LRC06301983

thats a really good idea top. currently I have multiple garbage cans and a good sized pond pump. what I do is pump the mold full of water from one trashcan...when it gets hot I drain it out with the electric pump and then fill the water bath back up with the water from another trashcan etc... I do this from a bunch of different ones. That way I'm not pouring and dumping a bunch of water every couple hours. Additionally, if I do this, then the water is room temperature... HOWEVER! Top the more I think of it...the cooler your idea is... if I can ever get to the point where I can succesfully make candles without spending all DAY making one half-ashed one I am really gonna pursue this idea.... it might even be worth it to look into like a cooling system like they use for kegs at bars and I could fill the pipe full of water and use an electric pump to continuously circulate it, BUT part of the pipe would pass through the cooling tank so I wouldn't waste water...it would be more of like an air conditioner...

whaaaaa?!?! Oh crap! I did leave a cap off... I had no idea why C-SPAN was so funny tonight... thanks for the save dust.

Vybar is a polymer that can be added to wax to help the fragrance oil bind to the wax. There are 3 types, for solid candles (103), container candles (260) and mottled candles (343).With the exception of 343, vybar will make your candles opaque. http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1912 Universal Additive also has some stuff in it that helps the candle release from the mold.

everyone in this forum should become an investor and we can all start our own company. we'll have everything in stock, rock bottom prices, free shipping on orders over $2.73... no more missed or poor orders cause if they are you'll hear about it on the forum... and we will have wax melters that hold 100lbs of wax for only $11.98 WITH a spigot...

It does take forever to cool...but I have probably the most elaborate cold water bath system you've ever seen. and I have a fridge size freezer setup too...

see I've already got a life sized latex mold of king kong... 1/4 scale?!?!....thats kind of small isn't it? lol. a five gallon bucket is 10" in diameter at the base and 12" in diameter at the top. additionally, it is only a bit less than a foot and a half tall. Good idea though. might be cool if you want to make some summer time picnic hurricanes and put a citronella bucket in them though...be kind of a country thing in the shape of a bucket... I've been working on this for a year. lol. trust me, I've tried everything. but thats a lot of wax though. before anyone starts copying my ideas they should hear my horror stories...

I need something AT LEAST 30" tall and AT LEAST 10" in diameter. and as far as my plans go that is one of the bigger ones...

Pourette is great. I'm from Seattle, really like workin with guys from an area I know etc... I would recommend them to anyone who asks because I've bought other products there and they were top notch. Unfortunately, they were just having trouble crafting something the size I needed. They gave it a valiant effort, but I think its probably they aren't set up to make something this size well. Also something this large almost needs someone who is a small time custom worker and has the ability to go out and buy a heavier gauge sheet metal. 1/16" tin plated flashing (which is what molds are typically made out of) gets pretty pliable at the verticle heights I require. Doesn't hold its shape well at all.

I did and the girl I talked to sounded really nice (and kind of cute so that helped) and she took down what I wanted and I requested to be called by the person who would physically be making my mold. she said they would call me tomorrow. and they seemed nice... but I didn't know what the word on the street was. I'm definently going to talk to the builder first and discuss it... I'm also open to suggestions for other custom makers...

okay so we've got 1 for, 1 against. Anyone else wanna vote? What molds did you get tlc?

Thats fair. I just haven't been too succesful with other mold makers and they seemed to have experience with large molds. But two bad experiences and a missed quote are pretty big strikes against them.

I've got as much time as they need if they can make me a product that will actually work. lol. As far as quality goes though, can anyone vouch for their craftmanship?

http://www.spiritcrafts.net/index.html Has anyone heard of these people? http://www.geocities.com/jamez1035/CUSTOMMETALMOLDPAGE.html They seem pretty comfortable with making unusually large and custom candle molds...

anyone know somewhere other than Pourette that makes custom molds? Has anyone ever had a metal shop make them a mold? I need some unusual molds made and I didn't know if anyone had any suggestions... Thanks all! -Luke-

It would be really cool to do something like this, but make the candle all orange and yellow marble and do an ENTIRE overdip of black but overwick it so that it melts and runs down the sides on purpose...once it melts through the thin black overdip at the top it will run orange and yellow all down the sides of the black candle and it you really could call it "the volcano candle." Hey if Donita can cater to sexy candles, I'm sure one of us can cater to 5 year olds. Hey! they need candles too! This candle is really cool.

well then I'm out of suggestions...unless...does it burn down into the wax? I make some candles that are sort of like this and you could get a sheet of glass from the craft store and cut a circle or just put some crushed glass into the bottom of the hole... I imbed glass into a lot of my candles on the floor of them so the tealights wont burn down into the candle...sand also works well...but this might not be applicable on a very small scale. Someone will chime in here soon that actually knows what they are talking about.

might try using plastic tealights instead of the metal ones. They don't get as hot. Additionally, if you go with a hurricane wax like the 5055 or there is a 4045 which are I think hurricane waxes. Donita uses the 5055 or something like that. there are waxes out there like hurricane waxes that have a higher mp even than a pillar wax. As far as additives that could raise the meltpoint someone else is gonna have to chime in there. Just some ideas. -Luke-

the only thing that I've ever really worried about is if its too cold because then the molds get cold and it changes your finnish and the wax sets up quicker... I actually make my candles outside in the summer. They're big enough that I like the space. they don't cool as fast but...

I've researched this some, but I can't figure out a good place. Does anyone know where I can get Palm Wax in Ohio within a few hours of columbus or cleveland? Makes Scents Candles doesn't have any. I don't want to pay shipping on a 50 pound box. Thanks a lot! -Luke-

stearic acid is the same as stearin wax which is what I believe you were referring to cranberry. additionally most palm wax from what I am coming to understand, is mostly stearic acid. There is the stearic acid/stearin wax derived from animal fat/tallow which top used in his experiments and we add to candles to strengthen etc... also there is a palm stearic acid/stearin wax which is pretty much just palm wax from what I'm gathering. I had that exact same question myself.

okay here is a hypothesis... when you poured your candles...lets say you had 14 of them in a row... when you removed your testers/samples were they a random selection, or did you remove them from one end of the row? Is it possibly that you did not stir your wax thoroughly, or you put it in and left it on the stove too long, or another million possibilities and when you poured you removed your three samples from the first ones you poured which would have weak smelling wax at the top and the others would have the stronger wax from the middle or bottom? hey it was worth a try. Maybe I'm wrong, but darwin was wrong, doesn't mean people don't like his hypothesis. lol

I'm not calling anyone a liar. I am just expressing interest in the logistics of a tin containers bursting. I mean, I know the heat can get very intense. A candle flame burns at an average 2500 degrees give or take, but metal usually warps and then subsequently melts. It would have to be under very intense heat transfer for the metal to bend enough and put enough pressure on it for the bottom to twist and "burst/explode" and I wonder what was in cactus' candle that caused the entire thing to set fire...maybe too much FO?

Wouldn't KNOWING where all of your utensils and such are really take a lot of the fun and excitement and adventure out of candlemaking... Mei-Mei don't you think you are making this whole "pouring candles" thing a little too easy.

keep a bag of coffee beans around. thats what they give you to smell at the fragrance counter at the mall when you are shopping for cologne or perfume.

I have a local supplier that I like to buy from and I purchased some liquid dyes the other day. they are a reputable supplier but their dyes smell like a cross between liquid moth-balls and motor oil. Is this a normal smell? I just didn't know if liquid color usually smells like this and if so will this smell be present in the finnished candle product (which I imagine it won't because a little goes a long way with liquid dyes) or alternately, I could be breathing in liquified carcinogens. not that I am complaining because you know I think cancer is a small price to pay for finding the perfect dye...but still... Thoughts, comments anyone?