One thing we noticed during the hot wax batch was many bubbles escaping from the heating wood. We figured this was simply trapped air and/or leftover water coming out of the wood as it got warmer.
We left the ladder line dowels in this bath until most of the bubbling stopped.
Note the wax soaks into the wire hole interior too.
The idea is to let the wax soak in as much as possible to ensure a dowel that is weather resistant.
We’re not sure, but we think the liquid wax was drawn in and filled the bubble holes as the dowels cooled.