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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
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    Romsey
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    Default Workholding with setters wax and alternatives

    There comes a time - sooner or later - where the things we make get a bit too fiddly to hold. Setting stones in earrings, for example.

    The traditional thing to do in this case is to stick a handle onto the item - usually in the form of a wooden dowel with a blob of setters wax on it. Don't be fooled by the name though - none of the setters waxes I've played with have actually been wax; they've been either shellac or resin based mixes.

    To use them, you just heat them up carefully until they soften - usually with a torch played gently over. Overheat them and they scorch, bubble, smoke and burn - which renders the burned stuff useless. You can break the wax into smaller lumps (with a hammer) quite easily as it is fairly brittle. To coat the end of a dowel with wax, I'll make sure I have a puddle of fully molten wax to stick the end of the dowel into; once this is on, I can put smaller bits onto the cooling wax and melt them slightly. Actually using the waxed stick involves warming the object you want to hold while it is on the stick until the wax in contact starts to melt, allowing the wax to stick to it. Allow it to cool, work on the thing and remove it by heating again Any residue dissolves eventually in meths.

    However... More & more I've been using a low-temperature thermoplastic instead. This stuff melts in hot water and can be formed easily by hand (and it's a bit safer with the lower temperatures). You can make fixtures, jigs, custom clamping jaws for vices - there are all sorts of possibilities. Cleanup is a doddle (although it does like to stick to other plastics if it gets the chance) - just stick everything in hot water and peel it off. I bought mine from Maplin under the name "Polymorph"; chemically it is very close to polycaprolactone. MUTR Teaching Resources also sell it; I believe it is known as "Friendly Plastic" in the US?

    Oh, and I haven't yet found a limit to its reusability. It picks up dirt each time I reform it, but it still works.


    And a pdf about using the stuff: http://www.mutr.co.uk/images/LIT0048.pdf
    Last edited by ps_bond; 12-02-2010 at 10:13 AM.

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