Air Beeswax Foundation Press

01 · THREE FORMATS, NO LAYENS

And that is the first thing to check

It is made in Langstroth 20 × 42, Dadant Blatt 26 × 41 and Dadant 27 × 42 centimetres. The two Dadant versions carry a step of a little over forty euros over the Langstroth.

What there is not is Layens. If you work that format, the route is the water-cooled press, which is made in the 30 × 35 size. Choosing the mould is the first step, not the last.

02 · IT ASKS FOR 4-6 BAR OF AIR

And that means a compressor, not a socket

The mould opens by injecting compressed air between the plates, at 4-6 bar. The same air then clears the water off the finished sheet before you lift it. Without a compressor, the machine is not usable.

It is worth comparing with the water-cooled alternative, which only asks for a nearby tap and an open circuit. It is not that one is simpler than the other: the installation is different, and it helps to know which one you already have.

03 · ALCOHOL BEFORE EVERY CAST

Here there is a consumable

The maker specifies a light spray of alcohol on the silicone before each cast. It is a small amount, but it is a consumable and a gesture repeated on every sheet.

That is the practical difference from our water-cooled presses, which use no release agent of any kind. At forty or fifty sheets a session, the gesture adds up.

04 · THICKNESS SET BY SCREW

And not every press has this

The aluminium support is hinged with adjusting screws at the back: turning them and varying the pressure changes the thickness of the sheet. Thinner gives more metres per kilo of wax; thicker stands up better to being drawn out.

The standard cell is the 5.4 mm one, and moulds of 5.17 mm are made to order. The attached funnel collects the surplus wax and returns it to the melting pot.

05 · THE SHEET COMES OUT SMALLER

Because wax shrinks as it cools

The maker says so themselves: because of the gentle cooling, the finished sheet ends up slightly smaller than the mould. It is not a fault, it is how wax behaves, but check it against your frame before ordering a format.

On temperature, the useful reference: wax melts between 62 and 65 °C and is poured at around 70-75 °C. Above 85 °C it darkens, and colour is the first thing anyone looks at in a sheet.

06 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Compressor and format: the two checks.