Johnson's wax
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Have not but will try. I have a bunch of Minwax furniture was - should be about the same thing. An Italian lady who makes leather clothing, furniture covers, pillows, told me to treat/soften leather with Gillette Foamy (low scented) shave cream. Works about same as saddle soap. I've done a number items - leather jackets, furniture, belts, and it restores the flexibility and softness.
I use it for all my table surfaces like, table saw, band saw, jointer, etc
Can you still buy it? I haven't seen it around.I use it for all my table surfaces like, table saw, band saw, jointer, etc
Good question...I tend to find a can every now and then at garage sales so haven't had to look for new
S-Engines NW
ArboristSite Lurker
I last bought a tin of Johnson's Paste Wax about 2 years ago at Home depot for about $9
I use my Johnson's Paste wax for any bare steel surfaces on my woodworking equipment and a few of my metalworking peices that sit for long periods, things like: metal lathe chucks and rails, Shopsmith way tubes and accessory posts, wood lathe tooling, vintage hand planes, jointer table...
Apparently It's been discontinued since 2021 (post#1)
Say goodbye to the days of the sub-$10 Johnson's at the store...
Amazon has a seller that apparently thinks its 0.0040349270994850189213654945017% GOLD! (by price) based on today's gold closing price of $2071.80 and using the proper Troy ounces for the gold weight
I use my Johnson's Paste wax for any bare steel surfaces on my woodworking equipment and a few of my metalworking peices that sit for long periods, things like: metal lathe chucks and rails, Shopsmith way tubes and accessory posts, wood lathe tooling, vintage hand planes, jointer table...
Apparently It's been discontinued since 2021 (post#1)
Say goodbye to the days of the sub-$10 Johnson's at the store...
Amazon has a seller that apparently thinks its 0.0040349270994850189213654945017% GOLD! (by price) based on today's gold closing price of $2071.80 and using the proper Troy ounces for the gold weight
That's (Amazon) where I went when I was looking for it and couldn't believe the price. I want it for my table saws etc. too. I have an old dried up can that I may try and reconstitute.
S-Engines NW
ArboristSite Lurker
I looked up the composition of the Johnson's to find this out. basically the wax is in the tin, the "kerosene" (stoddard) didn't (likely) go anywhere, and the firmers are doing their job. The only part that can evaporate at room temperature from a not-fully-sealed tin is the 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene.
Therefore, it looks like you need 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene
Apparently "stoddard solvent" (somewhat specific, somewhat generic term) doesn't evaporate at room temperatures (basically diesel/kerosene) and won't just evaporate from the tin without being heated to 150-200*C. (excerpt below)
1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene evaporates when exposed to air (last paragraph, page 1)
The hard part will be to determine how much, of whatever you use, to add...
Keep in mind that water shouldn't work because you're dealing with an "oil" based wax product that uses petroleum based solvents and would therefore repel any water you tried to mix back in (page 3, "solubility: Insoluble in water") as well as be pointless at protecting any metal surfaces.
Let me know what you find, I occasionally come across old dried-out tins and used to throw them out, but now I know to save them for sure!
here's the cheapest place I found a new tin without an extensive search, it's $68.98 (including shipping)
Get some Obenauffs and call it a day
I use Minwax product, works fine on my saw, jointer, etc. Also great on wood. Probably the same as Johnson's. Could also use Simonize car wax but the Minwax is a better deal. A friend gave me a few cans years ago when they cleared it out of Kmart.
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The paradox of wax is that it allows water to bead and run off but it's also hygroscopic. You need to add something else like pine tar to get waterproofing.
How about mineral oil? I use a mix of it and beeswax on my cutting boards.
I just looked up the ingredients for "Sno-Seal" and its beeswax, lanolin, pine tar, and mineral oil.
Kerosene for sure evaporates off
I use bicks leather care and its fantastic
That’s what I use. Great stuff. Snow seal is another good one.
We also use that. Johnsons is no longer in production because it is just the thing for long term storage of firearms. As for boots I've used it but prefer SnoProof. I'm testing out Balistol right now and it seems fine to me.
If you really want a substitute for Johnsons you might try Lundmark Liquid Floor Wax. It's what bullet casters who make their own lube have switched to when Johnsons stopped being sold and works pretty good for me.
According to an LASC article a number of years ago JPW is made of 75-85% isoparrafinic hydrocarbon solvent, 10-30% parafin, and 5-10% carnauba. A rough equivalent would be
50% beeswax
30% red and tacky grease
5% Dexron
5% STP
7.5% solvent
1.5% paraffin
1% carnauba.
I guess you could try to make it yourself but I've not tried to do it. The above breakdown is from RonL over at Castboolits.
Geeze that'd a lot of toxic chemicals. Hard on leather, hard on your skin.
Why not Beeswax or Mink Oil.
Didn’t realize it was discontinued. I have a few unopened cans seems I put things away to never be seen for years . I use it for my woodworking equipment. I just did the feed on my planer helps the wood slid smoothly. I also use it every time I put a wood screw in a new hole makes it much easier to screw in .
To seal wood I use pure carnuba wax flakes heat it up with some mineral oil and bees wax .
Boots I use sno-seal
To seal wood I use pure carnuba wax flakes heat it up with some mineral oil and bees wax .
Boots I use sno-seal
thenne1713
ArboristSite Operative
Had three Lowes employees tell me they did not carry it, but skeptic me kept looking and found it in their store, but do not now recall where... maybe paint dept?
