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Originally Posted by eric atkinson  Is there a harder wax i can think about using? |
There are harder waxes but I really doubt that will provide much more protection. It looks like the problem is no, or very little, protective finish over the oil and stain on the bass. Penetrating oil finishes aren't the greatest for protection. Minimal at best. Some of the thicker oil finishes (which usually have more resin added to them) will protect a bit more.
For a fix you'd have to thoroughly clean all the old wax off the bass. Then find a stain that matches that colour and tough up the worn spots. (that's if the stain will penetrate the oil finish enough) Then re-oil. If you re-oil with a more protective finish you'll change the look of course.
For example, Minwax Antique Oil Finish, which is easy to find, will penetrate well and probably protect a bit longer and better than what's on there. But you'd need to put on 3 coats after re-staining. Even then, it won't stand up to a lot of wear. These oil finishes aren't meant to be built up to a thick film on top of the wood. The oils will darken with age too so that should be taken into account.
To remove all that old wax you can use paint thinner like Varsol and a cloth. It'll take a lot of work because the wax probably soaked in quite a ways. You'll need to work outdoors because the fumes are objectionable.
Or, you could strip the whole thing down to bare wood and start over. Instead of oil you could use Minwax Wipe On Polyurethane finish. It'll build up and provide a lot better protection. It'll look different though because it builds up on top of the wood. That's a lot of work too-not putting on the Minwax, which is dead easy, but stripping all the old stuff off.
But I don't know of any wax hard enough to really protect all that well. I've used hard furniture waxes with carnauba wax and they're tougher, but still not really all that hard.
