Forrest

Well, since I have given myself over to temptation I should mention that I really like their Chardonnay add their Lemon verbena

I am not going to click on this thread, I am not adding a bunch of samples to my Flaming order and y'all can't make me! Well maybe you could convince me to add one or two. or possibly a few more Oh what the heck, as long as I don't tell my therapist it will be OK.

Perhaps I should ask them about wicking an 11oz tureen with 6006, they could send me heir top 3 recommendations for a therapist in my area.

I'm planning to run a wax and wick test on 6006. Right now I plan on testing zinc core, CD and HTP wicks. For those of you that use 6006 are there any other wicks that you really like in 6006?

That would mean ordering from a new supplier and adding a new line to my massive wick collection.I think a better way would be to do a test to try and fit the HTP wicks into my CD/zinc progression. But, once I do that test I might run equation just to see if it works,

So to find the HTP equivalent to a CD for 6006 I would take the HTP number for that size CDN in soy and for the next larger size, add them together, divide by 2, and multiply it by 0.3. Next I should take the HTP equivalent from the paraffin chart and multiply it by 0.7. Lastly I would add my two numbers together and that would approximate the HTP equivalent in 6006. The next step would be to take that HTP wick, along with the next size up and down and do a test alongside the CD wick to get some meaningful results. I love candle making.

I’ve been looking in the wax and wick test section for a while now and thinking about how great it would be if someone would do a test for 6006. So I have decided to do one. I would rather not screw this up and have to do it over, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Do you put the wicks in the pan first or do you cut a length of wick and stick it in the wax after it cools? Do I need to heat the wax to 180, or just enough to melt it? Can I put the wax in the pan and melt it in the oven? How deep does the wax need to be? How far apart do I need to put the wicks? How much cure time should I give the wax before testing? Is a 3 hour test enough or should I do 4? How many burns?

Well I thought HTP-CD equivalence chart was just what I needed, but I dug a little further and it seems it is only applicable to paraffin wax, the story of my candle life. I dug deeper and found a chart that very different results for soy wax, and neither chart would work for 6006. Still there may be an HTP that will fill the gap between the 51 zinc and the CD10. If so that would be a big help for me. Not that long ago when y'all talked about wicking up or wicking down I thought all I would need is the next size of the same type of wick. But CD6 and CD8 might as well be the same wick and while the 51 zinc is a step up from CD8 there is still too big a gap between it and CD10.

Reading this gave me an idea. I made five candles in jars yesterday. The first two were different FOs and the last three were the same. After they were poured I put them back in the box they came in. The first two developed holes, but not the last three. I think that if I had taken a couple of extra jars and filled them with hot water that would have done the trick. So next time I’m going to get a box that will hold a couple of jars more than the number of candles I’m making and try this. Of course I could just stick with tureens, I never have this problem with tureens.

Welcome. Wax shrinks as it hardens. It tends to harden on the outside and as the wax on the inside shrinks it pulls the wax toward the center. For better advice the experts on the board will want to know what wax and container you are using and what temperature you are pouring at. I had a similar problem the last time I poured candles and on my next run I’m going to warm my jars, lower my pour temp, and slow down the cooling by either putting the candles together in a box as they cool, or wrapping the containers in something to slow their cooling.

Sadly I suffer from MSS, Mad Scientist Syndrome. My candle hobby seems to have taken two separate paths, making and testing. Every time I find some facet of candle making that I hadn’t thought of I have to devise a test for it, even when TT tells me what the outcome will be I still have to test it. Well, with cure time I think I’ve hit the motherlode. The first hurdle was finding some way to measure HT. I have a hallway in my house with a bathroom at the end of it. My plan is to turn off all the fans, burn the candle for 30 minutes and then move down the hall until I smell the candle. My data is the distance from the bathroom to the smell point. I’ll take the same measurement with my wife to get second data point. Below is a rough outline of my test plan. The final plan will have to deal with environmental issues and any other factors that will affect the test results. I’m very excited about this, but mad is just a synonym for crazy. Objective one: document a reasonable estimation of the effects of cure time on HT. Objective two: test the possibility of storing blended wax for use after extended curing. Step one: choose a FO, something with weak HT. Step two: make five identical candles and blend enough extra wax to make another candle. Store the extra wax Step three: burn one candle at two weeks and record data plus detailed notes on HT Step four: burn one candle at three months and record data plus detailed notes on HT Step five: make another candle and a candle out of the saved wax at five and a half months Step six: burn one of the original candles and the two new candles at six months and record data plus detailed notes on HT Step seven: burn one candle at nine months and record data plus detailed notes on HT Step eight: burn one candle at twelve months and record data plus detailed notes on HT Step nine: write report on test results

While searching this site today I ran across an old thread on this very subject. In it someone referenced an EPA test so I googled EPA test on candles. The first study I found no problems burning paraffin candles under normal conditions. The second study looked at the various other studies dealing with candles and incense. A quick review of that study shows that burning candles with lead wicks is unhealthy, beyond that, unless you regularly burn a number of candles at the same time, paraffin candles pose no health risk. One European test burned 30 candles at once and did not exceed any EPA limits. I would caution that burning poorly made candles that produce a large amount of soot might be bad for you. Based on the study results Incense may pose a health risk.

I like the first one, so you should probably go with the second one.

My candle had been in a bag in my garage for over a year, but when I remelted it the top was nice and smooth and it looked much better. It was like a facelift for an old candle.

Those candles are works of art! They will look awesome on the shelves of all those cabins near Blue Ridge. Your babies look well fed, you must be trading candles for cat food.

Yesterday I took the older of my two candles, a tin made with 464, and melted it using the double boiler method. I got t above 180 and gently stirred it for a minute and put the lid on it. This candle was from the batch of candles that convinced me I would never make soy candle with an acceptable level of HT. This morning I took the lid off and was shocked at the CT. I'll test the HT this weekend, but this looks promising. If the HT is anything close to the CT, I'm already working on a plan for 6 month test.

Yea, there is only about 175 pages of good stuff

You must be clairvoyant. I was thinking about that today and wondering if it would work. It may be the way to go for me.

Only 199 pages, I'll have to stay up late tonight.

If I were a successful candle seller I would agree with you. But, with my kids grown and gone and some time spent reorganizing the garage over the past few years I have more storage than I know what to do with. The idea of ageing my candles just means I can make a lot more candles now and put them away for later. When I run out of space I guess I’ll have to start selling them.

Some days it is cool, and some days working for the government is a pain.

I think you’re saying that after it is re-melted most of the advantage of ageing will probably be lost. This is what I expect based on my very limited understanding, but I do love to test things. I hadn’t thought about the need to re-blend, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I expect some loss of potency due to re-melting, but given the difference between what the candles were 18 months ago and what they are now I think the test will be valid.

Really? I love it when she talks that way.

I'm guessing that the answer to my question is unknown, but I think I can run a test to find the answer. I plan on taking the two candles I have that are 18 months old and remelting them in the oven at 180. I'll pour the wax into a beaker and stir it for a minute or so and then pour it back in the original container. I'll give it one weeks cure and then burn them. If it reverts back to what it was 18 months ago the wicks will be to big and the HT will be weak. If it stays like it is that would be big.

That is correct, and they were not colored. I think the key is they only had a small number of scents, no more than five and possibly only three.