Help! Filling seems and screw holes; am I using the wrong kind of beeswax?

tjlmbklr said:

EDIT: I figured it out. I added more wax again and switched to a heavy duty standard utility knife blade. I think the 4" blade may have been flexing causing a concaved like crater.

I am on the final stretch of my table restoration. What I didn't realize up until recently the used table i bought to restore is an oversize 8' (46"x92"). No problem by me, that is actually my favorite table to play on. But the table has no markings and may have been a homemade table with the slate drilled and fit to the frame after it was known the frame is slightly smaller, more for a 8'. The 16 slate screw holes stick 2.25" past the rails and are in the playing area. I know I could use Bondo but I really am trying to avoid Bondo, its stinky and messy to sand. Plus using bondo nowmeans I have to clean the holes completely free of wax.

So I did the seems and they turned out fine but the screw holes no matter how many times I fill them and shave up the rest with my 4" scraper it has a divot. I setup my Olhausen in the past with the screw hole in the center of the slate and had no issues with wax then.

What is the best thing to do, get different wax? I found this blue stuff online that I thought was well reviewed, but I only used yellow wax in that past. Is my wax too soft?

Should I just scrape all out and Bondo it?

Help!

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a buddy of mine used beeswax on his table in his garage and the daytime temps melted the wax which wept into the cloth and caused a speed bump

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rexus31 said:

Start over and use Bondo. The smell will dissipate in a couple hours.

Where will the table be? The reason I ask is a buddy of mine used beeswax on his table in his garage and the daytime temps melted the wax which wept into the cloth and caused a speed bump.

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Ssonerai said:

That's hot!
We render a fair amount of beeswax some years and it is hard to keep melted in the pot - the surface keeps cooling on the top layer, over top nearly boiling water.

Officially, the melting point is about 145F.
It somewhat softens at body heat, but not much, if you ever chewed any. (forms emulsion)

I don't know enough to know what the ideal seam and hole filler for pool tables is. However, it does sound to me like friend's "bees" wax might not have been the pure stuff.

Or he has one hot garage.

smt

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garczar said:

Wasn't real beeswax i agree. 145deg is HOT. Where's this dude's garage, Saudi Arabia??

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tjlmbklr said:

I think I'll have to. I have put wax in the screw holes like 10 times now and every time I changed they seem to have sunk in a again. Not a lot but enough to not want to cover them up with new cloth.

The table will be in my well cooled house.

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