EricofAZ

Ferrous metal will corrode with a red color and non-ferrous will corrode with a white color usually (copper is green). Corrosion eats away at the metal so when you clean it, you'll have some pits to deal with. You can buy rust remover chemicals at most auto stores. there are a few home made recipes on the internet. Depending on how deep it is, the pits may or may not show up in the wax. You could fill the pits and sand. Whether its worth it or not depends on how bad it is, how hard you want to work and how cheap the replacement moulds are. I have a few and clean them with chemical and then some fine sand paper. Maybe the steel wool will work but do not use that on aluminum and do not use aluminum wool on steel. Mixing ferrous and non-ferrous results in embedded particles and more corrosion. It sets up an electrical imbalance in the metal called electrolytic corrosion. Carbon sand paper is not perfect, but it won't set up the imbalance and it does a good job of knocking down the spots that "grow."

I have a spigot on the presto and I don't use it much. Only when the wax is really hot. Otherwise, it doesn't flow and I ladle the wax out of the pot. So from that perspective, I'm not sure how much value the spigot really is.

I use IGI 1343 for cut/curl. Its not bad, actually, probably the best on the market. Better than the Candlewic 4045. You probably don't need any additive with 1343, but watch the pigment. I added some mica in one for a neat looking effect and that had the side effect of interfering with the 'stickyness' of the wax. I used some titanium dioxide in the white and same problem. In fact, I'm not sure the microsere is fixing it so I might need to just toss the wax (or make firestarters with it). Dyes bleed which is not good either. Maybe just the liquid pigments without any mica or anything. I'm going to try that next. Yeah, I think if you can get 1343 then you won't have to deal with customs on the microsere.

Pourable Fire Gel Recalled Nine companies have collectively recalled 2 million bottles of flammable gel used in outdoor patio firepots after dozens of users suffered severe burns using the products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that many of the burns occurred when users poured more gel into the pots, unable to determine that gel was still burning inside. The gels can cause flash fires that are difficult to put out, the Los Angeles Times reports. Staff Report, LA Times 09/01/2011 Read Article: LA Times

She did not know what I meant by ''corrugated'' {maybe thats just an Aussie thing i.e. corrugated iron}. Nope, its called "The Dumbing Down of America." Not long ago I stopped at a highway gas station store and bought gas, and a hot dog, and a quart of oil. The girl at the register asked what the plastic tub was. I said, "oil." She asked what for? The car. The car? Where do you put it? In the engine. Why? .... Dunno if you are aware, but many schools are no longer teaching penmanship because everyone has keyboards. If you think a doctor's handwriting is bad now... Get your money back, don't waste a NY second. Don't argue, just demand a refund.

I have a few if you need them in a pinch.

300GB is overkill. You won't fill that any time while you are alive. The bandwidth is what you want to watch. 50GB should also be overkill for a basic sales website with email and merchant capability. If you start uploading a lot of high end graphics with a lot of videos, then that's a different story, but I can't comprehend a bandwidth issue for what you are contemplating. If for some reason, you go global, make sure the host can upgrade your package. Changing to another host is not that tough, but it will disrupt the site for a few days while everything propagates and it may cost a few bucks for a pro to make it happen smoothly for you.

Yes, you will need to add some micro wax to make it more flexible and tacky. I use microsere 5701 http://www.candlesandsupplies.net/Candle-Making/Wax-Additives/Microsere-5701-Microcrystalline-Wax-per-lb- Expensive, but it does a good job. I'm using about 20 percent and that might be too much.

See, this is exactly the reason why I don't place my test burn candles next to my coffee while I am distractedly reading the excitement on the forums. Sorry, never had that problem, but then again, I'm the only one here who eats food and maybe I have candle tongue.

LOL, I like things that work both brain halves. Some of this is pure science and requires exacting formulas. Some of this is art and art needs to be intuitive. Ok, some dolphin moulds arrived today and I'm waiting on the high MP wax.

Sometimes I make dinner table candles in a Victorian type glass. They are always white (I tried color and they just don't look good). I think the container has the attractive look with the dancing flame inside so the color is really more of a distraction. They are also without scent. No need to distract the diners from what is on their plate. And they are soy. The only soy that I am still playing with.

Well, I respectfully disagree about the stirring. The FO needs to bond and a couple of minutes of stirring is recommended pretty much universally. We had another thread on overstirring and I think it is possible to do that, but 2 minutes is not going to cause unnecessary scent loss. As for curing, I'm sure that you can do a test burn at two or three days, but there are some minor changes that take place beyond that time. A test burn to see if the wick is right is probably fine at that time. I think to really know how the HT is, waiting longer, like a week, gives the wax a chance to harden and chemical reactions to stabilize a bit.

Thanks, Ravens, I went over there and looked. Some good tips on painting. Didn't say whether it helps or hurts with a "timed release" type construction, but its easy enough to try it and figure that out. Georgia, 4/1 ratio? FO and what? I agree, the FO has to be strong, I just need to slow down the release into the air.

jeanie, thanks, I guess I'm on the right track. Thanks for the tip on toothpicks. I was thinking that a full drop of liquid dye would be way too much for small amounts of melted gel. I ordered some 160MP from General Wax and I might order a slab of 1260 just to compare.

I use 4625 in pillars and like it. It holds a decent amount of wax and sometimes I go a bit higher than 9 percent. I don't know the size of your pillar, but a 3"x4 1/2" is what I use and I think an HTP 105 would be a bit large for that in general unless you need to upwick for some reason. I use a cotton core. 44-32-18 or sometimes if I have to upwick, a 60-44-18. The creme brulee is often stronger than the mulberry. Not all scents are the same strength. Some throw better and that may be part of what you are noticing. As for the container, I never used a salsa jar. Jar shape makes a pretty big difference in how strong a candle throws. Some that have wider diameters for the wax pool (and only slightly narrower openings) are my favorites. The wider the melt pool is better for hot throw and the ability to hold in a little heat lets me use a slightly smaller wick (so less sooting). Anyway, addicting, isn't it? Glad you are enjoying candle making.

Ok, my apology, not Vicky directly but the moderator team. http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?2957-Gel-Wax And Vicky had this tut up: http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?44694-Gel-Wax-Double-Glass-Tutorial

Vicky posted a good thread on do's and don't's. Also, in the search I see there is some discussion about using wax embeds and a few ideas about how to pour the gel so as to not melt the embed. You tube has been the source of entertainment and somewhat scary actually. There's a lady out there making designs on tissue paper and soaking that in hot wax then wrapping around pillars. Not the kind with tealights in the top, real pillars with a wick. Woohoo on that one!

I ordered some versagel that should be here in a bit. One of the designs I want to make requires the embeds to be suspended pretty much in the center of the gel. I was wondering about making the embeds with high melt point wax. Maybe 163 degree paraffin or heck, maybe even micro. I have no idea how this might interact with the gel once the wick starts to burn down and melt the wax. Anyone have any experience with that? There's not a lot in the way of good books out there that I have seen, but I'm game to read more if you know of any that are worth buying. Thanks in advance.

I'm barely a novice at soy so most of this is from paraffin background. If I had a MP of 125, I don't think I'd expect good results at a 100 degree pour temp. I know the MP goes down when you add FO. According to my calculator, mixing 1 oz/pp of FO with 125 wax ends up being something more like 118 degrees for the MP, but still, pouring at 100 seems low to get any kind of good tops. I remember from soy that I had to bump the pour temp a bit to get better tops (but not too much of course, the higher the temp and the more the shrinkage, well, back to bad tops again). As for stirring, the FO releases at the top of the melt pool. I suspect that if you kept it hot long enough and stirred enough, some of the FO that would have stayed in the wax gets released making it weaker. I don't know how long that would take, but I pretty much work the wax like lilcountrymama, stir for a couple of minutes to get a good mix, then let it alone while it cools with only an occasional stir during that time.

I've noticed the ones in the auto stores have one side painted or covered with graphics. I did not do that. Is that the key to a slower release of the FO? The one I made for my vehicle was about the size of a business card. I "might" be able to claim a month. The first week was very strong. Second week I noticed it. Third week I was not sure but I did get a whiff every now and then and the fourth week I think is so faint that it may be more my imagination, but it is kinda there on a hot day when I first open the door. Should we be looking at any special FO? I assumed that if an FO threw well in a candle it would be good for the cardboard.

So I learned now how to ignore a person. Funny that I never needed to do that before. Kawboy888, you just earned it.

Richard, the name is not Erica, that is an insult and a slur and you know it. I could easily slur your name, but I won't because we have some rules here about that. As for airports, there are a lot of small GA airports around that folks go to for things like this. I've had people knock on the front door (accessible to the public) and ask for odd things. This would qualify. It was one avenue to throw out on a creative level. If you don't like it, don't do it. Trashing the person that suggested it is inappropriate behavior.

Anu, I make one EO candle that is a blend and I have to go to 10 percent to get a good throw. Once it comes out and throws, its great, but getting there is kinda spendy so I can fully appreciate that the pricing has to be based on the candle and EO's involved rather than just a general flat fee for the size.

megandgarr, are the beads doing about the same thing as the cardboard? Strong at first and die off quickly?

Richard, quite frankly, I got a kick out of the Chuck Norris one as well. Out of curiosity, what does it cost to get rights to use a celebrity name and likeness on a label?