80/20 vs 100% paraffin vs something else....

[bchaffin72]

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My jar of dipping wax when all paraffin had significant sink/shrinkage after cooling. Adding beeswax in the 80/20 ratio I expected the shrinkage to change (too much shrink would cause voids and open up possible microphonic points) but it looks about the same amount of shrink.

Make sure to use a double boiler setup when melting your wax. A neighbor of mine when I was a kid burned his house down making candles.

Get an inexpensive sports ball pump, dismantle to flip over the check valve, and you have a vacuum pump or buy an automotive test vacuum pump but it will be 3-5 times the cost of the sports pump. Get an inline check valve from the fish department of a pet store to maintain the vacuum between vacuum draws on the converted pump, a large wide mouth (pickle) jar that you put a pipe mount through the lid. Connect it all with automotive tubing (to not collapse under heat) and put your wax in the jar that is in a larger pan of water. Put the pickups in the jar and draw the vacuum - you'll see bubbles exit the coil as the vacuum increases and wax goes in the coil. Lay the pickups on paper towels to cool.

Thanks. I did come up with a double boiler, with an old metal pot and canning jar inside for the wax itself. I don't have the vacuum pump yet, but fabricating one looks pretty straight forward.

 

[bchaffin72]

Well, I'm pretty happy. I went ahead and tore down the tele to better pot the stock pickups. They are still a little bit sensitive. Without the vacuum, I'm sure I didn't get as deep in as is possible, but I gave them a good soak and saw a fair amount of air bubble out. They are more controllable and the serious trouble went away. I can live with that.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

this is what a vintage build bobbin looks like after it's been wound, vacuum potted, and then stripped of its coil wire. notice that the spaces between pole pieces are totally filled with potting wax. the space between the D and G string poles is devoid of wax because that's where the xacto blade cut through the fully saturated coil wire in order to strip it off. a coil potted in this manner will be extremely tolerant of microphonics, and of particular use at extremely high output volumes.

 

[Bendyha]

I've always used 100% beeswax. I love the smell of it. I went to my local bee keeper, and I think you'll find they are to be found everywhere, and got a whole bag of the stuff, and a jar of honey, for the price of two jars of honey. It was dirty, with all sorts of debris in it, but melt it down, and most of the junk sinks to the bottom, with the rest rising to the surface where it can be skimmed off before pouring the clean wax off the dregs. I guess there was about 3 pints of wax in my pot, should last a while.

I like the idea of the simple vaccum pump, I wouldn't have thought it developed sufficient vaccum to make the effort worthwhile, I will give it a try.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

mixing in a bit candle scent to gulf paraffin wax can have yer potted pups smell like anything from apples to zinnias

 

[Bendyha]

mixing in a bit candle scent to gulf paraffin wax can have yer potted pups smell like anything from apples to zinnias

I just checked - thousands of scents available, but not one smelling of beeswax, or benzoin resin.

I will not enter shops if I can smell scented candles or soaps when entering the doorway. This equals a lot of shops, but I figure if thats the sort of stuff they are selling, they probably won't have much that I might want to have anyway that I can't find in a descent shop.

 

[bchaffin72]

mixing in a bit candle scent to gulf paraffin wax can have yer potted pups smell like anything from apples to zinnias

I'll have to try a nice Tropical Breeze. Maybe it will make my pickups soind light and airy!