Paint making-silica and wax

[Deedgami]

I'm mining WC for info on paint making and have learned some valuable insight, but I still have a couple of questions that haven't been able to answer.

Can silica be used as a replacement for other powdered stabilizers?

Is all cold wax created equal? I have some Gamblin, which contains gamsol. Is this desirable or even acceptable to use in paints?

[vintage frames]

Hi Deedgami
Silica is what's known as an inert pigment. That means it will not affect the colour when added to paint except maybe a little whiteness if used in excess. It is usually added to oil paints or acrylics to produce a little texture in the dried surface. I suppose you could think of it as a stabiliser also where you wanted to temper the staining qualities of some pigments, but it's not it's primary purpose.
You asked about cold waxes. Well there's either natural beeswax, some vegetable waxes and oil derivative waxes. Beeswax is the preferred wax in painting and finishing. Gambol is one of these new "safe" solvents that is a substitute for white spirit or turpentine. Like white spirit, it will cleanly evaporate in paints but for myself, I prefer the scent of turpentine when using a waxed finish.

[Not your average framer]

It's easy enough to buy colloidial silica and the supplier will probably assume that you know all about the health risks and have adequate safety precautions in place to protect yourself. It is somewhat dangerous stuff to be playing around with unless you are taking proper precautions and I would advise you to think twice before you consider using it in it's raw state.

https://www.tedpella.com/MSDS_html/815-110%20msds.pdf

[vintage frames]

I think he might just have been talking about natural silica dioxide - ground quartz powder. It's used to give a bit of "tooth" to a dried paint surface, or a bit like some fine sand in the mix. Or indeed he may have been referring to something a bit more hazardous - gives an edge to some of his work.