Forge Finish | Blacksmith Wax
Forge Finish is a blacksmith wax created by our good friend Zachary Herberholz of zhfabrications. Zach’s Forge Finish is a premium metalworking finish, giving your ironwork a stunning deep dark matte, corrosion resistant finish.
We regularly use Forge finish on all of our tools and ironworking projects, so we’ve have teamed up with Zach to help distribute the wax in the UK and EU. Our aim is to help bring down the shipping costs for the community of ironworkers and blacksmiths over this side of the Atlantic Ocean so they can get their hands on this incredible wax.
✓ Incredible Aroma - Orange/citrus and Bay Rum. (Quite honestly the best smell in the world).
✓ Corrosion Resistant Finish.
✓ When applied correctly, a small tin will last hundreds of applications.
✓ Deeper dark matte finish for your ironwork projects.
✓ Every ingredient in this product has food safe iterations that are used in–you guessed it: food products! (but we can’t say the words ‘food safe’).
✓ Does not contain petro-chemical ingredients (thus no harmful fumes on hot application to ironwork).
✓ Works well on leather products.
(Although not an intended use … we sometimes use it as a moustache wax in the workshop!)
Forge Finish is a blacksmith wax created by our good friend Zachary Herberholz of zhfabrications. Zach’s Forge Finish is a premium metalworking finish, giving your ironwork a stunning deep dark matte, corrosion resistant finish.
We regularly use Forge finish on all of our tools and ironworking projects, so we’ve have teamed up with Zach to help distribute the wax in the UK and EU. Our aim is to help bring down the shipping costs for the community of ironworkers and blacksmiths over this side of the Atlantic Ocean so they can get their hands on this incredible wax.
✓ Incredible Aroma - Orange/citrus and Bay Rum. (Quite honestly the best smell in the world).
✓ Corrosion Resistant Finish.
✓ When applied correctly, a small tin will last hundreds of applications.
✓ Deeper dark matte finish for your ironwork projects.
✓ Every ingredient in this product has food safe iterations that are used in–you guessed it: food products! (but we can’t say the words ‘food safe’).
✓ Does not contain petro-chemical ingredients (thus no harmful fumes on hot application to ironwork).
✓ Works well on leather products.
(Although not an intended use … we sometimes use it as a moustache wax in the workshop!)
Forge Finish is a blacksmith wax created by our good friend Zachary Herberholz of zhfabrications. Zach’s Forge Finish is a premium metalworking finish, giving your ironwork a stunning deep dark matte, corrosion resistant finish.
We regularly use Forge finish on all of our tools and ironworking projects, so we’ve have teamed up with Zach to help distribute the wax in the UK and EU. Our aim is to help bring down the shipping costs for the community of ironworkers and blacksmiths over this side of the Atlantic Ocean so they can get their hands on this incredible wax.
✓ Incredible Aroma - Orange/citrus and Bay Rum. (Quite honestly the best smell in the world).
✓ Corrosion Resistant Finish.
✓ When applied correctly, a small tin will last hundreds of applications.
✓ Deeper dark matte finish for your ironwork projects.
✓ Every ingredient in this product has food safe iterations that are used in–you guessed it: food products! (but we can’t say the words ‘food safe’).
✓ Does not contain petro-chemical ingredients (thus no harmful fumes on hot application to ironwork).
✓ Works well on leather products.
(Although not an intended use … we sometimes use it as a moustache wax in the workshop!)
Tips and suggestions for use
Apply at the lower end of or preferably just below the smoke point. The smoke point for this product is a bit higher than Johnson’s so it should give you a slightly larger window for hot application. Whatever you do, please do not apply so hot that you burn/melt the brush. You will get nasty burnt crud and discolouration in the finish.
Apply with a chip brush, I’m partial to the cheap 1” brushes you can buy in bulk at every homeware store.
Don’t over-apply. A thin coat is all that is needed, too much product could result in a a slightly tacky finish. If there is an abundance of product on the piece it will wipe off easily while warm.
Wipe/buff the piece once it has cooled with cloth or a paper towel. This step makes a huge noticeable difference.
Tips for cold application: Even though this has been designed with hot application in mind, it’s still designed specifically for metal and I’ve been using it with great success on several other items including cast iron surfaces, tables, vise’s, etc.
Ideally you can quickly run a torch or heat-gun over the surface to get the metal to sweat out the condensation. Wipe off the condensation with a clean rag or paper towel.
Apply product with a cloth, or non-abrasive pad with medium pressure in a circular motion.
Allow the product to dry–time will vary depending on conditions–usually about 5-10 minutes. And then buff the product off with a clean rag. You should be left with an incredibly slick high gloss surface.
Zach’s ‘Forge Finish’ Backstory:
”The moment I heard the beloved Johnson's Paste Wax was being discontinued I decided to begin my research in creating a worthy replacement. I reached out to a friend of mine who happens to be a petroleum-engineer for some general direction. At the onset my original idea was to just recreate Johnsons; however, the more I came to understand the more I found room for improvement. I decided to attempt to create a product specifically designed for metalwork rather than a floor-wax/ jack-of-all-trades product. I have had to make numerous decisions along the way, and all of them have been in the interest of metalwork, specifically in hot applications.
When creating a new product, many factors must be considered. However, from the outset, I made it my top priority to prioritize quality and performance above all else, with all other considerations taking a back seat.
After conducting several rounds of solo experimentation, I sent out multiple iterations of the product to a select group of highly-regarded blacksmiths in the online community, seeking their feedback and incorporating their suggestions into the development. Their endorsement of the product was unanimous, but I remain committed to staying open to feedback and new information. If there are any ways to improve the product's performance, I am always eager to make adjustments and continuously enhance its capabilities.
I want to note that every ingredient in this product has food safe iterations that are used in–you guessed it: food products! I’m not springing the extra for the FDA approved versions as I don’t intend for anyone to use this on their toast. And because of the highly litigious world we live in I refuse to tell you to use this on food related items/utensils I myself would have zero reservations”
