MeAndMyPuppyDog

Golly -- it still says, 60 days... shouldn't it be 59 days.

Eh, Oh well...

You know... you guys got me thinkin' a better way to do very small runs...

4 Presto pots for $107.00 delivered to my door. Now the question is do I want to put the valve on them...

Small runs... don't know if it is needed or not.

Anyway -- thought I say thanks for turning me on to this idea.

http://www.raytek-northamerica.com/cat.html?cat_id=2.3.5

The MT4 for $39 on Amazon...

Don't tell me soon-to-be-wife, but I'm in love!

Anyone here using one to get the temp of their wax?

I just got mine and I have to say... WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG???

Risk of any issues with double boiler is very very low.

Rest easy...

Once again, I'm going to be the one to call BS.

Here's why.

1) Why not have the toll-free number pointed to the "new" number?

2) Golly -- 60 days? Ok... so in 59 days (tomorrow) -- are they going to change the message on the phone and the site? Usually people say, "We'll reopen on or about xx/xx/xxxx"

Sorry gang, I don't buy it.

I think with a lot of the risks in life, the answers aren't perfectly clear. Even getting new carpeting isn't especially good for you, but for most people it's an acceptable risk.

As a candlemaker using wax temperatures up to 200 and occasionally up to 250, I choose to consider the risks acceptable. Good ventilation is always advisable, considering not only the wax but fragrance oils.

One thing I'm really sure about is that you want to be as careful as possible about even little bits of wax coming in contact with sources of high heat. For instance if you get even a drop or two on a burner, or a hot plate you use to keep wax warm, or you mess up cleaning things in the oven. Those things will make fumes and/or smoke that is toxic. If you stand around or don't have good ventilation in your work area, the coughing and irritation will prove it to you.

That includes vegetable wax like stearic or soy. I remember somehow having a couple flakes of stearic fall to the bottom of the oven once and it was not a good thing.

Yeah -- I have to say, that about sums it up on my end at this point too.

Here's some more info. Needless to say -- it isn't good to be breathing it.

http://www.potters.org/subject23064.htm

I know this is a taboo subject... but I'm interested in knowing how many folks here worry about this? Let's face, naturally we all melt wax, some of us more than others...

Do you worry about it? Do you feel that as long as you keep it under 280*F the danger isn't there?

Your thoughts?

Unscented 15 Hour votives... NO SCENT...

What do you folks like for wick?

34-40 Special Zinc

or 36-24-24 Zinc

Or something diff. Running straight para with vybar... no oils.

?

I find it strange that they would not try to sell the business before they just lock the doors and walk away. Seems like there would be more money to be made by selling it off for several million rather than running it into the ground. If the father died just a little while back and service has been off since last fall I don't think his passing has much to do with the whole deal.

Everyone gets in a rut, this might be a huge opportunity for development of new dyes or bring some new mold makers onto the scene.

I buy things from them and if they reopen I will buy from them again.. don't matter if I like them or not its MY customers that I'm looking out for so I can put up with lots of crap to take care of them. It truly doesn't matter to me if I don't like a company or not, if they have something that makes my customers come back to me and buy more I don't care what problems they have they will get orders from me unless I find better some other place.

It took me 3 years of testing before I found one of the scents that I buy from pourette, if it takes 3 more years to find a better one, so be it. Just tell the customers perfection takes time.

Bruce

Millions? Hehe -- Williamsburg, Nelson, and others -- people didn't even want the company for scrap.

No millions... unless you were Yankme...

Sorry -- reality, in this business is what it is.

Curous -- when mixing your powdered dyes with a solvent to make "paint" -- what do you folks like to use?

Just think -- before the internet... for the most part... they were almost a monopoly... it was, for all practical purposes, them and binder. And binder really wasn't very formidable. They basically ran the business to supply the folks in the Poconos that make candles...

The internet came along and literally squished the biggest player out of the game -- if not with a little help by circumstances, but still.

Oh well... RIP - Pourette Mfg. Co.

I call BS on the "moving" -- if you're moving you don't have your phone disconnected, and you certainly don't keep it a secret on your site -- especially if you aren't processing orders.

My uneducated guess?

Mike was pretty young. I have to think that he, along with his family must have had a bit of money -- bought Pourette, Barker, etal. Once his father died, there is much more money -- so he just walked away. And judging by the lack of "nice" they had when you ordered, I would guess they didn't exactly like working the place...

so in the end... that is my totally uneducated guess.

Its is too bad, that a company that has been in the candle supply business and from reading other posts, have such a loss, to the people it serves. It seems that the owner has just gone away, someone in Seattle went down to where they were and found a salvadge crew there. What a shame.

EEK! Salvage... ok, what was left, where is it going, and why? Fire? Flood? or did they just sell down and now they are gone?

What's the darn scoop!?!?!?!?!?!?!

This really sucks. This is the 3rd major company to have gone under that I deal with... 2 are mfg. and Pourette for molds, etc.

Look, I'm no dope, and I know this business is cyclical -- and I know dam straight that the people who manage to hold on to the next wave will be in a good spot... but when you see big names go under... Jeeze. I knew when Yankme started making car air freshners and selling in Bed Bath & Beyond that things were headed for the crapper -- (Ok, and the teddy bear in the wax thing too (sorry))... But to see businesses that at one time were doing $1-4M a year just fold... nah, sorry. It really upsets me.

Ok. I'm done with soap box, the next person can use it.

You can't sell enough of them to make it worth their time to sue you. They'll send you a bunch of canned letters and bark-bark-bark. If there was a big enough market for them, they would be making them. Until you make enough of them where you make serious money it is all bark-bark-bark... BUT in the event that you DO get to that point (and chances are you won't) -- THEN they're gonna getcha!

Barker was also in Seattle -- They were competitors, of sorts -- Barker bought metal molds (from what I know) -- and the rest of the stuff (middle-man) they competed...

Pourete, I BELIEVE, just after the Olsen's gave it up (Don Olsen owned it before this Kovacs (sp?) guy...) bought Barker -- I want to say in like 2000 or so. Now get this -- they close it down. Just like that. They buy it, and kill it.

STUPID. Now I'm not 100% certain of SOME of the details. I bought very little as we grew from them but for certain steel molds they were a dream, especially since we had a Retailer's Resale account with them (We had a store front that was an "Authorized Pourette Dealer" for their molds... This is going back to the days when the gold seals were still on the box and mold... Anyway...

That's the scoop -- I never bought a thing from Barker -- but my guess stands, they wasted money on Barker and on that site to compete with Binder (Stupid, they should have just striven to be the West-Coast version of Binder) -- and POOF... the money was gone. The candle business is in the crapper from most, so these are lean times -- and they had no cash left.

I heard from Bill at Candlewic and he knows just about as much as we do. Donita Louise

Ok... so what did he say?

Anyone have any news on this?

Amazing how many have gone out of business... makes you wonder if the "cycle" will cycle back...

Oh well -- they'll have to buy their candles from someplace!

On the front page, ditch the black outline for the cells at the bottom of the page.

Aside from that... nice. Great job on photos!

Pete

Yes. Correct.

My educated guess?

They spent a ton of cash to Eporia for that site -- they did it to compete with Candlewic. The big money makers for them are the two-piece plastic and the "other" stuff. The were getting hosed on the steel molds -- especially with the discounting. Steel prices were jumping like crazy and they didn't have the "heart" to keep bumping price -- which they should have.

Put this together with an industry right now (candles) that is in the tank for most folks, and you've got a bad mix.

Candlewic and the that steel mold outfit in California are going to take the prize.

The other side of this mess was the Barker Company saga and you'll see why they just couldn't hack it.

Do I think they'll come back? Perhaps. But the days of giving away the house on steel and other things are over.

We'll see where it goes from here. When I used to call them for custom work (and stock work as well) -- I never got a "warm and fuzzy" feeling -- it always seemed like THEY were doing you a favor. I didn't care -- I got what I needed, but I think many folks did care.

Oh Well...

For the small little pots an industrial ladle. For the other stuff, an auger.