Wonder Wax

[Striperknight 0]

Wonder wax will go away again at that price.

[flytire 0]

So it's not the "original" formula?

[johnnyquahog 0]

So it's not the "original" formula?

I have no reason to believe it is not the original formula. What I read on another forum is that the bee's wax they are using is simply a different color, sort of a milky white.

[SilverCreek 0]

 

So it's not the "original" formula?

I have no reason to believe it is not the original formula. What I read on another forum is that the bee's wax they are using is simply a different color, sort of a milky white.

 

 

After reading about bees wax, I have learned that the color difference is likely due to the amount of propolis in the bees wax. Propolis is usually a brownish sticky substance the bees use to fill cracks in the hive and the bees also mix it with wax to form bees wax. I have to infer that a milky white bees wax is different than the original wax used by Overton. Whether that makes any significant difference is conjecture. I have an original unused tube of Overton's and the color is noticeably different than what is being made now.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propolis

[FlyTieDad 0]

I'm very suspicious of this new Wonder Wax.

They sell it on eBay out of Hayden, Idaho but when I try to find a company called Blacktail Tackle in that town I come up empty.

I'm temped to contact local fly shops in or near the town to see if they have heard of them.

 

One post from them stated they got a bunch of empty tubes from Glen that were in storage from the 80s.

 

I hate to say it but I do think they found a bunch of empty tubes but once they use them up they will be done.

My reasoning is the price.

Why would you make it the ridiculously high price if you wanted to come back on the market?

Because they know they can sell it at that price to a few but not all.

Once they use up the tubes they can run off with all the money they will make and be done.

Had they wanted to actually come back to the market they would have done at a more reasonable price and slowly reintroduced themselves knowing they would get more cash flow over the long haul.

 

Or maybe I'm completely out of my mind, it has been known to happen.

 

I would really like to see a return address for the company so I could do more research.

But until the price comes down or I see some evidence that this company is real I'll hold onto my cash.

 

-FlyTieDad

[SilverCreek 0]

Good point. Let other folks take the risk.

 

The problem I see is that if it is a scam, those who bought the "new" Wonder Wax resell it on line for even more as the real thing.

[flytire 0]

I hate to say it but I do think they found a bunch of empty tubes but once they use them up they will be done.

 

china could replicate those tubes in an hour if they havent already done it

[FlyTieDad 0]

The mystery deepens.

 

I compiled a list of all fly shops near Hayden Idaho and starting at the top I hit on the first one.

 

Castaway Fly Fishing Shop.

I spoke with Tim and he gave the same story we've read in the posts, that they know Glen Overton and he came into their shop and gave them all his equipment, ingredients and recipe.

 

When I questioned the color he said, "that's what happens with handmade sometimes".

But he stated again that it was the same exact recipe.

 

They sell Wonder Wax in their store for the same price as the website.

 

He also said they would be coming out with a few of Overton's products from years ago.

 

So there you go, now at least we know who is making it and where.

 

-FlyTieDad

[rstaight 0]

I never thought of using a wax toilet ring. May have to get one just to see how it works. Lord knows I have spent more on worse.

[Bruce Norikane 0]

Another vote for Al Beatty's Tacky Wax. Only $5, comes in Tacky and Super Tacky. Super Tacky was developed for touch dubbing. I have had a toilet ring for 20 years, and Al's Tacky Wax works better for me.

 

Al is a great fly tyer, a generous teacher of fly tying techniques and a forum member. I'm sure he'll answer any questions about using his wax.

 

Scroll down this page to find Tacky Wax.

[SilverCreek 0]

I have an original unused tube of Overton's Wonder Wax. There is a big color difference between what I have and what is currently being produced. Supposedly this is due to the beeswax color as noted in an earlier post, but it is strange that all the Overton's I've seen through the years have been the color of my wax..

Here is my wax:

Here a used tube sold on Ebay:

Here is what is being sold:

[flytire 0]

does the difference in color make it less effective?

 

or is it just a minor irritation to folks who still have the original

 

from another forum

 

It seems that beeswax may not be the wax Mr Overton used, instead it was quite possibly a synthetic caranuba wax used in the auto finishing industry. I found reference to an IR study of OWW but can not contact the person who did the study.

Ron gave me a small dab and asked me to see what it was made of.
We did an IR analysis, took the results to our own government data base and came up with a petroleum wax that is no longer available.
The tackifier was if I remember correctly was a hydrogenated terpene.

The hydrogenated terpene mentioned was amber pine rosin, the wax according to some other sources I found was a synthetic caranuba wax, the softener was mineral oil. I am waiting on the delivery of some natural caranuba and some light amber rosin then I will hit the bench and make a bunch of samples....

[flyty1 0]

Ok, we will have to wait a very long time to see if this newly produced OWW will not dry out like the original.

But, can we have some feedback on the performance of the new OWW vs. the original? Does the new

light colored OWW allow touch dubbing as described by Gary Lafontaine? It would be nice if some of

you out there can comment on the new OWW vs. the original produced back in the 1980's.

[DrLogik 0]

I posted this on another forum:

 

Just received my new Wonder Wax. In a head-to-head "finger" test, here is my first impressions:

Tack:

the new stuff doesn't have the same amount of "tack" that the old stuff has in the tube. The new stuff has less tack in the tube. This became more pronounced when I rubbed a sample of each on a piece of paper. The old formula definitely has more tack than the new formula. The sound of lifting my finger from the paper was also a lower pitch (and louder) than the higher pitch of the new wax. I'd estimate that the old wax is a good double the tackiness of the new wax.

Density:

The new wax is more fluid and less dense than the old formula.

Consistency:

The new wax seems to smear more easily than the old formula.

Greasiness:

The "greasiness" of the new stuff is more pronounced than the old wax when rubbed in the tube. Greasy meaning it's slippery factor. That comes from oil, lard or whatever is in the formula to achieve it. However, when I spread each on a piece of paper the exact opposite characteristic was quite apparent. The new stuff in practice is actually less greasy than the old formula. Matter of fact, the new formula didn't leave much of a "grease stain" on the paper as the old formula. I rubbed exactly 7 times with each formula on the same piece of paper with different fingers. I actually like the new formula better than the old in this characteristic. When tying a fly this in practice could/would make up for the lack of tack.

Smell:

The new stuff doesn't have much of a smell. Just smells like...wax. The old formula has a distinct smell of beesy waxiness, pine resiny and a "Wonder Waxy" smell.

Color:

Definitely a difference here. The new stuff is as others have said a milky white color. The old formula has the color of amber bees wax.

Magnetic Adhesion:

The new wax doesn't have as much magnetic adhesion quality of the old formula in my opinion. The new wax is much like the other dubbing waxes available in this category. It's about the same magnetic adhesion as Gehrke's dubbing wax.

Summary:

The new Wonder Wax is close but not quite the same.

Granted that 30 years of aging will do things to a wax. I don't see the color changing too much on the old wax. I think it started out an amber color. That's what I recall when I bought some many years ago. I think age does have an impact on consistency and density though. I can see that the wax could dry out some over time and that might explain it. As far as the tack and magnetic adhesion? The old Wonder Wax is, well, Wonder Wax. The new formula isn't the same in my opinion. It doesn't have the same tack or adhesion. Is that bad? No, just different. I say again, age could have an effect here but the likelihood I don't think is high that age alone makes the old tackier than the new, plus the less greasy new formula might dub exactly the same. I'll give that a try tonight.

Would I buy another tube? Maybe. If it were priced at even $10 bucks a tube I'd buy two or three but at $20 bucks, not any time soon as I have four tubes of the old stuff...two of which are full and never used.

I tried to be objective here guys. Ok, ok, I missed something. Is it the same formula? Maybe. I think it is; however, I do think some of the components of the original formula may not be available and they had to substitute something else instead. Is that enough to make it a different wax entirely? No, not if the formula is the same. Is it a different wax? Yes, maybe. Maybe because the ingredients may be a little different? Who knows. Either way, this is a job pretty darn well done actually. Kudos to whoever is behind this.

I do make my own waxes so what I am expressing here is what I have gleaned from a number of years experimenting with making various types of waxes but I am by no means an expert.

[SilverCreek 0]

Thank you very much. One comparison is better than no comparison.

 

BTW, some of the stickiest stuff for dubbing I have found is the glue on mouse glue traps.