asands

Kathkat, from my (limited) experience it sounds like you may also need to find a way to control the temperature during the entire cooling process. Can you find a place in your home that you can heat to a constant temp of 70-75* ? I have also found that I have MUCH better luck with straight sided glass containers with uniform thickness rather than ones that go from thick to thin and have curves. Probably just me being a newbie-newb but thought I'd share in case no one had mentioned it. I have found that if you are using thicker/heavier glass you can pour a bit hotter. Thinner walled glass containers seem to need a lower pour temp. Maybe I'm nuts but that is what working pretty well for me! Good luck! Don't give up!

Following xcel testing with interest... I have poured my CB-xcel in similar containers as blt212 at 110* and 120* and get the same circular crack as mentioned in the first post. Probably just need to cover the jars during cooling, I'm assuming? The candles cooled open on a rack in candle room which is kept at 72* - 75*. Otherwise, everything looks and smells great. Perfect adhesion (so far), no frosting and other than the circular crack, the tops are nice and smooth. Will test with CD wicks and repost.

Seems like an interesting way to test a bunch of wicks at once (from Heinz Jansen): http://www.technische-geflechte.de/site/english/about-the-wick/wick-selection/slab-test.html Anyone tried this?

SheliaRae, My shop is in the basement, too. What type of wax do you pour at the slushy stage and get nice tops with? Thanks...

Soy, yes... I know it's a bit ambitious to use these large containers being new to candle-making. I tend to do things backwards (I read articles from bottom to top for example)! I'll let you know how it goes starting big and working down to small. It just might be the key to this whole soy mystery! :smiley2:

I'm using 4.5" x 4.5" cylinder containers with CD-22 wicks (1 double wicked and 1 triple wicked)

I am having pretty consistent results with adherence as long as the wax is fresh (not re-melted). I poured at a range of 140-155 in large containers with excellent adherence but the tops were cracked in a perfect circle halfway between the wick and the edge of the container. I'd be OK with this as long as the heat gun trick works to smooth out the tops. My containers were at room temp and left out in the open to cure for 48 hours. Speaking of heat guns, what do you recommend for this? I am getting blank stares when I ask about this tool at my craft/hobby shop. This must be something you get at a hardware store? I, too, like AutumnMeadow like to heat the wax up and let it cool down slowly to my desired temp. However, I don't use dye and I haven't added fragrance yet. I'm using CD wicks which I like so far - nice stable flame, clean burn and attractive melt pool. I'm also testing a wood wick which is spewing lots of black stuff. I'm very bummed about this. Is this normal for wood wicks? I'm obviously a newbie... so bear with me and thanks for all the helpful information you've all graciously provided on this forum. Angie

I am also testing Excel. I am noticing frosting after 24 hours. Everything looks perfect until the magic 24-hour mark and then the trouble begins. If you re-melt a failed test candle and pour/test again will the results be consistent with melting "fresh" wax?