wax or no wax?

[Lost and Confused]

Im gettin ready to commence the standing rigging on my Cutty. I have waxed my rigging lines on all of my other builds. See here and there that many dont use wax. Which way is best??

[allanyed]

What kind of wax? There is some discussion on wax here at MSW.  One thread can be found at https://modelshipworld.com/topic/34942-black-rigging-wax/#comment-1027227     According to the American Bee Journal, bees wax has a pH of 7 so is neutral thus a safe choice.  Others have stated that it is below 7 thus acidic.   https://americanbeejournal.com/beeswax/

 

Paraffin is on the alkaline side of neutral with a pH of 9 to 10 so maybe not a great choice. 

 

There are proponents and detractors of using wax.  It will waterproof the rope but if you use poly rope I am not sure there is any benefit.   

 

Allan

[Jaager]

The choices

Linen seems to be lost into the past. 

Cotton - limited lifespan - smaller fibers -smaller fuzz

Poly - seems to be winning the race.   As long as the model itself is plastic, any resistance to using man-made materials is moot.

 

Poly already is what a wax would provide.  Wax seems to me to be pointless.  If it is beeswax on it - I would question it ever case hardening to become NOT a dust magnet.

Paraffin  would change its phase with changes in room temp.  The semi liquid phase would also hold dust.

Renaissance wax will case harden as its organic solvent evaporates.   It is probably more positive than negative for linen and cotton.  It would offer no advantage with poly.

[Lost and Confused]

Im using Amati rigging line from HIS model. Is that cotton, polyester, or what?

[paul ron]

seems the new way is polyester according to the experts in here. but the real question is what is your oldest ship rigged with?

 

i have 6 ships from the past 45-50 years on shelves, no case, all rigged with bees wax on cotton or linen that are still holding up very nicely.  they may be a bit brittle but what can you expect from the materials over all those years? 

 

so are there any poly rigged ship about 50 years old to attest to poly longevity?... if not, ill stick to natural fiber n wax.

 

proof is in the puddin.

Edited March 22 by paul ron

[Keith Black]

 Poly line is now being accepted by some museums. I've had poly line strung for over five years with no issue including stretch. If you're adverse to using poly line, I don't wanna see a drop of CA on your model. 

[Gregory]

4 hours ago, Lost and Confused said:

Im using Amati rigging line from HIS model. Is that cotton, polyester, or what?

Take a match to it ( not too close ).  If it's poly it will melt, if it's natural fiber it will burn.

[GrandpaPhil]

I like to use beeswax.

 

It makes the rigging line less frizzy and less prone to tangling.

[Lost and Confused]

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I have decided to wax my rigging lines. I have a block of beeswax that I've used on several models...I don't know about my model lasting 100 years, but the wax can't hurt. Thanks again. Onward