper precautions, yet not enough sense to refrain from doing it in the first place, here's what the article says:

"If you'd like to treat a tent or tarpaulin with a good and proved homemade waterproofing solution, the job can be accomplished without too much difficulty. One of the best homemade solutions is simple to make and easy to apply. Just drop some blocks of canning paraffin into a gallon or two of white gasoline and let them stand for a few days or until as much paraffin as possible has been dissolved. The blocks may be eaten away entirely, or there may be nothing left but some thin, pock-marked paraffin wafers. About a pound of paraffin in a gallon of white gasoline is the right ratio, and you can shave the paraffin with a knife to speed up dissolving.

"Take this saturated solution out doors and -- keeping all cigarettes, sparks, or open flames well away -- paint it onto the tent or tarp. Use a clean, rather stiff brush, and work the liquid well into the material. particularly on roof, floor, and seams. The fluid will soak into the material and the gasoline will evaporate, leaving a coating of paraffin throughout the fibers. This treatment does not make the fabric too stiff, although it may stiffen slightly and shrink a bit as it dries. You can even use this solution on your convertible's top, and it will certainly make it waterproof. The white paraffin doesn't rub off much, and the color of the tent is not greatly changed, perhaps becoming a little darker.

"If you prefer to use some solvent other than gasoline, you can substitute either turpentine or benzene. But remember that these, too, are very flammable, so use extreme care.

[Skytramp]

Just use latex paint, works great.
Skytramp

[Coon]

There is also a way to treat logs against bugs, mildew etc with boric acid but i can't recall exactly what else is used in it.  this product if I remember right is also used in higher concentration and with water pressue is used to clean the logs.  I will look through my papers and things to see if I can find it .  I know I have it around here somewhere.  It uses some common things like borax and?????
Brad

[beenthere]

coon
Probably bleach. 

[CHARLIE]

Bring 4 cups of water with 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil and add 1 cup quick Dixie Lilly grits.  Bring back to a boil and turn heat to simmer. Cook until thick enough to lift with a fork.  Spoon onto a plate, add pepper and butter and enjoy while thinking about a recipe for making end grain sealer.

[Modat22]

You can buy liquid parafin oil. Perhaps you can add this to something to make your sealer?

[Frank_Pender]

FDH, I just got off of the land line with my people and they are putting together a fact sheet for costs and all.  I will have it tomorrow sometime.   If you have a fax number that I can send this too, please send me that information.  Also, I would need to know the the precise location you would like to have the material sent.

[beenthere]

Frank
Are you going to share the fact sheet with us?  Please?
Also, are you going to send the materials to CR? : :

[Fla._Deadheader]

Frank, let me get in touch with Fred and see what the best options would be. I am going back to the boonies at 6 AM, and will not have Internet contact again, for a good while.  Thanks for all your assistance.

[Frank_Pender]

Beenthere, are you looking for prices or what?  What i was going to do for Deadheader, was see what the costs might be as well as sending the sealer in a tote size container and let them dispense into 5 gallon units for easier distribution.  How much a tote is in weight, I will have to see when the information arrives tomorrow. 

I may be a bit slow in getting the information out tomorrow, as I have a power point to make to a group of Oregon Small Woodland owners tomorrow eveing.  I am in the final phases of finishing up the point project, with Alice's help of course.  It is to last about 45 minutes.   :'(

[beenthere]

It appeared to me you were coming up with a recipe for FDH. If so, that is what I'd be interested in.

FDH appeared to be interested in a recipe too, so he could purchase materials in CR.

I wondered if you were willing to share the recipe for log end sealer.  If the recipe is a secret, then I will understand. 

[etat]

I've been looking for my 'old' recipe for the water repellant preservative that included melting paraffin wax and mixing it with fuel oil (or mineral spirits)

1½ cups boiled linseed oil
1 ounce of paraffin (substitute carnauba or wood rosin wax, provided they contain no
prohibited substances)
Enough solvent (distilled pine tar, mineral spirits, paint thinner, turpentine, citrus
thinner, or whatever is approved) (I once in a pinch mixed some up with diesel fuel) at room temperature to make the total volume of the mix one full gallon.


(as a GUESS and which I know NOTHING about if I was going to make up some for end sealer I think I would experiment with adding more paraffin until I found out how much the solution could hold in suspension without it settling out)

[Frank_Pender]

No, I do not have a secret recipe.   :'( :'( :'(  I was simply trying to find an economical way in which to get them some end sealer to them in Costa Rica, without it costing an arm and a leg.

[Murf]

A common formula for homemade water reppelent for wood would be (by volume);

20% polyurethane (spar) varnish,
5% parrafin wax,
75% mineral spirits.

In a well ventilated, preferably outdoors, area, melt the wax and then slowly pour and mix it with the mineral spirits, then slowly mix in the varnish also.

It may need to be re-apllied every now and then, and you may need to treat for mould as well, but it will work.

If you up the wax content, it won't penetrate as well, but might last a little longer. I dunno, experiment required?  :