Purpose of drying oils in paste wax?

[Mesophilic]

Maybe somone here would know,  what is the purpose of drying oils in a paste wax recipe?

Is it maybe to make a harder wax surface when the oil polymerizes?  I found this excerpt on wikipedia:

Non-"drying" waxes, such as hard-film carnauba or paste wax, and resins, such as dammar, copal, and shellac, consist of long, spaghetti-like strands of hydrocarbon molecules, which interlace and compact but do not form covalent bonds in the manner of drying oils. Thus, waxes and resins are re-dissoluble whereas a cured oil varnish or paint is not.

As follow up questions, can the drying oils actually cure in a mixture?  And if so, is their matrix interspersed within the waxy substrate more like a thickner?  How would the finish be if someone substituted a non-drying oil?

[DC]

The way I read that it doesn't mean that there are drying oils in wax. It says"in the manner of" meaning that they are comparing it to drying oils.

[Mesophilic]

Jumped the string...

Sorry, I should've prefaced this with looking up recipes for homemade paste wax, the majority I've come across call for a drying oil like boiled linseed oil.

I pasted the clip above just to show the differences.  So if you mix a drying oil with one of those waxes, what really happens?  Can it still even get O2 to do its thing?  If it does polymerize,  what's going on inside the waxy finish?

[DC]

Sorry, don't know I would have thought that the wax on it's own would be good.

But. If you are using paraffin wax and need the oil to soften it you might as well use an oil that is going to dry. Otherwise the finish may stay sticky or something.
Just thinkin' out loud.

[Chief RID]

Interesting. From an old textile finishers view, I know enough about finishes to at least read this and get a hint of your discussion. It always helps in wood and skin finishing too.