Dop Wax delimma

Tweety,
As I said before I have never dopped but I have used LOTS of cyanoacrylate glue (superglue). For using the real thin CA you need 2 very smooth surfaces. If you are dopping with wood sticks, or the end of the stick is not perfectly flat, then thin CA will not work well. A thicker CA glue has some gap filling ability and gel CA is very good at gap filling, which is what you need because the end of a wooden dowel is very porous.

I am confused by your comment that it doesn't hold up under wet conditions. What exactly do you mean? Cured CA is fairly impervious to water, I've actually used it as a finish for pens and other small wooden items that are subjected to moisture with great results.

One other thing to keep in mind about CA glues are they are fairly brittle after curing. Even a drop of a couple of inches could cause the glue to fail.

Hope some of this helps.
Tony M

OK here is my sure fire doping for dopes (not that you are a dope) I use wodden sticks, dowels, golf tees- whatever- I prep them by sealing the ends with crazy glue (cheap dollar store stuff) put on a couple layers let dry between and they will last forever. I use an old electric skillet/ crock pot cooker set on low (between 3 and 4 on the dial) I have an old aluminium pot that I cook the wax in - and I place the stones on the killet to heat them (hot to the touch) Once the wax has melted I turn off the pot and dop- If the wax starts to thicken I'll turn the heat back on for a few minutes.
A coffee warmer should work good- just make sure to turn it off once the wax is all melted- Also you can pick up old crock pots at various thrift store (I like Salvation Army personally) or garage sales- they are usually only a couple of bucks! and golf tees are real real real cheap (wallyworld- 100 for like $5.99) I used to golf so I have plenty of tees!

This may be overly necessary, but I was dopping tonight anyway. So here's how I do it, with photos This is by no means the end all of dopping techniques, it's just what I have found works best for me. I rarely have rocks fly off the dop anymore. Hope this helps Tweet. Ignore it if it's stuff you already know.
Steve

Here's the equipment: Skillet from a second hand store, aluminum metal plate to diffuse the heat and a metal container for the wax. Dop sticks and preformed cabs waiting nearby. The wax is the black type, but you can use whatever you like most. I prefer black because it's strong. Make sure the stones are cleaned with soap and water. Also wash your hands before you start.


Adjust the temp to suit the wax. I found that the just shy of the line between 270 and 320 is about right. Depending on the thickness of the wax container, type of wax, and how well it makes contact with the bottom of the skillet you will have to adjust the temp. Rocks go on the aluminum plate (off direct heat) and sticks go in the wax to remelt and keep warm.


Here's the wax all ready to go. It gets shiney and gooey. If it starts getting bubbles forming in it then turn down the heat.


Here's the consistancy I found to be about right.


Get a good glob and stick it onto the rock. Mush it down to get good coverage. I try to just get enough so the wax doesn't quite come to the edge of the stone. Notice how the wax is not shiney and uniform.


Now the most important part, put the stone back on the skillet. I put it one direct heat now and watch it just start to melt. The idea is to get it so the part where the wax meets the stone melts but the rest is still somewhat solid. I found that when the wax gets shiney and uniform you're there. Too much and the stick will fall over.


Put it one a warm-ish surface. Try to let the dopped stone cool slowly. Putting it on a hard cool surface is not a good idea. The handle of the skillet works good. Here you can readjust the position of the stick if it has moved or starts to fall over. You will still be able to repostion the stick somewhat.


Here's a closeup. The one on the left got close to melting too much but not quite. The one on the right is about right. As long as the wax doesn't glob over the side and the you can keep the stick upright you will have a good bond. Not enough reheating and the stone may not be secure.


Once they've cooled down the a solid state and the rock has cooled to the point of being warm they can be transfered to whatever you keep them in. You should have a strong bond with no worries of the wax coming loose. And that's it!

this is such an interesting thread to see/read about all the different dopping techniques! poor, Tweet, i know it wasn't funny at the time, but i had to laugh at your description of the super glue incident!

KD

Tweet a mint dish is a good idea (may switch to that). I use a metal pen case but anything will work. If you don't get good heat transference to the wax container it helps to melt a little wax and stick it on the bottom of the metal dish then onto the skillet, though over time it will stick itself there anyway. I'll try to take the temp of the wax and see what I get, but I bet it's about 180 to 200 degrees. It does sound like you cooked your wax. What happens when you heat it up more?
Steve

If you don't have the luxury of warm water, try to avoid excessive water. On some of the old equipment I learned on with overhead water too much water would loosen the wax bond. Water only needs to keep rock dust down and diamond surfaces cool. Water flying around the room doesn't do much good.

John at JS Gems