Candlelovr

Would it happen to be the wick Im using? If a 22 is too small and a 24 is too big, there is nothing in between for the LX series. Maybe I could try a different type of wick that wont burn so hot? I dont know, just throwing ideas out there.

Im not sure about this either. I just melt a bunch of plain parrifin and pour it. If I have some left over, its no biggie cause its not colored, it may be scented but I can choose my color based on what scent it is. I think maybe if you get the total amount of wax the mold will hold and then weigh your chunks, subtract the total amt of wax you need from the weight of the chunks..maybe that will work. I havnt tried it yet tho.

I would go with Peak, I buy all my stuff from them unless its a "must have today" type thing and then I go to Lone Star but they dont carry travel tins. I think Peak has resonable prices. Im eventually going to buy some from them, just dont need any right now. HTH

K, Im sorry guys, I have so many questions tonight. Im doing so much more testing today than I normally do. Here is my thing: I poured a 1274 today, was going for mottle but didnt work. Anyway, I just wanted it for the tester anyway. I started with an LX22, but it left a huge shell around the melt pool after a 3 hr burn. So I wicked up to an LX 24 and Im getting big time buldging. It is leaving a thin shell, maybe 3/4" thick. I understand that this is not supposed to happen, correct? Ive never had the buldge thing happen before, so Im thinking i should go back to the 22. What do you think? Is the mp supposed to get that close to the edge? I remember things about "hugging" your candle. Is that what you were referring to? Thanks alot for any advice you can gimme!

Yes, I have some Astorlite Q which is a container wax and I also have some Astorlite F..both are feathery waxes. I love the Q...i just poured my first jar of it yesterday. I made sure the jar was squeaky clean and heated it, poured the wax at around 160 and it turned out great! 2 days now and not a single wet spot! I love these waxes, although its hard to wick them.

Lemme guess...its scented with peaks "Mary Jane"? LOL Looks good! I actually have some of that scent, havnt used it yet tho. Im saving it for just the right person...(whenever I figure out who that is) !! lol

Would you mind if I copy your idea? I just found out today that my sons friends mom has breast cancer. From what I understand, its not going well for her, so I would love to give her something like this. Althought I dont know her very well..she may really love it.

I dont know but it just wasnt working. All I got was a lotta pits and bubbles. Very ugly ugly ugly piece of wax. Im going to try a regular rustic without chunks at 160 and see if it helps.

I got my rustic with 1343! ON ACCIDENT!! I was making a chunk candle..and one of the reasons I bought 1343 is because they're good for chunk candles. So, I did my overpour with it, poured at 160 into a room temp mold, and towards the end, I put it in the fridge for about 10 mins and then the freezer for 5 and out came a rustic chunky! I didnt add anything to the overpour, just plain 1343, not even any FO. So, what I have been doing wrong I guess, its pouring too cool. I poured at 150 and then tried 145 and neither of them worked, but the 160 did. I even talked to the owner of Lone Star Candle Supply today and he said to pour a lil hotter to avoid the surface pits that I was getting but he was referring to a different type of wax. Anyway, just wanted to tell you guys the good news! Now I have to try a regular rustic, no chunks and see if it comes out the same way! I'll post a pic when I can, hubby is using the computer right now.

bump

Thank you Georgia..I'll try go one wick down. I think I've figured out now that LX22 is too big for my ball and too small for my 3 1/2" pillars! lol

Awesome! Thats what I look for! Also, dancing flames, smoking, flame height...um...anything else Im missing? These are the things I look for when I test burn and so far..the LX wicks are holding up beautifully! I have 2 burning right now...22's in 3 1/2" pillars and so far, so good! Ahh, I finally found a wick that I can stick with!!! YAY!!! oh, one more thing. So if whatever the candle diam is..say my 3 1/2"...i should give it 3 1/2 hrs to burn and if it doesnt reach the diameter of the candle, or really close to it, the wick is too small..right??

Hi guys! I was wondering if I can get some clarification on how to test burn. Dont misunderstand, I do test burn my candles but I am curious if your supposed to burn them for a certain amount of time to "set the memory". I thought I remembered hearing that your supposed to burn them 1 hour for every inch the candle is in diameter. Is that right? Also, the rule of thumb is that your mp is supposed to be 1 inch for every hour that you burn it right? So a 2 hr burn should leave a 2" mp. I started getting a lil confused and wanted to make sure Im doing this right. Thanks!

I was going to suggest an LX21. I use LX 22 for my 3 1/2" pillars and they do nicely I think.

Ok Guys...I remelted, forgot to add more stearic (i was gonna put in 1 more tbsp) but I poured at 145 into a room temp mold instead of a frozen one. If this doesnt work, I'll add more stearic and see if that does the trick! Wish me luck!

I dont remember what temp it was when I added the FO, but I normally add it as soon as I take it off the heat which is usually around 190-200, and then I let it sit until I gets to the right temp. But thats definately something to keep in mind..thanks top!

Awesome..thanks guys! Now i have 2 things to try! I really want that look in the pic above...that is with 1343 right? or was she showing me what 4045H looks like? Gonna go remelt this fugly and hopefully next time I'll unmold a beauty!

Ive read alot of posts about ppl that have done beautiful rustics with 1343. I, on the other hand, cannot get a rustic with this wax. All I get is surface pits and bubbles. I want frosty and it just aint werkin! Im pouring at 150 into a frozen mold, I added 2 tbsp stearic to 1 lbs wax...the only other thing I can think to do is add more stearic. Anyone know what the problem is? I have never had a good rustic wax and I searched the message boards before I went shopping for wax and I thought 1343 was a good one. Now Im looking at 4045H but the only place I found it is Candlewic. Any advice?? PS, this is kinda the look Im goin for http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9065&highlight=1343+rustic Thanks

Im sorry, I meant the floaty things. Im not concerned with bubbles. The oily floaty ugly things i mentioned is what I was talking about. They didnt appear until I added the FO and then I added stearic and they went away. Im sorry I wasnt clear on that one

Ok, I can try that too, but the bubbles didnt happen till I added the FO and then when i added the stearic, they went away. Hmmm...ok, now I have 2 ways to get rid of them!!!

I am working with 1343, a wax that I have never used before. Im used 1 tsp vybar 103, 1 dye chip, 1/2 oz of amish harvest FO, and I have these lil black things floating..its like when you pour oil into water..the oil seperates and makes lil floating oil bubbles. Thats the best way I know how to describe it. Im guessing its FO that wont disolve. I cant understand why this is happening but its making a very ugly candle. Im going for rustic. I poured at 150 into a frozen mold but it didnt turn out well. Lots of surface pits and bubbles..and you could see the ugly black FO things. YUK! I have been reading the boards and see that those of you that do rustics with 1343 use stearic so Im gonna try that. Can someone please explain the ugly black things to me?? This is a tester candle so its not a huge ordeal, I just wanna know what it is so I dont do it again for one that I plan on selling. Well, I just went and added stearic (2 tbsp) and they went away but I would still like to know what it is if someone can tell me. At least I know how to fix the problem I guess next time it happens. TIA

It did come with Image Ready but I dont use it..Ive just been playing with photoshop for miles and I cannot figure it out! I figured out PowerPoint in 2 days but Photoshop...Uhhh, thats a different story. I dont know why its so complicated. Definately not user friendly.

Awesome Top, thank you for the input! Im sure it will come in very handy! I did get a 10lb slab of the 1343, Im gonna try it with no additives and the 3% FO and see how smelly it really is! Im dying to try a chunk with this overpour!!! I dont have any UA tho..It will be on my next Peak order tho!

Yeah, I found the 1343, but unfortunately it only holds 3% FO load, and adding additives to increase FO load will cause the wax to turn opaque, which kinda defeats the purpose of spending the money on a translucent wax. Is 3% FO enough? Doesnt seem like it would be when you can normally put up to 9% FO in a pillar.

I am wondering why there is such a thing as votive wax. I thought that votives can be made with pillar wax so why do manufacturers make wax that is specifically for votives? I dont see any real difference between votive wax and pillar wax. Also, I am looking for a clear wax to use as an overpour for my chunkies. I currently use OK6228 but it is an opaque wax and I would really like to start using a more translucent wax for overpours. Can you please recommend one? Thank you so much! Dana