Stella1952

:laugh2: I really like those and what a fun idea to have the wicks burn to just the right length...:whistle:

We use CDN and have good results from them.

I dunno for sure, Moonshadow, cause I don't use the same waxes and they do behave differently, but go on ahead and try it - it ain't like makin' homemade dynamite! If it looks like my partner's first hand-dipped taper, melt it down quick before the vice squad sees it!

Thanks, Myst. Because of the lighting in that pic, it's a little outta focus. That one is VERY sparkly with small crystal patterns... The high ridges of the twist candle are all very shiny so it really is a much prettier candle in reality than the blurry photo shows...:rolleyes2

Our palm wax pillars are very hard and will buff to a hard wax shine, so we've never felt the need for applying gloss... An old tee shirt works the best for us.

We use soy & palm for some of our work. At a ratio of 1 part soy to 4 parts palm, we still get plenty of feathering even when we pour at almost slushy temps. Because brands differ highly, I don't know if the same results would hold true for anything other than the waxes we are using (soy = Cargill C3 and Malaysian palm wax from JBN). We have blended these two waxes for pillars and votives - usually at the same rate above, but have upped the soy to 1 part soy to 2 parts palm. Any more soy and the blend becomes too soft for our taste. The round pillar in the photo (the one with the orange streak) is made from a 1:2 blend... (sorry for the dark photo - I cropped it from a large group...) Here's one poured with the 1:4 blend...

WONDERFUL!

Just By Nature is in Mesquite and Lone Star is in Keller. HTH

Never having poured paraffin, I can't say how wick size compares except from the recommendations from the manufacturers. We generally wick up a couple of sizes from whatever is recommended... We seldomly pour palm in containers, so we have to wick up even more to find the correct size for pillars. We use CDN wicks.

I use CDN wicks from Just By Nature. They are the same as Stabilo KSTs. We used some hemp wicks first, but they mushroomed like an old log, so we got the CDNs and haven't looked at anything else for either soy or palm because they have worked so well for us. Henry, it sounds like you have not found wicking or wax that works well for you and I am sorry for that, but I have no trouble with palm wax burning well! The only problems we have with burning palm wax candles is when we are deliberately trying to maintain a shell and a burnout occurs (usually because we wandered off and forgot to turn it when we should have done so...). To deliberately make shells, we slightly underwick the candle, and turn them a quarter turn every 20 minutes or so, but when wicked normally, we get a very complete burn. Sometimes, because palm is brittle and can't be "hugged" the way one can with paraffin, an edge will move away from the center slightly and need to be trimmed, but mostly, they burn up as well as ANY candle I have ever made or used.

Kelly, when we have a frosted candle, if the frosting is very slight, we will offer them at a reduced cost or as a casual gift (our friends are happy to receive our "seconds" - a perk of having friends who make candles), but usually, they go into our stock to burn around the house or we repour them. We don't sell candles with "moderate" frosting at all. They just aren't up to our standards even though they do smell just as good - how they LOOK is important, too, or folks wouldn't bother pouring them in pretty, glass containers! Handcrafted does not have to mean second-rate! That's like saying that it's okay to sell a cake that's lopsided for full price because it still tastes good! I sew a lot of my clothes, but they don't hang lopsided nor look faded! Sorry for spouting off, but I was just astonished at some of the responses...

Try Cargill NatureWax - C3. I like it very much and have little trouble with frosting, except with a couple of scents and one particular color. Here's a link to their distributors... http://www.naturewax.com/distributors.html

Antique Collector got my brain goin' today with a question about carnauba wax. I was surprised to learn that this is palm wax, made from a species of palm that grows mostly in Brazil. My palm wax comes from Malaysia and is in granulated form, not the flakes form I saw in photos of carnauba wax. There is also a large price difference between the carnauba and the palm wax I purchase. Somehow it never occurred to me that there are so many plant sources for palm wax...DUH!! So here's my question: does anyone know anything about the different types of palm wax - properties, sources, etc.? I Googled for information and it only got more confusing from there, as I found there are MANY different plant sources for palm wax! ...from freedictionary.com: "1. wax palm - South American palm yielding a wax similar to carnauba wax caranda, caranda palm, caranday, Copernicia alba, Copernicia australis fan palm - palm having palmate or fan-shaped leaves Copernicia, genus Copernicia - slow-growing tropical fan palms 2. wax palm - Brazilian fan palm having an edible root; source of a useful leaf fiber and a brittle yellowish wax carnauba palm, Copernicia cerifera, Copernicia prunifera, carnauba fan palm - palm having palmate or fan-shaped leaves Copernicia, genus Copernicia - slow-growing tropical fan palms carnauba, carnauba wax - hard yellowish to brownish wax from leaves of the carnauba palm used especially in floor waxes and polishes 3. wax palm - palm of the Andes yielding a resinous wax which is mixed with tallow to make candles Ceroxylon alpinum, Ceroxylon andicola feather palm - palm having pinnate or featherlike leaves Ceroxylon, genus ceroxylon - wax palms" I am wondering if the widely varying results we get with palm has something to do with the actual type of palm from which it is made... I read that the hardest type has a melting point of like 180° (obviously not the kind I use), so there HAS to be significant differences among the kinds of wax (not to mention the manufacturer's additives...). It's pretty obvious that palm waxes are not as "standardized" as paraffins are and I am trying to get an understanding of this so I can get the effects I want first time, every time...

I don't have an answer for you, but was curious about carnauba wax, so I Googled "carnauba wax for candlemaking" and, to my surprise and ignorance, discovered that it is palm wax - made from the carnauba palm. So after "discovering" that, yes, we have made palm wax tapers. We have not used beeswax yet, so I don't have any point of comparison. We have made molded twists and hand-dipped tapers and find they burn longer than most paraffin tapers we have used. Other than that, the "brightness" of the flame is dependent on the wick used... we like CDN wicks for both soy & palm. The beeswax, being a softer wax, would help condition the palm wax to be less brittle (depending on the proportions used), just as soy does. Blending palm with a softer wax also increases the elasticity of the wax making it less prone to cracking. HTH

Imagine that!!! :laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:

CindyM, I am curious as to why you think that these candles are not saleable? Is there something inherently dangerous or wrong with them? Or is the design just not your cup of tea? Just curious...

We have less problem with smoking when we snuff the candle by placing a top or something else over it to deprive the flame of oxygen. We leave the "snuffer" over the wick for several moments AFTER the flame goes out to assure that no part of the wick is still smoldering. I can't imagine dousing the wick each time in the melt pool! How long are your wicks? I have absolutely no faith that our customers would do the same... I feel fortunate when folks assure me that they have been trimming their wicks before burning our candles!

I have a set of mini-ladles that hold 1, 2 and 4 ounces. Although it's a little tricky getting used to pouring from a ladle, it works well for small amounts of wax. We also pour from clean, recycled food cans. We mash the rim slightly to form a pouring point. There's a can for any size we need and a continuous supply of them. I find it easier to mispour (too much or too little) when I am pouring quickly... When I slow down a trifle and actually pay attention to pouring each candle, I find my control improves.

VERY nice, Donna! I am struggling with a project similar to this (but with soy/palm blend... I LIKE banging my head against the wall) and have remade it several times. You have inspired me! I am not gonna quit until it comes out looking ALMOST as good as yours!

THANKS, y'all! I was just killin' time until my mom awoke and I got her started so I can run out to the store. I know EXACTLY where I will be runnin' FIRST as we have a BBB nearby! We're almost outta wax, but are expecting a shipment later on this week so I see a planetary alignment forming... Guess I'll have to buy two - one for soy and one for palm... Dang! My Christmas Wish list is longer now than it was before Christmas!! I had a shrink-wrap kit on it, but apparently Santa didn't have his freakin' reading glasses on... BUT since we put nothing on the charge card this season, I have a great idea of JUST how to handle those little ommissions... Gotta keep stimulatin' that ol' economy, yaknowhutImean?

OBVIOUSLY runnin' around like a turkey with my head cut off!:laugh2: Might have to go see if I can locate one of those things... Good point, Stacien, about the soy flakes being so similar to the soy oil used in them...DUH!! I feel an appliance-acquiring binge coming on...

They look GREAT to me, Devil Woman!

littleshote, I LOVE your candle holders! Do you slump the bottles yourself? I hope you can find a better source for candles to grace your holders... Perhaps you could pour them yourself... might be a new addiction

Well, if there isn't REALLY any Missouri Fire Coral, now there is!! MONDO KOOL!!

That is so elegant, Bruce! Truly inspiring!