Butchers Bowling alley wax... substitute ingredients?

Hello all,
I know this cue wax topic is varied, so I am going to ask a specific question.

The MSDS (material safety data sheet) for the Butchers wax lists Carnauba, Paraffin, Turpentine, and Mineral spirits as the main ingredients.

If I wanted to make a batch of my own "home brew" Would the denatured alcohol I already have on hand be okay instead of the turpentine/mineral spirits?



The method is to heat the waxes and solvents in a hot water bath and add Just enough heat to get them to mix; Cool and store in a tight container.
Test mixture and repeat process to adjust wax ratios.

It appears that Denatured alcohol is more harmful than the Mineral Spirits and turpentine, based on the health labels of each MSDS sheet for those chemicals by themselves. I want to say it has a lower flash point as well. I would definitely check the flashpoint level prior to using with heat.

I wanted to use Denat Alcohol to avoid the smell commonly associated with the Butchers product. It is alo very expensive nowadays. I do not need a 2# can either...
I am hoping a home mix would be cheaper and more effective.

Any thoughts and feedback on your collective experiences out there?

Many thanks,
Jeremy

Thanks Mr. Lomax...

I agree.
I was thinking that the carnauba wouldn't be that expensive for the amount I needed. I already had the Denatured alcohol for cleaning purposes.

Personally, I kinda thought it would be fun to make...

Have you used the product you mentioned?
I'll see if I can find the MSDS on it for comparison and try to read the packaging from pics online. I have not seen it here locally (Jacksonville FL)
I have never heard of it.
The Butchers wax was mentioned on another thread. I started looking for that after reading about it here on AZ.

Thanks for the reply.
Jeremy

more info and thanks....

Thank you to all who posted. From my additional research, everything posted here is dead accurate (100% agrees with what I found anyway).
According to the Butcher's people, Denat alcohol does not dissolve the Carnauba. It is used for analine dyes/powders when staining, etc...Cue Crazy
mentioned this also.

According to the CAS#'s listed in the product MSDS's, the Permakote that Mr. Lomax mentioned and Trewax Clear paste wax are very similar to the Butcher's. The TreWax may be slightly less odorous, as one ingredient differs from the Permakote.

Permakote has gum spirits/turpentine... a dead ringer for Butcher's 2 ingredients.
Trewax Clear Paste Wax uses de-scented Kerosene/"Petroleum Distillates" (CAS# 64742-47-8) instead of the Gum spirits.

Both products use Stoddard solvent CAS# 8052-41-3 as the main cutting agent.
That Stoddard Solvent has the commmon names "white spirits" and "mineral spirits" from what I found on the CAS site.

I will try the Trewax brand , since it is readily available for about 8$ and should be less smelly than the Butchers...(I don't have access to the Permakote or Butchers here in Jacksonville)

I will research the Lundmark product as well prior to my Trewax purchase, but I have not seen that product on the shelves here either.
(Lundmark uses VM&P Naphtha and Gum turpentine -- CAS#'s 8030-30-6 & 8006-64-2... a lot like the Butcher's)

I did research SC Johnson Clear paste wax. It has a third ingredient that put it off my "to try" list. (1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene CAS# 95-63-6)

All of these products should of course be used with proper PPE and care.

Hopefully this information will be useful to someone out there.
Many Thanks,
Jeremy

Many thanks... won't have to twist my arm to take another trip there!

cueman said:

That is the only wax on the market that I have found that is really comparable to cue wax although the two differ slightly. Both have very low odor without the harsh chemicals and give a slick feel on the shaft. At one time the manufacturer of the cue wax insisted on putting an orange coloring in it and I quit using it for a time and used the Renaissance wax until we convinced them to quit making the cue wax dark orange. I never cared for the bowling alley wax. It had a bad smell and did not produce as slick of a feel as the cue wax does. Both those waxes cost many times as much as the Bowling alley wax, but it is only pennies per application, so the extra expense is justified for the results they give.

Click to expand...

thank you three... I did see that one and ruled it out initially due to cost. It came up on a fly fishing forum when I researched the Buthcers wax. It is funny how things came full circle. The harsh odor is a big down point for me. I will probably end up getting some of that since it has no strong odor and is like the cuewax.
Thank you all for the advice.
Jeremy