craftwerks

On 15.7.2017 at 4:53 PM, wthomas57 said:

Nice... how pricey was that?

Not too bad...it cost me 18 dollars (in Norway I consider that normal ).

 

On 15.7.2017 at 7:09 PM, Trappeur said:

Wow, is that ever beautiful chalk paint!   Is that a spray?

 

Is that black or a deep navy blue?

 

Trappeur

It Is a spray and it is matt black. 

On 16.7.2017 at 4:37 AM, TallTayl said:

Can you see the candle glow inside there? Neat!

not sure yet  Ill let you know!

On 14.7.2017 at 3:54 PM, Trappeur said:

All the more reason for you to get a business going down the road in my eyes.......you go girl!

 

Did you ever get your wicking figured out Crftworks?

 

Trappeur

 thanks! 

I haven't completed the testing yet as I had to take a break from my candle venture. However I have ordered some new wicks so I cross my fingers that at least one of them gives a good response. 

I actually bought this amazing chalk paint and I have decided to use this paint instead of the original brown glass. Im in loveeee

On 20.4.2017 at 5:39 AM, wthomas57 said:

 

But makes it easier to find sales...  

Very true! There aren't many making candles as a small business, and those who do it, are not really much competition *in my opinion .

 

18 hours ago, birdcharm said:

I found a description of "TB" wicks ...

 

"Our Tightly Brainded (TB) wicks are made from unbleached cotton, tightly interwoven with a fine paper thread and outer jacket. These wicks are particularly suited to vegetable waxes, such as soy wax, but are also suitable for heavily coloured or scented paraffin candles."

 

... the number is the size, maybe @craftwerks you may know of a guideline of some sort, your supplier should have something to go by.

 

 

 

 

I think I will do that  It is the size, but Im wondering if it is cm or mm..like id have to order several different types in order to figure out the sizes. 

Anyways, Ill contact the supplier

21 hours ago, Trappeur said:

Sorry I can't help what so ever with your wax and wicks what so ever....Never heard of those wicks and though I have heard of rapseed I have no clue what so ever.  Hopefully someone can come here and help.

 

Trappeur

l No problem. I know that rapeseed wax is very uncommon in the states.

Question; I am looking at a wick that says TB8, TB9,TB10

What do the numbers stand for? 

I am going to order new glasses and see if ma

33 minutes ago, craftwerks said:

Yes, Norway is extremely beautiful....but expensive! 

  The candle market isn't so present over here which makes it even harder to find suppliers etc.

 

I am using rapeseed wax (I believe it goes by the name Canola wax, too). When it comes to explaining what wick I am using... I get mine from a Norwegian supplier and these are the spes:SRV12, 120 MM +15 mm tab. It is a natural wick...

 

woops I mean to say I am using 

On 11.4.2017 at 3:10 PM, Trappeur said:

Just curious Craftwerks.....what wax do you use and what size wick and style are you using?

 

Wow!  Your from Norway....I've always been in awe of the beautiful countryside you live in.....

 

Trappeur

Yes, Norway is extremely beautiful....but expensive! 

  The candle market isn't so present over here which makes it even harder to find suppliers etc.

I am using rapeseed wax (I believe it goes by the name Canola wax, too). When it comes to explaining what wick I am using... I get mine from a Norwegian supplier and these are the spes:SRV12, 120 MM +15 mm tab. It is a natural wick...

 

6 hours ago, Trappeur said:

I  think you might want to go down a wick size.  That melt pool is going to get deeper and the jar hotter.

 

Trappeur

it is like a never ending nightmare finding the correct wick.  I guess I will try and find a smaller wick then. 

Im back! After a long break...

I have tested my wax and bought new wicks BUT it doesn't seem right. 

The melt pool is just right and the candle burns all the way to the edges, but the flame is flickering constantly. 

I feel like giving up. What do I do from here?

Edit: the picture is the candle with a diameter of apr. 2.3 inches. The wick has also been reduced in size...

17 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

Half way through and it's hot, and the melt pool is deep. Not terribly deep, but you might want to try wicking down 1 size and see if you might get a little better results. You're getting there.  

 

If it's too hot to handle, than no, it's not perfect, and should be retested with a smaller wick. You have to test the entire candle burning it intervals all the way to the bottom of the candle before determining if a wick is correct or not. The farther this burns down, the hotter the jar will get, and the deeper the pool.   

(Sorry, I missed this part in my original reply) 

Yikes, okay...I will try order a size smaller then.  So a correctly wicked jar is hot, but not so hot you can't hold it? just so I know what I'm looking for...

2 hours ago, GoldieMN said:

I'm thinking that wax will melt as the candle continues to burn.  It isn't like the wax is tunneling down the middle.

Goldie

It did  I have been lucky so far!

1 hour ago, Jcandleattic said:

How many burns is this? First burn? As Goldie said, as the candle burns down and the jar gets warm that residue will melt down into the candle. It'll catch up to itself. 

This is the second burn.  It has cleared up now

I have another question. It has been burning for apr. 5-7 hours and the glass is pretty hot. The part from the melted wax and above. 

Is it normal that the glass is so hot? It is so hot that if I was to pick the jar up by the top, I wouldn't be able to. It was mentioned to me on this forum that I should decrease my wick size if its that hot, but the wick is perfect for this wax...An

So this is my medium sized candle after it has burned for about 4 hrs (not 4 consecutive hours)

The candle seems to be burning well and the wick size seems to be good. However I'm not a fan of the trail of wax that is being left on the sides. Is this normal?

2 hours ago, Trappeur said:

They look great to me also.

 

If you don't mind, could you possibly put up your sizes in inches and not in millimeters so for the ones who don't know what sizes they are,( like me)  we could maybe help...

 

Jars looking good so far...I've always wanted to try out the amber jars.   I think those colors are gorgeous.

 

Trappeur

Sorry, I forget that Americans dont really use mm. Ill edit my post     

Edit. I wasn't able to edit so Ill write here> 65 mm / 2.5 inch

1 minute ago, Jcandleattic said:

You shouldn't reach a FMP (full melt pool) on your first burn, and most of the time, not on the second burn either. Most of my candles do not reach fmp until the 3rd 4-6 hour burn. Then it will get to the sides and start catching up. In most cases if your candle reaches fmp on the first burn, the wick is too big, because by the time it burns down to the middle or farther down the jar, your melt pool will be too deep, you won't be able to touch the jar because it will be too hot, and it will be a fire hazard. 

These actually look good to me, depending on how long they've been burning. 

 

On that size jar I would burn 4 hours at a time. Keep good notes, and continue to burn the whole candle in 3-6 hour increments. Once it does reach the sides, then you want to see how deep your melt pool is after a 4 hour burn. It should not be deeper than 1/2 inch at most. I like to try to keep my melt pool between 1/4" deep and 1/2" deep. 

Oh, silly me.  I was expecting it to burn evenly within a short time. No, they have been burning for an hour actually...Ill let it burn some more then. 

I have started burning my second Bach of testers. Not getting good results and I think I need some advice. 

Picture 1 and 2 is the biggest container of 160 ml. It has a diameter of 65 mm. The wick is supposed to be used with my wax and for a container with max 65 mm. It has barely melted the sides... 

Picture 3 is my middle container of 120 ml. It is definitely tunneling, but the flame seems to be emiting enough heat, so I'm unsure...

The wicks look centered?

On 12.2.2017 at 5:12 PM, KrisS said:

I was speaking with a smaller wax manufacturer a few weeks ago and mentioned rapeseed.   He wasn't familiar with it at all.    I'd love to try it.

On 12.2.2017 at 10:46 PM, Incendia said:

I had never heard of it before CraftWerk's post this morning. It is apparently harder than soy, and has a higher melting point. If they can hydrogenate soy oil and sell it as wax, why not canola/rapeseed? Or peanut or cottonseed oil?

It is a wax that is widely used over here in Europa. There is a large production of rapeseed oil here, so it is the most common wax to find when it comes to candle making. It is certainly possible to max wax out of any oil. I actually came across a Swedish retailer selling rose wax...

21 hours ago, birdcharm said:

 

I've been using a high-temp glue gun with a corresponding glue and the wicks have been staying in place throughout the burn.  To remove the wick tab after the candle has burned, I usually need to grip the neck of the wick tab with a pair of pliers and pull pretty hard to remove the tab.  I know many people like the wick stickers, but I commonly order from suppliers that do not sell those, which is not convenient for me, so I decided to use a glue gun.  I have aired my curiosity once before about using a glue dipping pot as they use with silk flowers, but I haven't ventured in that direction yet. 

 

If you squeeze glue to the center of bottom of the wick assembly; quickly center it in the bottom of the glass and press it down, it should secure.

 

That is good to hear  I realized my glue gun is a high temp. that melts between 165-200 c so I think I will take the chance and use the glue and see how it turns out. I will let the wick assembly dry for an hour before I start pouring. Thanks for your reply

25 minutes ago, Incendia said:

 

I'm not sure you'll be able to find both something really strong, and still be able to remove it from the bottom of a glass container.

 

One of my other hobbies is making glass mosaics. I use a caulk with some silicon in it (not Permatex) to adhere my glass bits to the surface. I want 'permanent' and hot glue would not be enough. Once dry, it is impossible to remove the caulk I use from the glass. Once I changed my mind about something, and tried to salvage the glass and remove the dry caulk from the bits... I tried boiling it, chipping away at it - even soaking in straight pool acid. Nothing budges it.

I see. I guess that my only option is the silicon then.

7 minutes ago, moonshine said:

https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-81160-High-Temp-Silicone-Gasket/dp/B0002UEN1A

 

this is what I use that has been recommended on many of the threads in here 

 

rated up to 650 degrees in case you get that volcanic candle ?

I managed to find this one....can almost handle up to 650 f

 https://motaman.co.uk/Permatex-Supra-Blue

2 minutes ago, moonshine said:

Permatex is amazing for selling 

for testing myself personal I use the wick stick ums so I can easily remove it to clean jar and keep using for testing only 

ah, Im looking but I only found the Blue permeated in the shop over here. Is a glue that can withstand +150 c (302 f) enough or should I keep looking?

5 minutes ago, ehatch1 said:

 

I use high-temp hot glue, and it seems to work fine, when I wick with the correct size.  If I've over-wicked a jar and it gets too hot, the wick starts moving around. 

It's also easy to remove after the candle burns down; part of the thing I like about candles is that I can use the jars for other things after they're done.  

I am not sure how "environmentally friendly" or "natural" hot glue is... haven't looked into it.

Well, as it has been pointed out, safety is more important than having 100 % natural candles, so a little dot of glue is definitely worth it.  I will try and see how it goes. Im not selling yet, so I will test out a few candles. 

1 hour ago, Candybee said:

 

Permatex. You can find it at hardware stores, Walmart, Kmart, others. Its a silicone based glue that permanently fixes the wick tab to the jar.

 

I am currently using up the rest of my Gorilla brand hot glue sticks. These are the kind that take on high temps. So far they are working but my experience in the past is that most glue sticks, even the dual high temp kind don't hold the tab in place 100% of the time. I use palm wax and pour at temps of 200 F plus. I have had tabs come loose with that heat or when the candle flame burns towards the very end of the wick. So once my Gorilla sticks are gone I am switching to Permatex.

I have read about permatex on this site; seems like it is a popular choice. I live in Scandinavia so it isn't so easy to find that one. Im looking for something similar, but I really prefer something that would be easy to remove after using the candle.  I did buy a hot glue gun. I read that one user on here applies the glue, and then poured wax to the bottom of the wick to keep it in place. 

19 hours ago, Candybee said:

Its good to see you are asking a lot of questions about your candles craftwerks. Also, that pic you posted says a lot. Wick is definitely oversized for that jar and you can see the wick is off center. Check with your supplier and see if you can't buy a wick sampler kit or at the very least try some smaller wicks for testing.

 

One of the hardest things to get right in candlemaking is finding the perfect wick for the wax and jar combo you are using. Once you nailed that it gets easier.

 

Re the wick tab. As others have mentioned you need that to anchor and center your wick and keep it from 'traveling' around. The wick plus the wick tab together is called a tabbed wick or wick assembly. A wick assembly also works as your safety system for extinguishing your candle before it reaches the bottom of the jar.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is if you do not have a wick assembly system in your jar candle you could be in trouble if anyone came after your with a lawsuit. Wick assemblys are recognized as the industry standard when it comes to making a safe burning candle. If you tried to use a substitute or make something else it would be on you to prove its safety.

Thanks for the reply. I am happy that I have found this forum so I dont end up making terrible mistakes. 

My next step now is to find the appropriate wick and I think I will go for a tea light wick and see how that holds up. I have seen candles that have 30 mm containers so it isn't impossible 

I am also on the hunt for an appropriate solution to stick the wick tab correctly. I have read that it is important to find a glue that can withstand high temperatures. Maybe it is the worrier in me ( I do tend to overthink everything) but would it have to be a glue that is especially for making candles or just a glue that has the right temperature?