Hand Wax

a kind of wax used on threads for inseaming and outseaming. Coad acts to:

• bind cords of a taper together
• bind bristles to tapers, making usable waxed ends
• adhere stitches in place by liquefying from the friction of stitching, then re-hardening after the stitches are pulled taut

Common Ingredients

• Beeswax
• Tallow
• Rosin, a byproduct of turpentine distilling, made from tree resin tapped from living trees
• Pitch
  • from trees, such as pine pitch made by boiling or burning off pine tar
  • from petroleum, as bitumen or asphalt
  • from coal, concentrated from coal tar
• Tar similarly from trees, oil, or coal

video of Bailey Hobson presentation at the CSS Neuse museum on tree-derived naval stores like pitch, tar, and rosin

Seasonal Waxes

Many sources report using different wax mixtures in winter and summer to reach the right consistency in prevailing temperatures. Many summer waxes use a greater proportion of rosin, while winter waxes use less.

Waxes for Hand Sewing

The Crispin Colloquy has part of a long-running thread on “Hand Wax / Coad” here

• Panhandle Leather Hand Wax

Not Recommended

Some other trades use wax-rosin mixtures for various sewing and binding needs. However, of those the editor has tried, none can be recommended for shoe work, even those marketed with names related to shoemaking:

• Scott’s Highland Supply “Cobbler’s Wax”, or via American reseller Henderson’s. Bagpipers use the wax to wrap sections of their pipes with hemp thread as a kind of gasket.
• Semperfli “Cobblers Wax” marketed for fly tying
• Gunpowder Custom Tackle waxes

Media

• Company of the Staple: “How to Make Coad”

  • 60 grams Pine Rosin / Colophony, Powdered
  • 30 grams Beeswax
  • 2-5 grams Tallow
  • Makes golf-ball-sized portions.

• Harry Rogers: “How to Make Coad”

• Hugh McDonald

  • blog post
  • video

• http://aands.org/raisedheels/Techniques/coad.php

• https://www.raisedheels.com/blog/?p=1149

• James Ducker

  • blog post
    • two recipes: black and natural
    • natural:
      • 200g colophony (distilled turpentine)
      • 300g beeswax
      • “tiny fingernail” tallow
    • black:
      • substitute tar for colophony
  • video
    • pouring into swirled water
    • hand kneading in water

Entries Linking Here

• 🖥️Arno Shoes Shoemaking School Series
• Black Wax
• Blonde Wax
• 📖Boot Making and Mending🇬🇧⭐ 1898
• Bristle Mounting
• 🎞️CO(A)DING
• 📖Der Haferlschuh: Tradition | Handwerk | Mode🇩🇪 2015
• 🎞️Jake Dobbins Hand Sewing an Outsole
• 🖥️James Ducker Thread Wax
• 🎞️Kazuma Nishimura Thread Making Video
• 🎞️Ken Hishinuma Reddish Brown Shoes Series⭐
• 🎞️Kotaro Murayama Coad Video
• 🎞️A La Rencontre De Anthony Delos⭐
• 🎞️Lisa Sorrell Making a Waxed End Video
• 🏭Maine Thread🇺🇸
• 🎞️Matt Paker Wholecut Making Video
• 🎞️Mois, Mes Souliers...
• 🏭PechPiering🇩🇪
• Rosin
• 🎞️Siroeno Yosui’s Black Oxford Boots Video
• 🎞️So Tsuchiya Welting Video⭐
• 🏭Starko Tools🇺🇦
• Tar
• Wax
• Yellow Wax