NickS

26 minutes ago, LRcandles said:

Maybe the  wooden wick is dyed  and that is what is bleeding out into your wax.

Except it has happened with other wicks also.

I buy beard oil at Whole Foods but would like to look into making my own. Does anyone here make it? Please point me in the right direction to start my research.

This discoloration has happened with most wicks I've tried after burning. At first I thought it was because I was reusing wax for testing over and over again, but this is fresh wax. 

This is a (too small) wood wick, but I've seen the same thing with LX, HTP, and CD wicks.  I've also seen it in naked wax and wax with FO added.

The wax is IGI4627. This particular candle is 6% CS Mac Apple and has gone through two 4-hour burns.

50 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

I totally get that. 

 

The problem I often get with using bigger wicks to work on the jar is diminished or distorted scent throw. 

Damn, something else to worry about, lol. I haven't added any FO's yet, so that will be something I have to remember once I do.

I'm not sure if I'm ready to try double wicking these jars just yet. I have a couple more types coming to test and as a newbie I'd like to exhaust the single wick possibilities before I go there. Right now, the LX24 in my second batch is burning very nicely after 1.5 hours.

I did a third burn with these candles. There was little change from the second burn, both the LX18 and LX20 continued to burn down instead of out, and it looks like the LX22 is doing the same. I stopped testing these candles after this burn to save the wax. I'm test burning new ones with LX22, LX24, and LX26. They are burning right now, results coming soon in a new post.

For the third burn, I think these photos tell the whole story:

14 minutes ago, debratant said:

So far it looks like the 22 is doing the best at this point.  I look forward to the larger wicks to see how they do.

The mushrooms are so annoying aren't they? lol  I think you will like the HTP wicks.  

Yes, they are annoying. I've tolerated them in every candle I've bought because I thought that's just the way it is. Now after reading tons of posts here I'm realizing how mediocre the quality of the candles I've bought was.

This is fun, though. It's a big science project.

Second burn, four hours. Little change, all appear about the same as at 3 hours.

I'm not sure if any of these will produce a FMP on the third burn. The LX18 and LX20 have about 1/2" of unmelted wax around the edge, and the LX22 has about 1/4" and it is almost exactly even with the jar's shoulder.

I poured another LX22, LX24, and LX26 today that I will trim correctly and burn four hours on the first burn. I think I ended testing with the LX24 and LX26 prematurely.

Second burn, three hours.

All flames are still nice and steady around 1/2" high. Mushrooming remains the same.

LX18 - MP 1 3/4", still appears to be getting deeper faster than wider

LX20 - MP 2", starting to show signs of also getting deeper faster than wider.

LX22 - MP 2 1/4", MP hasn't advanced much

Second burn, two hours.

LX18 and LX20 - a mushroom about the size of a peppercorn has formed. MP has advanced a little to 1 3/4", but looks like it might be starting to melt down rather than out. This is called tunneling, right?

LX22 - Now burning best. No mushroom, but wick is bent to the side a little. I've read this is by design. MP has advanced to 2 1/4"

Second burn, one hour. Not much to note that's not in the photos.

LX18 - MP 1 1/2"

LX20 - MP 1 1/2"

LX22 - MP 1 3/4"

Same candles, second burn, burned them for 4 hours this time. I made sure the wicks were trimmed to 1/4", I used the tape measure to verify since I'm apparently not that good at eyeballing.

Throughout the four hours, all flames were much more stable, little flicker, and holding steady around 1/2 inch high.

This is right after lighting for the second time.

5 hours ago, debratant said:

This is great Nick. 

I have always used 4627 and HTP.  I have quite a bit of HTP wicks in various sizes.  I am happy to mail you out

at least 5 of each size you might need to test. No charge.  Let me know what you need and pm me

Wow, I really appreciate this generous offer! I already went and ordered a sample pack of HTP, and while I was at it also got a sample pack of CD and Premier so I have them around to play with.

Hour 3. All wicks deformed and mushroomed. All flames settled into the 1/2 - 3/4" range. Melt pools are just about the same diameter.

I was getting tired so finished the first burn test here. Should I have continued to four hours? Should I have started over after realizing I trimmed the wicks too long?

I also want to test HTP wicks but CS doesn't sell sample packs of them, so I need to find one elsewhere.

Hour 2.

All mushrooms have increased in size. LX20 and LX22 showing soot on rim of jar.

LX18 - flame about the same, MP about 2"

LX20 - flame has calmed to about 1/2 - 3/4", MP about 2 1/2"

LX22 - flame has calmed but still a bit high, MP approaching 3"

The following photos are after 1 hour.

LX18 - flame is flickering a bit, about 3/4" high. Slight bit of smoke occasionally. MP about 1 3/4"

LX20 - flame flickering a bit more, flame is 3/4"+ and just at the top rim of the jar. intermittent smoke. MP about 2"

LX22 - lots of flicker, noticeable black smoke, flame 1"+ and above top rim of jar, MP about 2 1/2"

All exhibit about the same amount of mushrooming. I think the large flames, smoke, mushrooming, and flicker are at least partly from my wick trimming mistake.

I hope it's OK if I document my progress here. Your advice and willingness to share your knowledge is invaluable. Hopefully this turns into a successful case study. There are a lot of photos.

Something I've learned both from reading posts here and a previous career troubleshooting computers is to be very methodical in testing. Only change one variable at a time. So I've started pouring candles with no FO and no dye to get a baseline wick for this jar and wax.  I took the suggested wick from CS and poured a candle using that size plus one and two sizes up and down from there. This is paraffin, so these have cured for 48 hours.

Wax: IGI 4627

Wick(s): LX18, LX20, LX22, LX24, LX26

Jar: 8 oz. apothecary from CS, 4" diameter, 2 3/4" tall at rim, 2" tall at shoulder

Note: After this first burn, I got to looking at my wicks and thinking I may not have trimmed them short enough. I got out the tape measure and they were closer to 1/2" than 1/4", and I'm pretty sure this contributed to some of the issues I saw. I decided to continue onto a second burn after trimming wicks shorter and they are burning way better right now, but I'm not sure how much the problem on the first burn will affect the second and subsequent burns. Should I have just started over?

LX18, LX20, and LX22 were burned for about 3 hours. LX24 and LX26 were extinguished within 5-10 minutes because they were burning with very high flames and black smoke. I decided to turn them off and save the wax.

This is one of the candles before burning. Although this wax is messy, I really like how it looks.

Just after lighting.

To be continued in my next post...

Thanks Pam. You're in one of the few places warmer than Las Vegas. I'll look into a "hold for pickup" shipment.

It's going to be 100+ here for the next two months. Should I wait until it's cooler to order wax? 

In the meantime, to try to quell my anxiousness to get started, I figured I'd use our 20 year old wax and try my hand at some firestarters.

13 hours ago, Candybee said:

Awwww! What sweetie pies! They are so adorable. My fav pic is the one of them all cuddled and wrapped together on the comfy chair! Sorry to hear about Jasper. I think the best you can do is make his last days as good as possible. Are you doing a doggy bucket list for him? Or is he more of the stay at home and skip the outdoor adventure's type?

Ha, that's the picture I use for my phone wallpaper. He had recently started getting car sick so we try to avoid driving him anywhere. He has been to Red Rock Canyon and off roading in Valley of Fire. We live right next to a park, so they get to go there frequently.

I'm happy to show off my babies. Here's Jade, Jasper, and Flint. Jasper has cancer on his face and has had a major surgery and chemotherapy to no avail. He's now on cannabis oil and we've committed to making his last days as comfortable and joyful as possible.

Jade is the old lady in the group, the skinny one with all the ticking. Flint is the puppy.

Does anyone use these to light a charcoal grill using a charcoal chimney?

Is there an ideal air temperature to pour, cool, and cure container candles? What is too cool or too hot? Is very low humidity a problem?

2 hours ago, moonshine said:

...

You might want to add some disposable pippettes also for heavy handed pouring of fragrance and going over the mark 

That's something I actually already have. I vape and mix my own liquid so I have lots of tools to measure and transfer small amounts of liquid.

2 hours ago, Clear Black said:

Nick, if you are in the testing phase as you say, I would get a bit more than just that 8 oz of Mac Apple FO. 8 ounces wont get you far amd if you are getting 25lbs of wax I would figure what FO % load you will be testing for and get enough to make 25lbs worth of candles. Maybe get two or three more FO's, it wont change your shipping much if any

Excellent suggestion, thanks! I will add more FO's before I order. 6% is 24oz., 8% is 32 oz. and 10% is 40 oz. I will order somewhere in that range.