After posting a post earlier that asks cyclists what do they do on rainy days
(it can be found here: cyclingforums.comshowthread.phpOpen ↗), I thought about it's content and came up one about how I wax my chain (sic).
Personally, I have had a can of chain wax for years (yes, you have to double-boiler it). Friends have in the past ask me how I keep my chain so clean and what lube have I been using. Purchasing a new chain not as needed, but every 2,000 miles is the first rule. Then, in between I clean it by hand, the old fashioned way. I use a degreaser and an old toothbrush, before dipping it into the wax (you can substitute with a new toothbrush from your wife/husband or girl/boyfriend, then be sure to make it disappear into your bike toolbox afterward... and don't blame me heh, heh).
Dipping your chain can be simplified by grabbing a standard metal-wire coat hanger, one with a diameter that fits between your chain links and snipping two STRAIGHT pieces from it about 6 - 10 inches in length. Thinner, more flexible wire works too, but with a ridgid piece you can manipulate the chain, if need be, left or right with a simple twist of the wrist.
The next thing you should to do is put a large bend in one end that is comfortable enough to wrap roughly 1/2 way around your index finger (be sure [when dipping] to hold the bitter end of the bend with your thumb). On the other end put a small tight bend (make it so that it can easily be slipped in and out of the final chain link). BE SURE YOU MAKE TWO OF THESE.
Heat up your wax until it is nearly in a liquid state via a double-boiler method. Additionally, I use an old fork (just not your own favorite one - then add that too to your tool box) to stir up the small pieces of wax. When all the chunks have melted, slowly feed your chain, coat hanger pieces hooked through both ends of it, into the wax. Be certain that you are firmly holding the leading end's piece of coat hanger and you have the bitter-end pinched against your index finger with your thumb.
Picture this: it should flow into the wax kind of like watching a roller coaster plummet downward, then head back up from a side view.
If you are doing this correctly you will be leading an end in and at the same rate that you will be pulling it out. Slow your pulling rate if the wax doesn't appear to be setting/drying quick enough. The last 4-5 inches of the pull you will probably be standing with one arm raised in the way in the air. Helping with this I have been known to set my tool box next to me (It can hold my weight easily) or a small step ladder for the final bit. Just before the last 6-10 inches come out of the wax I step up, dropping the coat hanger part that is at the un-dipped end. This, of course, depends on the length of your chain, your height and the length of your arm. If you are 3 foot 2 inches tall and are doing a chain off a tandem or similar... Well, you have waxing issues that need to be addressed outside of this posting.
In closing, I have been waxing since 1989, but that doesn't in any way mean that I am closed to new methods. So I ask, "Are there any other chain waxers that have ideas to share with this middle-aged coot and the rest of the inquiring minds out here in forum-land?"
