Industries and Applications
Microcrystalline wax is often used in industries such as the tire and rubber, candles, adhesives, corrugated board, cosmetics, castings, and a host of others. Refineries may also utilize blending facilities to combine paraffin and microcrystalline waxes. This type of activity is prevalent especially for industries such as tire and rubber.
Microcrystalline waxes have considerable application in the custom making of jewelry and small sculptures. Different formulations produce waxes from those soft enough to be molded by hand to those hard enough to be carved with rotary tools. The melted wax can be cast to make multiple copies that are further carved with details. Jewelry suppliers sell wax molded into the basic forms of rings as well as details that can be heat welded together and tubes and sheets for cutting and building the wax models. Rings may be attached to a wax "tree" so many can be cast in one pouring.
Microcrystalline waxes are excellent materials to use when modifying the crystalline properties of paraffin wax. The microcrystalline wax has a significant effect on the branching of the carbon chains that are the backbone of paraffin wax. This is useful when some desired functional changes in the paraffin are needed, such as flexibility, higher melt point, and increased opacity. They are also used as slip agents in printing ink.
Microcrystalline wax is used in sports too, specifically in ice hockey and snowboarding. It is applied to the friction tape of a ice hockey stick to prevent degradation of the tape due to water destroying the glue on the tape and also to increase control of the hockey puck due to the waxes' adhesive quality. It is also applied to the underside of snowboards to reduce friction and increase the gliding ability of the board, making it easier to control and diminishing the fatigue of the rider.
Microcrystalline wax was used in the final phases of the restoration of the Cosmati pavement, Westminster Abbey, London.
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