Is this a beeswax bar mold?

tillie · November 13, 2012, 08:40:40 AM

A man emailed me about this and said it had been sold to him as an antique mold for making beeswax bars. He said the spaces are 3-3/8 inches long, 1-1/8 inches wide and 1-1/4 inches tall. It comes apart and the racks slide out "to remove the bars," he said. Then he said you would cut them apart. That would result in a rough cut and a not-pretty product, in my opinion, but maybe I'm just not getting it.

In looking at this, I can't imagine
a. why anyone in antebellum times would want that many beeswax bars that are that small - it holds 132.
b. And it looks to me like a rack for holding printer's die from old printing operations, but I suggested that to him and he didn't even comment.

Here's the photo - what do you think? Is it a beeswax bar mold and how would you get the bars apart?

Kathyp · November 13, 2012, 10:39:36 AM

i don't know, but it's kind of cool. i did a search just for fun and didn't find anything remotely like it, but people sure do used all kinds of interesting stuff for bees wax molds!

tillie · November 13, 2012, 10:42:59 AM

Me, too. I searched every way I could think of for beeswax molds, antique beeswax bar molds, etc. and couldn't find anything like it. In clicking on and looking at the photo larger, I wonder if the seller thought it was for beeswax bars because the shape of the outlined spaces is honeycomb. I still can't imagine with that much fused area between the bars, how in the world you would get them apart.

Vance G · November 13, 2012, 11:28:10 AM

Beekeepers are the ultimate gadgeteers and constantly invent things of dubious utility, like screened bottom boards just for an example. A lot of people used to like having small pieces of beeswax to lubricate needles or protect tools. It could have been built to satisfy that demand and not have worked well enough to catch on. If it worked well, why would the inventor not just happily supply the market and not giveaway his trade secret. Lord I am going Finski! Trying to start fights this early in the morning!

tillie · November 13, 2012, 01:00:51 PM

If that is what it is, what would you do to separate the bars? It looks to me like it would make a long bar with many segments that would have about a 1/2 inch thick section joining them so how would you get them apart? And what would keep the wax from flowing out of the edges since all edges are removable? Doesn't seem like there's anything to contain the wax as a candle mold would have, for example.

I don't think it is a mold.....but he wanted me to get other opinions.

How could it work?

Linda

BeeMaster2 · November 13, 2012, 01:05:58 PM

It looks like you would have to have a hot wire to separate the bars.
Jim

tillie · November 13, 2012, 04:25:09 PM

If it isn't a beeswax mold, does anyone have any idea what it might be?

Jim134 · November 13, 2012, 05:27:33 PM

Quote from: tillie on November 13, 2012, 08:40:40 AM
A man emailed me about this and said it had been sold to him as an antique mold for making beeswax bars. He said the spaces are 3-3/8 inches long, 1-1/8 inches wide and 1-1/4 inches tall. It comes apart and the racks slide out "to remove the bars," he said. Then he said you would cut them apart. That would result in a rough cut and a not-pretty product, in my opinion, but maybe I'm just not getting it.

In looking at this, I can't imagine
a. why anyone in antebellum times would want that many beeswax bars that are that small - it holds 132.
b. And it looks to me like a rack for holding printer's die from old printing operations, but I suggested that to him and he didn't even comment.

Here's the photo - what do you think? Is it a beeswax bar mold and how would you get the bars apart?

I say may be a soap mold :roll:

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

Bee Curious · November 14, 2012, 12:33:46 AM

I wonder, does it smell at all like beeswax? Or soap? Or anything?

beeswaxbar · November 15, 2012, 12:48:53 AM

No smell. The wood is a very hard wood that would allow the "bars" to easily slip out. An incredible amount of work went into it.

tillie · November 20, 2012, 09:48:29 AM

I sent the photo to Virginia Webb. She's a Georgia beekeeper who wins many awards for her wax. And, as an aside, she and her husband Carl have won "Best Honey in the World" twice at Apimondia for their sourwood honey.

She said that there is no way this is a beeswax mold because the wax would flow out of all the openings and because it is made of wood which would soak up the wax rather than release it. She had no idea what it is but was quite clear that there is no way this could be a mold for anything liquid.

I'll bet the seller didn't know what it was either and looked at the shape of each of the container sections and called it a beeswax mold because the outline of each section is a honeycomb shape.

FWIW,

Linda T in Atlanta

Lone · November 20, 2012, 04:08:52 PM

Why don't you pour wax in and see what happens?

Lone

tillie · November 20, 2012, 09:23:27 PM

I passed your idea about putting it to use and seeing what happens to Jim, the owner of the piece.

He seems simply to want someone to confirm that it is a beeswax mold, so when Virginia Webb, who is probably one of the most expert wax people working today, said it couldn't possibly be a mold for liquid wax, he said he was continuing on his quest.

I guess the only answer he is looking for is someone who will say, yes, it is a beeswax mold and if a person really wanted to know, as you, Lone, pointed out, the only way to know for sure would be to pour some melted wax into it and see

(1) if it would in fact contain the liquid wax and

(2) if you could get the wax to release from the wooden mold.

I still think it looks like a drawer for containing letters from old fashioned printing presses, or maybe a drawer to contain something else.

Linda

Jim134 · November 20, 2012, 10:44:30 PM

Send a pix to someone like at antique forum

http://www.antiquesforum.org/

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

Rex Smith · November 21, 2012, 02:19:13 AM

I agree on the soap mold...

Lone · November 21, 2012, 02:37:46 AM

You could also send it to a lab to see what residues it contains (before trying to pour wax in it). From the picture it doesn't look like wax would run out of it. But it is also hard to imagine that the scores would be deep enough to easily separate little blocks of wax.
It will be interesting to know what you come up with.

Lone

Jim134 · November 21, 2012, 03:34:43 AM

Send a pix to someone like a living history museums like Old Sturbridge Village Sturbridge,MA.

http://www.osv.org/

I all so see you got one in Tifton,GA

http://www.abac.edu/museum/

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

Robo · November 21, 2012, 08:37:23 AM

Not an expert, but I don't see it as a mold for wax or soap or anything for that matter. There are too many cracks and crevices for it to be a mold and not have residue left behind. I'm guessing it has nothing to do with beekeeping. Could it be a storage box for something that would have V cuts on each end for indexing? Contacting a museum or antique group sounds like your best bet.

tillie · November 24, 2012, 09:52:08 AM

Really helpful thoughts and suggestions - I'll send these on to Jim the owner of the device.

Thanks, everyone,

Linda T in ATlanta

Sparky · November 25, 2012, 07:15:49 PM

Looks like some sort of bottle rack.