calan

1 hour ago, bfroberts said:

Try the wick guide at candlescience.com 

The suggestions for 4630 are solid.

Thanks, but I've seen their wick guide. It is just HTP or LX wicks.

I was just fishing for some real-world experience with that wax in this container, since I assume it is one of the more popular ones.  

No really...don't be shy.   

Type and size for 8 oz square "mason" jar with 4630.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Anchor-Hocking-Half-Pint-Glass-Canning-Jar-Set-12pk/43184792

Being "that guy" that's always looking for logic in things that sometimes aren't logical...

Has anyone ever done any wick testing to see if there is a correlation between the specific gravity of fragrance oils and the necessary increase or decrease in wicking from a baseline of pure wax? I want to think that there should be a correlation.... that a FO with a similar SG to another FO should require roughly the same type of wick adjustment, all else being equal.

I understand that each FO formulation is going to have different burn characteristics, but I've found over the years (especially in things like race fuels, some exotic paints, etc), that SG is usually a pretty solid data point to make comparisons from.

And if there is (or could be), is there a source of data for the SG of common FO's from each manufacturer? (Guessing this is where it starts getting murky).

Just curious.

...from a local Hobby Lobby, to do a little wick testing.

This sounds silly, but the lids won't stay on because of the air in the tin compressing. With the tin full of wax, it's even worse. Actually makes a nice little air-shock (for you mechanical types out there :D)

So, is this normal for tins? How do you deal with it? Punching an escape hole for the air would kinda defeat the purpose of having a lid to hold in the scent between burns wouldn't it?

 

Yep... FC's Kentucky Bourbon is something else. Picked that up last week after reading the reviews. It is a very sweet, strong and unique scent that I think would enhance almost anything.

It does smell like bourbon somewhat, but with a little imagination it can smell like all sorts of things. 

11 minutes ago, Sebleo said:

I have a case I’m not going to use. I can send you as much or little as you want. 

If you don't mind me asking, why are you not going to use it?

I love this scent as a supporting cast member. Just mentioned it in a thread I started on helper FO's.

New to this candle-making thing, but not to blending "flavors" (I used to mix e-lquids quite a bit, and learned a lot about how flavor molecules blend and interact, etc). Anyway, in my early experimenting over the last few weeks, I've come across a couple of FO's that work very well to add that certain "something" that a fragrance might need. For example, I've found that FC's "Woods & Earth" has a very organic and mossy vibe going on, and works well to tone down the perfuminess (I may have just made that word up) of some scents, like tobaccos, etc.

I thought I would start this thread to see what some other people's favorite "helper" FO's are. And..... go!

1 hour ago, Forrest said:

Quote

As a fellow engineer I’ll offer some advice. The first thing is your wax and FOs are all blended hydrocarbons, we are dealing with organic chemistry; so if, like me, you are not an expert in organic chemistry don’t try to understand it. Pick a wax and container and stick with it until you have that down pat. I would recommend you start with 4630 because any wax with soy requires curing. I find my HT is best with 4630 if I give it a week, but some FOs need a month or more in my soy blend. Now is the time to get your process down. If you start experimenting and your process isn’t fixed you can’t trust the results. I am a big proponent of blending. I read once that you only needed to stir the wax a few seconds and I ended up with a batch of candles with no HT. If you search this forum for Wick List you’ll find a thread with my wick list in it, it isn’t perfect, but it is a very useful tool. If you haven’t learned how to do a wickectomy do so. I find that wick size is more important than wick type; you will get a lot of different opinions on which type of wick works best in any given wax. Also I should warn you that your testing will sometimes yield anomalous results, if it looks wrong it probably is, and it probably wasn’t anything you did.

   

Thanks...I've read a bunch of your posts actually. Very helpful. 

I got into this hellish hobby (lol) because we have a bunch of empty store-bought candle jars laying around, and I figured I could grab a bag of cheap wax and a package of wicks off Amazon and refill them...which I did. (GB 444 and some EricX wicks). Long story short, me being me and wanting to learn "a little bit" about melting and pouring wax...I hit up Google, and down the rabbit hole I went. I now have 35 FO's, 4 different waxes, pots, kettles, bags and bags of wicks, my significant other is putting a home business plan together (she's delegated the candle stuff to me, and researching the bath and beauty products)...and my entire kitchen is now a mad scientist's labratory. 

I initially asked about blending these two because I have a bunch of the 444 left, and just can't see it making the type of candles I want. For now, I think I've settled on the 4630 for some max throwing tins (no worries about wet spots, etc), ProBlend 600 for glass jars (less HT but smooth and beautiful), and maybe ProBlend 650 for tarts (still have 5 lbs of it that I haven't tried yet).

Right now I'm in wick-testing hell...recording everything in a spreadsheet and trying to figure out at least which "types" of wicks I like for what, while also slowly learning their up/down needs and quirkiness with different FO's.

And, I am already a master at wickectomies.  lol
 

 

Late to the party, but I'm in.

I'm surrounded by gun-totin', tire-smokin' racecar builders (and I are one  )...  so sign me up if anyone finds good versions of these.

Has anyone tried ProBlend 650 in containers? It seems to be the same blend as the PB 600, but I'm guessing it has some additive to make it a bit harder for tarts.

Thanks Pam... those are about the only common wicks I haven't tried (and the LX). I'll order a sample pack and give them a try.

Thanks much

10lbs or less... price, shipping, availability, etc.

Doesn't seem to be a lot of it around.

This is the jar I'm using:

This cored and re-wicked 4630 test candle with the zinc 51 wick is burning really nice and clean so far. Hope it stays that way.

The premier 755 also looks good, but the HTP-83 is mushrooming and a little smokey.

I wish someone offered comfigurable sample packs of wicks. I end up with a gazillion different wicks that I'll never use, and not enough within the narrow window of what I need to play around with. Meh.

Thanks. I'm an engineer, so experimenting (sometimes way too much) is right up my alley.

Read a lot of your posts on here...thanks for the helpful info. 

New to this candle making thing and have been doing a lot of experimenting, logging results, and lurking/reading here for the last 3 weeks or so. First of all, thanks to all of those that have posted so much useful info here for us newbs. 

Has anyone blended some 4630 with say, 20-30% GB444?

I'm just now burning some 4630 test candles, and have been playing around with 444 and some ProBlend 600 this last week or two. The PB600 is nice, but I didn't ever get the scent throw I wanted. This 4630's HT is already phenomenal (wick testing at the moment with 8% FC "Coffee House" in little 4 oz straight jars)... but I'm wondering if a little of the 444 mixed in would clean it up and cool it down a little, without losing much HT. 

I've been playing around with CD, HTP, and premier wicks in the other waxes. Going off of that data, I started with a CD-12, HTP-83, and Premier 755. The CD-12 was a smokey torch as soon as I lit it; just cored it and replacing with a zinc 51-32-18 sample I have. The HTP-83 seems a little warm also, but gonna let it burn a while. The 755 seems just about right, but we'll see how it looks a little further into the glass.

I also have some ProBlend 650 to try. I know it's a harder wax for tarts and votives, but I'm curious if it would work in containers as well.

Just what I need...another project. So much stuff to test...so little time and money.