Antique Collector

Yeah it's interesting stuff, that's not the whole article but as a rule, I don't post entire articles only small portions, the rest is quite interesting reading, the articles available publicly on rushlight.org Rushlights are a strange thing to burn, a little dirty and messy, but they do give a good light for such a primitive candle. They must be burned at an angle generally though, as the rush is not entirely consumed by the flame as it burns. The rush chosen is very important, not all rushes/reeds work. Reproduction rush holders are easy to get too, most of the "antique" ones on ebay are newer, originals are scarce.

Wick tabs have little to do with safety and more with convenience when making the candle. It's difficult to just "push in" a normal, soft cotton wick, though you can make a hole with a needle or such afterwards heated up over a small flame (held with pliers). Tapers don't have tabs, for instance, are they dangerous? Are pillars without tabs dangerous?

Not terribly new idea: "The Rushlight or Rush Candle of Old England From The Rushlight, Vol. 1. No. 4; Feb. 1935 Readers of Shakespeare and Milton, of Scott and Dickens, of Charlotte Bronte and other writers, are probably familiar with the rushlight of English literature, but few of them perhaps have any distinct mental picture of it and how it was made. Figures given here are from the years between 1750 and 1800. The common Soft or Candle Rush of Europe is identical with the common Bog, Soft or Water Rush (Juncus effusus L.) of our own Worcester County, where it grows freely in wet meadows, and along brooks and the borders of ponds. The Candle Rush has a round, green, erect stem up to four feet tall, filled with a soft, white pith. There are no leaves, but several inches below the pointed tip of the plant is a many-branched cluster of small inconspicuous flowers. The best time to collect the rushes for candle-making was in the summer or early fall. As soon as the rushes were cut, they were put to soak, so that the peel or outer skin would strip easily. Small children, old people, and even the blind became very proficient in removing this skin, always leaving narrow strip to hold the pith together. When this was done, the rushes were left out on the grass to bleach and to collect dew for several nights; they were then dried in the sun. All the fats and grease of the household were saved, and if a little beeswax or mutton suet could be added to the mixture, it gave a clearer light and burned longer. The rushes were dipped in this boiling mixture, and when carefully done gave a good clear light." http://www.rushlight.org/ under "research"

The wick is important for brightness, but some waxes do burn brighter than others. The brightest I know of now is beeswax, spermaceti candles were the brightest ever supposedly, but obviously spermaceti is nearly impossible to find these days, old unused jars of it turn up rarely.

Anyone ever try making a carnauba wax taper? It seems to be a harder wax than beeswax, does it burn brighter or slower than beeswax does?

The paraffin at grocery stores is meant more for canning jelly and jam the old fashioned way with wax instead of a canning jar lid, not candles, it is softer and more flexible than you want for candle wax, but works great for its intended purpose.

Well, I mixed in about 1/5 beeswax using 2/0 square wicking, and it was a big improvement, but not quite perfect, I'll play around more with wick sizes when I order some more, but I think the wax blend is good now.

I've never seen an electric one, only a propane one, but if I were to use it for melting wax, I'd put some water in the big pot that came with it, then put a slightly smaller stock pot in, forming a double boiler, to avoid any risk of a wax fire. I doubt being outdoors, unless it's windy during the Fall, would cause much problems.

Run very hot water (very carefully of course) over the outside sides of the mold for a while, evenly all the way around (turn the mold under the water). Thick leather work gloves help with this. The idea is to melt the outermost wax and then pull the excess wick on the open end of the mold to pull it out. Can take a while to free it up though, and it doesn't always work, but works better than freezing does.

My first guess if a lot of separation from the container is evident, would be stearin is added to the soy, it separates a lot when used 100% in my taper molds, and adding it causes the same effect in the right amount to virtually any wax. It is a natural product (from tallow often, or, palm) though the vegetable only sort of people don't like the tallow based stuff. I just try to keep the tapers I make historically correct and that means natural waxes/fats, but not soy, it's hydrogenated soybean oil, though it's an okay wax.

Not all companies make you fill out a form, only the ones cowering before the government because of the issue of meth production (which is a problem, granted, but treating everyone like criminals when buying lye for soap is ridiculous). I make it a point not to buy from the companies that require forms filled out, it's no one else's business (especially not the govt.'s) what I do. As for this ebay auction, lol, I hope not too many beginners fall for it, I made some tallow soap earlier this year, my first time, terrified of the lye, but really, it's not as dangerous as I thought it was, just have to be careful. This "easy kit" set of instructions looks harder than what I made from scratch, I didn't have to bake mine. lol

Kerosene lamps? They're good for light. I collect old lamps, kerosene (everything from flat wick to Rayo types to Aladdins), whale oil, lard, gasoline, etc. Generally, older lamps are better quality than the new lamps, K-1 grade kerosene works in any kerosene lamp. That bottled lamp oil is nothing more than an industrial solvent with maybe some perfume added and marked up in price. Plain old kerosene (clear as water and low in sulfur gives little or no smell) gives the best light. Most of the lamps you see at places like walmart ain't very good in quality. A site, lehmans.com, has some of the best currently made lamps, but still not as good as a real antique.

Okay, thanks, I'll try mixing it with other waxes, I'll try beeswax, stearin, and tallow, and see what I come up with. I know it was used in the past in normal tapers somehow, so some sort of combination should work.

Hi everyone. I've been trying to make solid, pure bayberry wax candles, but I haven't gotten the wick right yet. I've made two different types, a 12" molded taper (7/8" base diameter) and an 8" tall 7/8" diameter candle, straight sides and 7/8" thick all the way up, no taper to the sides. With the latter, I've had good luck using 15 ply flat wicking for solid stearin candles, but that wick was way too small. I tried the 3/0 square wicking I use for beeswax candles made from the same mold, and they don't burn good either, too small and soon it drips and most of the candle ends up on the holder. Okay, so I tried the 12" taper mold instead. 15 ply too small as I expected, 3/0 burned with a small flame but I had to constantly trim that wick, it wasn't burning completely in the flame, or it would smoke and drip if I didn;t keep trimming the wick. I also had a small piece of 1/0 square wick and tried that in the 12" taper mold, it also needs constant trimming. If I wanted to constantly trim candle wicks, I'd just make tallow candles. lol Anyone have suggestions on wick sizes for bayberry candles? I'd really prefer candles made in the 8" mold I have, so the candles are a full 7/8" thick at top and bottom, so they burn longer. I just can't figure out what to do for wicking. Thanks!