Dustpuuppy

Heh. I've told this story before, but it was before you got here, sooo... When I first started, I was pouring a batch of rose scented candles. Couple of days later, at work, I started smelling roses. The scent had gotten into my pores and when I started sweating, it was coming out.

Heh, I was just sitting here thinking that the cut-n-carve kind of epitomizes chandlary... easy to do... damned hard to do RIGHT. Bruce my chime in on this, when he comes around. He's the expert on this one. A lot of his techniques are family secrets that he's promised not to tell, as I recall, so he'll only be able to give you some general info... but he's got a hell of a lot of that.

I was kinda waiting for that one. LOL I really think we ought to drop that one, though. Not that I really think it's wrong... I'm just bored with it. We should show more imagination and find some new ways to piss people off. Nope... bored with that one too... come on folks, we can do better. We MUST do better... think of the children. We can't have them grow up in a world of sub-standard wise cracks ! We have to raise the bar.

Well, if cut-n-carve is gonna be your main focus, it should lower your testing time a bit. Essentially you're only teste one or two sizes, and no FOs. You might think about getting some clay to carve up, in the begining. I could see using clay to try out new designs. The same tools and techniques are often used. Sorry, if I jumped to an incorrect conclusion earlier... generally when someone new pops up, talking about ordering large amounts of wax and such, right off the bat... It just usually means they're about to go out and do something really stupid. I know, though, what you're saying about those vats using so much wax. It's almost blasphemy around here, but you might start with hobby store wax for the dipping. You'll have to play with it to get the melt point up but you can often get it for $.50 a pound, and adding a die's worth of additives to get the melt point up... if you've got the time to play with it.

I'd strongly suggest you narrow your scope, at least to start with. It's gonna take around a year to get ONE type down pat enough to start selling them. If you divide your attention six different ways, it's gonna wind up taking 4 or 5 years. As for the wax, check Peak's and lonestar. check the price plus shipping at both places. I think someone said that the total was cheaper from Peak's. I'm not 100% sure, though.

Don't worry so much about asking questions, either. As long as you're trying to figure things out, nobody is gonna mind lending a hand.

Maybe just a *tad* anal. lol

You either move them *immediatly* after pouring, while they are still totaly liquid, or wait til the set up, like bizzy said.

You probably already know this but one thing to keep in mind is the shelf life of the FO. I never thought about the makers having different grades of oils. I'd like to hear what you find out. I'd always just figured that different companies had different scents that were just a bit better. Never really thought about it, though.

Check with Janet: http://www.creativegemsmolds.com If she doesn't have it, she'll generally make it for you. I seem to recall that she had those at one time, though.

I think it's more of a "they pissed me off in that thread, so I'm gonna make a snide remark in this one" type thing, rather than deliberate trolling. We've always had a lot of that. Especially when someone's been caught at something and called on it. Most places on the net, these people would get flamed until the either got a clue, or left the board. Around here we tend to try being a bit nicer with them.

Some people say that warming the FOs when using vanillas will help them mix easier. Some say it doesn't. For me it *seemed* to. If you can mix in the FO before addind the dye, you can watch the bottom of the pour pot and see if the FO is incorporating or not. At worst, that will eliminate one possible problem. I've used a lot of Peak's French Vanilla... seldom had any problems other than it crystalizing in cold weather. Sitting the bottle of FO in warm water will heat it enough to disolve the crystals.

Not everyone reads every section, so some of the people who could help you the most, might not see this posted on this side.

I have an old stock pot that I got for something like $12 at Wal-Mart. I've used it for a number of things. It's one of those blue porcelan camp-ware looking things. Kinda depends on how big the hurriacan is, though. You'd natureally want the smallest vat you can rig up that will fit, because you'd want to melt the smallest amount of wax you could get by with. The pot I'm talking about is about 18" deep and about a foot accross.

Generally speaking, we're more than happy to help those who want to learn the chandler's craft. Considering what it costs them to come here, I'd say it's safe to claim that they get more than thier money's worth. The fast buck types that come in, want us to do all thier research for them, then think they can be up and running, selling thier candles in a month or so... Those we tend to get a bit nasty with.

Tell them that for $50K, you'll sell them a franchise, including training, start up materials and a protected territory. Send them a video tape, a Peak's starter kit and a contract that allows them to sell candles, using your name, in a 10 square mile area... as long as thier product meets your standards.

Lure them into the basement and use them as a source of fresh stearic.

OK, NOW I know where all those morons used to come from. The ones I used to get into so much trouble, when I'd 'explain' things to them.

I'd skip the first part and get straight to the killing... but that's just me.

I've had something similar. Be sure you get the original candle back. Tell them you've got to do some tests on it to see what went wrong...etc. No mater what, I wouldn't just give them new ones and let them keep the old ones. That would be just asking to get scammed. I might even tell them that I'm putting a hold on the LS, till I could solve the problem, so they could either swap them for another scent or get a refund.

Oops. THought it was the same as the micro. Been a while since I played with either.

If theses look like pin holes, it may be from cooling too fast as you said in your OP. I've also gotten those, when I left a mold near a heat source and it got heated during cooling. If it's pin holes, you might actually be pouring too hot. Beyond that, I don't know.

Sorry about the gender thing. 90% of the board is female. The relief holes only get poked about an inch or two. You'll get the feel for it, as you do more candles. The idea is to control the direction that the wax shrinks, so you don't get voids in the middle of the candle. Thus all you really have to do is keep the wax at the top of the mold ( bottom of the candle ) from forming a solid layer, before the candle cools. As for layers, I'll poke the reliefe holes into each layer and just let the next layer fill it in. Ideally, each layer will be solid but soft, or maybe jsut semi liquid in the middle, before you pour the next, so they won't actually mix. This is more of that "get the feel of it" type stuff. Some folks like to let one layer cool almost completely, some like it a little more liquid. You have to find the balance that works for you. When I've let one layer get too hard, I've had the sides suck in, when I poured the next layer.

Vybar makes wax more opaque. I think the micro wax is the same as what I was getting that was called translucent crystals. Makes the wax more translucent. Both should harden the wax.