bart70

I am still waiting for some supplies to test that he told me were being sent 5 weeks ago. Several phone calls and numerous emails later I cannot get a response. Another issue in the last week and promises from the 'guard dogs' on the phones that we would be called back (several times) and still no call. Am over them....I don't like your chances of getting your response. Is sad really - when the boss of the company has to tell his staff to advise everyone he is in meetings. No reason why he cannot return a call or an email addressed to him. Would not hold your breath waiting on them advise you of any changes - they are in the process if changing feather palm supplier due to a large shipment of bad wax (the reason they are out of feather palm currently). No notification of the bad wax, or the change to new supplier was sent to their customers. I only found out by accident some weeks ago when I enquired about making a larger than normal wax order. It at least explains why some of my candles started to burn funny (...and luckily the ducks lined up so that I realised what was going on before my customers were affected!!) I hope you get your response from them, but personally I don't like your chances of getting one, and even then my experiences would make me wary that I was being told the truth. Rob

I knew that David has a candlemaking history - some of his knowledge has been very valuable to me. Can understand why he would be so busy with supplying. I believe that Australia could support another supplier. The thought has crossed my mind about setting up but a few limitations prevent me . The main one being the capital needed to invest in stock to do it properly, my geographic location (would be better done from a major centre as freighting from the wharves becomes a cost), and time as I have a demanding full time job that I am not ready to leave just yet. I like the way that David has evolved - that progression would appeal to me if I was to head in that direction. Rob.

Didn't think of one of these! They would be ideal for topping soy candles. I dont use my heat gun for topping soy but now you mention it I reckon mine might blow too hard to top soy. Rob

Yes....Was aware that CS are not shipping internationally. Their site says that may offer it in the future which would be good. I really should be taking advantage of the Aussie dollar the way it is and buy in more moulds and candle making equipment - just wish I had the extra $$ to spare to take advantage :smiley2:. I have been transferring more and more of my business to ACS. NCS really dont care much about their customers these days - Too many broken promises and lies unfortunately - wont respond to emails and wont return phone calls either. Not for me!! We have found an alternate supplier for everything but a couple of fragrances now...and that will only be until I can get a chance to test equivalents from elsewhere. Must check out those coloured tea light cups.....They sound nice! :) Rob.

Hi, Most of the heat guns are much of a muchness and like most power tools you can buy a handyman unit at handyman prices or a professional unit at industrial prices. I think most these days have a low and high heat setting. Some may also have a high/low fan speed with an adjustable temp control as an alternative to a high/low heat setting. I dont do soy, but use mine to warm and take the chill off moulds. I bought a cheapy which does the job I ask of it well. Unless you are going to run the unit for hours and regularly a cheapy will do just as well as an expensive one. I think as long as it has either 2 heat settings or an adjustable heat it will be fine. Al they are is a heavy duty hair dryer that can blow harder and hotter than youir hair can take! LOL Oh, and some also come with a heap of attachements for paint stripping etc.....If you dont have a use for these they are a waste. If you can find a similar gun without the attachments for a cheaper price them go with it. Rob

Ok...This thread has intigued me. Recently one of the 2 Australian suppliers had a problem with their feather palm. I only found out by accident and noticed some of my candles burn characteristics had completely changed (The supplier has made no attempt to let its customer know however....). My question is - How many of you have noticed changes significant enough to effect burn characteristics from box to box? How regular or common is it for the wax to change from box to box? My question is more aimed towards feather palm users - mainly because I have been advised from a technical perspective that due to the nature of how feather palm is made it is much less likely to suffer variations. Am curious to know how often people have found their wax has changed? Cheers, Rob.

No Probs Jonsie, As usual David has been great this afternoon and been able to tell us that he should have wax by end of week, as well as the 2 FO's that the other mob can't supply or even know when it may be in stock. Interestingly, of the 2 FO's we were going to order from the other mob, the one they told was would not be in stock for 2 weeks went in stock on their web page 2 hrs later, and the one that was in stock went out of stock at the same time! Rang them to enquire but "We are too busy to talk to you today....." Can't believe a darned thing they say!! We sell 95% to retail - if we cannot supply, shop owners simply go elsewhere, particularly this time of year when they want to take advantage of Xmas. We are not a huge manufacturer but we do need to have reliable supply to manage cash flows and survive in the marketplace. Might be worth ringing to see where your 464 is up to? - if the Feather Palm is close the 464 might be as well! - got my fingers crossed for you! Give me a yell if you need the 464 I have here~! Cheers, Rob

Hi Jonsie, Agree with you 100% wit MSDS sheets - in fact I think that if you looked into it they would be obliged by law to provide them if asked. They would need to have them on hand for their own protection from a Workcover perspective anyway. Supply in Oz is a big problem - although the supplier over your way is head and shoulders above the one over here!! At least he responds to emails, and on several occasions has gone to a lot of trouble to make up large FO bottles for us from smaller ones when he has been out of stock. Recently he airfreighted some wicks to us that we needed urgently. He goes the extra mile! I have been slowly transferring all my business over to them over the last couple of months but have a couple FO's that he does not stock. These are the ones I am looking to go OS for. Understand your concerns with wax supply - there is currently no feather palm available in Oz - the east coast supplier had problems with a bad shipment and changed suppliers which has resulted in no stock for several weeks. The one over your way has run out due to demand from the shortage. Luckily we made a business decision to keep a buffer of wax and FO so has not really affected us yet. The FO's I am seeking now are new ones that I have partly tested and want to finish as some clients are wanting them for Xmas! The main one I am chasing is Sun Ripened Berry, although to meet what I need I am going to need a couple of litres. I dont use soy but have approx 2.3kg of 464 from some testing I was doing with melts a while back. It is not a lot but if you run short you are welcome to it. Cheers, Rob

Hi All, A bit of a long shot.....but looking at getting some FO over from the good old US of A. Trying to source FO from one of my suppliers is difficult with it out of stock when you need it most., and not wanting to advise when it will be in stock again. Also, the Aussie $$ is currently at parity with the US dollar and predicted to climb another 10% over the coming weeks so it could be a good opportunity. Looking at prices from Candlescience (as reference only...not sure who to go with yet) one of my FO's is $59 for the same amount that I pay $120 for. If I had to pay $50 to ship it I would still be in front!! My only concern is knowing that the FO I purchase from the US is the same as the one I am currently using. Does anybody know if there is a way to find out? or know who the 2 Australian suppliers source their FO from? Cheers, Rob.

This assumes that your thermostat is on all the time which is not the case. Running your Presto pot for one hour might only amount to 30mins of time in the hour when the thermostat is 'on' in that hour. 13.88c per hour would be the absolute maximum if the pot was set to the highest setting and never reached the set temp in the hour. In reality, for candle making, the actual on time would be less than 100% so it would be fair to assume that the actual cost would be much less than 13.88c in the hour. For mine I work on an average of 60% duty cycle. Bart70

Thanks Soy, I am working with Feather Palm in particular and interested in wicks that work well generally with natural waxes. We can get CDN/Stabilo over here but no CSN. I have read all of Top's testing posts and encounter most of the same shortcomings with CDN that he encountered. I am deadly keen to get my hands on some CSN but until it becomes economically viable to source it is of no use to me. I am curious to see if I get the same results as Top did with CSN. Will look further into the flat braid....I do recall reading that somebody had used it succesfully. Thanks again, Bart70

No Probs.... Thought you might have had some specific wisdom to share about another wick type to try :smiley2:. We are not blessed with the choice over here that you guys have unfortunately. Cheers, Bart70

Are you suggesting that you have had success with other wicks in Palm? Not be picky - just that in Australia we are unable to get CD or CSN. I am not 100% happy with CDN and believe I can do better. If you have experience with another type that has worked in Palm I would be interested as I am running out of options for wicks to use that are available. Bart70

Hi all, Anybody know where I can get standard tea light cups in Australia for a reasonable price other than ACS & NCS? I have a customer order and both suppliers are again out of stock. Hoping somebody might know someplace I can source them. I found a couple of small places but the cost would not make it worthwhile. Sorta starting to feel vulnerable trying to keep things moving without reliable suppliers.... Bart70

I have been under the general understanding that a Vegetable Wax was only derived directly from a vegetable source - ie Palm from palm oil, soy from soybean etc.... Recently I was reading about candles and noticed a (large scale) manufactuer of paraffin candles claiming they are made from natural wax. They went on to quote the IGI website in saying that although paraffin is mineral based the mineral oil is natural as it is made from crude oil which in turn is decayed vegetable matter from millions of year ago - hence a natural vegetable product. Now I am not wishing nor intending to spark a paraffin/natural debate - just wondering if my judgement on what is a natural wax is is actually correct or have I been wrong? What is the general understanding of what constitutes a natural wax? If paraffin is natural, What other waxes are there that are not natural? Thoughts? Bart70

Shane apparently runs the show - he is very rarely there or the phone answerers are well trained to keep you away from him! My last call the guy who answered told me ''he just works in the warehouse"....LOL Could not answer questions or make a decision without the 'boss' - although he was well versed in defending their processes and those of their freight company. Sort of gave me the impression that he has done that before...:rolleyes2 Still waiting for the 'boss' to call me back......LOL :tiptoe::tiptoe:

You are lucky with your email if you get a response in 2 days - I am still awaiting my return phone call from over a week ago :rolleyes2:rolleyes2 Happy to help and will drop you a line if looking at some of the CS FO's in the future. Do not hesitate to PM if I can help. Cheers, Bart70

The majority of my FO's are from ACS - I find the scents to be good quality and throw well with the way I make my candles (I make palm not soy though ). I am not sure where they source them from. What I did was whenever I placed an order, I would look through the scents and order a couple of the 'small' bottles to test. This allowed me to make a candle or 2 and get a feel for what the fragrance was really going to present like in the products I make. I still have a couple that are supplied via the other supplier - over time they will be transitioned over to the equivalent at ACS - cannot risk having a product go out of stock for months. One fragrance/color that we were thinking of running with has been out of stock for several weeks! Like you I was rapidly losing patience - after the last couple of weeks I have completely lost my patience. I dont'use glassware but find the same attitude applies to pretty much all their product lines. They rarely return phone calls these days either. I am now in the process of testing ACS waxes and will pretty much transition the majority of my business to them over the coming months. You will get better service and a bit of flexibility with ACS. Drop me a PM is you want to discuss my experinece with the FO's I use in more detail. Cheers, Bart70

Others may know this as Canola seed wax also. Not sure about other countries but the name of 'rape' seed changed many years ago in Australia to Canola seed. I grew up in a 'rape' growing area and always knew it as 'rape' as a child. It was later changed and referred to as Canola. I guess buying margarine at the supermarked made from 100% Rape was not palatable to the market Have not seen the wax, just alerting people that it may be known under another name. Bart70

Thanks Nadiap, Good to see a sound gathering of Aussies on here! My CDN's are acceptable but are not performing like others are getting wicks to perform in palm. My biggest frustration is their inconsistency. I can wick 2 identical candles from the same batch with the same wick and get 2 very different burns. Sure wish I could get my hands on some CSN's to test with (might be closer to that option now than I was also....) Have just started re-testing a wick that I had played with previously. I know a bit more now than I did then and want to revisit them as I have an inkling as to why they may not have performed for me previously. I have completed testing in my non scented feather palm pillars and it will be the wick of choice for them - hoping to get the same consistency with the scented ones. As I said the CDN's I am using are acceptable - I just believe that there is room for improvement........or maybe I am setting my standards too high..LOL:laugh2: Bart70

Hi Again, Interesting when you start talking to others how wants and needs are similar.... I buy all my FO's in 2500ml Jerry's (wish I could get larger..) and am looking for a screw on lid that has a 'tap' incorporated. This way I can line up all my FO Jerry's on their side on the rack and pour out easily through the tap. I have been unable to find these taps on their own - I noticed Bunnings have a 10 litre jerry with the screw on tap fitting - just cannot get the tap on its own! I must do more looking around to try to source them. If anybody knows where these can be bought please advise! Certainly give David a try - He is much more helpful in finding supplies and helping you out than his opposition (in my experience). We could certainly do with one like him on the east coast. It is often hard for smaller operators as they usually have limited space and limited funds to tie up in stock - they need to try to decide which items to bring in that will sell without becoming a burden when they don't. If he knows he has a market for a particular line the decision to justify the stocking becomes much easier. Hope it works out. Bart70

Jonsie, Thanks for the heads up about Aussie Soap Supplies......Might have a look at their product line. Just a thought that you may have already tried......Have you considered asking ACS to see if they can source the glassware you desire? Quite often the suppliers have huge inventory's that cannot be financially kept on stock but are available to order. Might be worth a shot to ask ACS if they can get the type of glassware you are after - if they know there is a market for it they may not only source it for you, but decide to stock it on a regular basis. I know in the future I have some molds I want to source and I will be asking ACS to see if they are able to source them for me. Just a thought....You may have already tried this avenue. Bart70

Hi Jonsie, I too have found it frustrating trying to source supplies here in Australia. With only 2 main players the choice can be limited at times. I have used both suppliers in Oz but am now looking at transitioning most of my purchases over to ACS. David offers a better customer service and his freight charges are often cheaper than I get charged from the Sydney based supplier (who is 4hrs down to the road....David is across the other side of the country!!). I too am interested in suppliers who will ship to Oz - I am really wanting to try some different wicking options that are not available in Oz (Although ACS has offered to try to source me the wicks I want which was a much better response than I got from others). Interesting to note that it can be cost effective to ship out fragrances - I did not realise that. Might be worth considering in the future. Cheers, Bart70

Thanks Topofmurrayhill, As you say, the distributors will often tell you what they want you to hear to suit what they are selling. Whilst I am far from being an expert there is more than enough evidence around from people's experiences to validate that CSN does work well in Palm. Enough evidence to make we want to try some but unfortunately there is no point if I cannot reliably and economically source them. Whilst CDN's are acceptable in my application I am not 100% happy with them - it would be nice to have the choice to to try the options that others have had experience and success with. The distributor did note that he is happy to provide us with 'custom made' wicks subject to minimum quantities. I do not have the demand nor financial support to head down this path. If we had the choice in off the shelf wicks the chance of getting one that ticks most of the boxes would be better. Thanks again for you input. Regards,

Not sure about Soy, but with Feather I find that some FO's require a different wick to others at the same loading. My point being that even when you find which one is 'right' after you change your FO loading, you may still find that different FO's may work better with a different wick. Bart70