lenarenee

Looks like a ceramic jar too? How long have you been making candles?

From the posts on this forum I've read about the cocowax 83, your experience sounds very similar to what others are saying about cocowax 83 (available here in the US) How strict are you about melting and pouring temperatures? Does C6 seem far more forgiving than soy?

What do you like about it?

Sounds interesting. Are you in the UK? My quick Google search didn't show any US sources of c6. Have you been able to compare with other coco waxes?

The concern for summer is cocowax being too soft for the heat? Maybe you're thinking of mixing with a harder wax? (I grew up in central Illinois; I remember hot humid summers!)

TallTayl, you are quickly becoming my favorite enabler!! Seriously, thank you for all of your help.

These will be just for me. It would take years of practice before I'd be willing to even give a candle away.I live in dry San Diego county where even a spark from a passing car can set off a wildfire. I'm burning the 2 jars of booster wicks until 2 today when I go back to work, just to see what they're capable of. The cake pan idea is a good one! I will be ordering more cocowax - and why not try some standard wicks with it too? I only have eco wicks which I bet are not going to be suitable. What series would you recommend for cocowax? If I understand you correctly; the wax pool itself can overheat and catch fire? If so - does that mean if the wax isn't carried up the wick at a good rate, the wax pool deepens and overheats to catch on fire? And a big flame means what? Too much wax going up the wick? (I need to start keeping serious notes on this)

I burned the first 2 candles again tonight: trimmed them very short, burned for 3 hours. I'm not convinced that the .03 is too much wick. I took pics, but it's time for bed now. And I'm also confuses as to why the .02 seems hotter than the .03. It "dances" more, crackles more. The melt pool is deeper on one side because the wick isn't centered well. I think I also get a hint of fuel smell from the .02. I'm thinking I should burn them both down the whole way tomorrow? And order more wax! Maybe get some 464 to mix in? Just for fun!

Yes the last one was original single ply, 02 (thinnest and smallest) The first 2 candles were booster wicks, where only a narrower strip is added to the original booster. Both were 3/8 width, the thickness was .02 and .03. (I did not burn the.04 because I pulled it out to insert the 1/4 inch original wood wick. (Hmm....do they come in different thicknesses? All of them are unscented.

at 2.5 hours:

Well I have learned very little about candles; I've only piddled around for short times over the last 2 years. There are just too many combinations of soy wax and wicks, and now all the formulas are changing - I just don't have the patience or willingness to work with all the details. Focusing on cocowax and wooden wicks narrows things down. Here's the 1/4 original wooden wick in a fresh candle.

Seriously? Too big? I'm surprised. (shouldn't be, I'm new at this) I thought the .02 was too small and the .03 was about right! I'm so glad I post those videos - thank you so much for your feedback TallTayl! So melt pool is more than just width - but depth as well? And judging by flame size can be deceiving - it can change a lot as the candle burns down? Glad I didn't burn the largest wick yet. Now, are you saying I can pull the wicks straight out of the wax and insert another without remelting? What about hole that's left behind?

I tried wood wick ordered from LoneStar and Nature's Garden last year. They are similar to Wood Wicks in shape, but no boostsers. I used the 1/2 inch and larger sizes for palm wax as instructed by LoneStar. There was no crackle from any of them, some wouldn't stay lit . Did not scent the candles. I gave up on the whole lot and chucked all but 3 of them. Didn't keep the few notes I made of them because at the time I just gave up on candles! (but then I went candles shopping again and the price of WoodWick candles (best burning) is more than I want to pay, and the quality of Nature's Wick brand of candles drastically dropped from Christmas 2015 to 2016 and I won't buy them now. So...here I am again stretching my patience and small ability to pay attention to details!! Btw, I checked the details on the hurricane jars to see how many ounces they held - and couldn't verity it was 11 ounces. I know it took about 2. 30 lbs of wax to fill 3 jars.

And at 70 minutes: I focused more on the .03 booster wick because the .02 is having problems. The melt pools are similar though.

Here's the larger wick:

Here's 30 seconds of my test burn. The candles have been burning for half an hour when I recorded.

I bought a few lbs last Christmas and made 12 candles (half pint canning jars) and most got those big holes. I had fun cracking them - reminded me of cracking the thin layer of ice from puddles when I was a child. Anyway, I'd like to use it up. I have wood wicks in various sizes (which I tried last year and found that most were too hot: big flame, melted wax changed color), and also have eco wicks in various sizes. I have hurricane jars which are about 11 ounces, and just over 3 inches across at the very top. Can you give me an idea of which wicks to start with? I just want to make a useable candle so I don't waste materials. Fragrance is not necessary. I probably won't continue with palm unless it works well with wood wicks. (I'm obsessed with crackling wicks!) Thanks!

I would have made more if I'd had a bigger melting pot. I called CalCandle supply to ask about curing time and he said 24 hrs! They say that soap making teaches you patience. It's been 4 years....no patience yet! He also said that they've had no luck with wood wicks and coconut wax. We'll see...

Welcome! I'm new here too. What do you make; candles, soap, candles and soap??

This is California Candle Supplies cocowax 83, and it does have some kind of additive. I didn't add any myself. And wow! You haven't done any special voodoo rituals for pouring or cooling coconut wax??? And it works??? (running off to order more....!) How long did you let yours cure? I mean...since you're so eager to see how these do and I'm sooo nice that I wouldn't want to keep you in suspense...!

I made 3 candles today! Hurricane jars (roughly 11oz, 3 and 1/8 width at top, used 3/8 width wood booster wicks at .02, .03, .04 thickness. Wish I could tell you that I melted to 200 degrees and poured at 190 (as per the supplier's instructions) but.....I used 2 thermometers and they didn't agree with other. One is a standard kitchen thermometer, the other digital hand held one. Going to Amazon to get a GOOD thermometer....!! The handheld one was inconsistent and difficult to use; according to it I heated to 209, and poured at 184. The other thermometer said melted to 190 and poured at 170. No fragrance or color. I wrapped the jars in towels as if they were soy - don't know if that's necessary or not. I can't information on how long to cure coconut - anyone know?

Thank you - we really miss her and it's going to be hard to find another spade female.

Thanks for asking debratant. Unfortunately my holiday was a total bust as we had a death in our pet family - our sweet shy little guinea pig girl. She was in surgery for a mass removal, and died. Who knew we could love a rodent so much. We were pretty stunned - had a great exotics vet with experience, but those little creatures are so delicate. Our surviving guinea pig needs lots of extra attention while we scramble to find a new friend. Guinea pigs can die from loneliness. Luckily he loves people, so he's not doing too badly - but we need to find a spade female (rare) as soon as possible. Things are starting to return to normal - and I've started to drool over the box of candle jars that's been sitting on the counter for days. I hope to get started next week! In the mean time, I've resorted to burning some leftover candles from last year - Nature's Wick which are criss cross wood wicks - and they burn with lots of soot and smoke despite a good trimming. I pulled out a soy wood wick candle I made last year and it burns pretty well but no real crackling to it.

When I went to place a Lonestar order I was surprised to see jar I wanted - and many other gone from the catalog. Time's a wasting so I searched out some dollar stores and ended up with 14 Libbey hurricane glasses with about a 3 inch diameter!! Hopefully I'll be making candles tomorrow!

Sorry - that's supposed to be Nature's wax c3. I always put that 8 in there because the cocowax is 83.