MikeyMikeisMe

Not sure if it will make it hard enough to accomplish your goal, but I have used stearic acid in gel for a different reason. As someone else mentioned, it will give a "white" appearance to the gel. I don't remember how much stearic acid nor much much gel I used; I think I just started with a little, like 1/2 tsp and worked up from there. Anyway, once I got a light but definitely white appearance, I poured the gel into an ice cube tray. After the gel completely set I still had to pop it in the freezer to get the "gel cubes" out. Mold release also really helped. I used the white gel cubes in making "Cola" or "margarita" gel candles, because clear gel cubes got lost in the darker colors whereas the white ones looked just right. Hope someone finds this bit of info helpful.

If I understand it correctly (and maybe I don't), I think this method is used to allow some of the gel candle to burn while preserving the scene below it. I made one similar to this style, at least based on how I understand your description. I took a fishbowl type container, added some sand & seashells at the bottom, and poured in some light blue gel to give an "ocean" appearance. As the gel set up some I embedded a non-flammable, hard plastic fish. At this point, the gel was set enough that I was able to add a small glass votive container that would reach flush to the top of the larger container. I added a wick, and poured the rest of the gel around and in the votive. My goal was to allow the recipient of my gift to burn the candle and get some of the scent without destroying the scene below. I figured all that would burn would be the center part, in actuality about 50-60% of the diameter of the fish bowl, thereby allowing her to melt & add some more blue gel to re-create the scene later. This was a going-away present so I don't know how it turned out, but I don't see any reason why it would be unsafe or difficult to remove the votive cup because it's right there at the top.

For my two cents worth, I can say that earlier this week I did find a recipe for gel making in a book at a craft store. The two ingredients listed were 16 oz of mineral oil (readily available) and 25 g of CP-9000 thermoplastic resin powder (not readily available). As I understand it, patent law does not apply to someone who wants to make their own gel for personal use in a non-commercial, not-for-profit manner; rather, it would apply only if someone made their own gel and sold it in bulk or made candles from it and sold them. Unless I'm mistaken, it would not be illegal to make your own gel to use in your own personal candles or candles given as gifts to friends & familiy. I would have a hard time imagining a company would enforce a patent in a situation like that, because they would put themselves in a bad light in the public. I'd love to hear any feedback, though, because this is just a side hobby for me and not something on which I spend a lot of time and therefore I might lack some information. Thanks!