MoonshadowLane

Here's a ratio and proportion calculator http://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/math/ratios.php A= 1 oz FO for every, B= 16 oz of wax That is proportional to C= how much FO for, D= 2 oz of wax. The answer is .125 oz. or 1/8 oz. Hope this helps.

I'm not trying to sell them at this time. I still need more practice in order to bring the quality up to where I feel it needs to be. Once I'm there, I'll give a part-time business some serious consideration. Right now, it's just for fun. :-)

I only remember a few things from my Chem classes (back before the periodic chart had been completed:)) and one of them was "like dissolves like". Since you're dealing with an oil based product like paraffin, you'll need an oil based solvent, so something like GOO GONE as ChandlerWicks recommended is probably a good bet. In my case, all my wax adventures take place in the shop because if my dear wife ever found wax drips on the floors or counters, I wouldn't need a cleaner, I'd need a priest.*faint*

Thanks for the kind comments. It's the most fun I've had with wax that's for sure, although it can be a bit frustrating. I still have a long way to go until I'm anywhere near as good as the people I see on youtube.

I started carving a little while ago and thought I would post some pics. These are not glazed. Please excuse the poor photography. Comments and criticisms welcome.

Microcrystalline wax can have some really amazing effects on the properties of plain paraffin. Here's a link to the IGI microwaxes. http://igiwax.com/igi-products/by-type/microcrystallinewax.html There's a ton of good information on that site. Finding suppliers is somewhat difficult, however. I'm not sure where you're located, but if you're in the Eastern US you might want to give the 4045EP from Candlewic a try. That's their own in-house blend and it works pretty well, but I can't afford the shipping so I'm trying to make my own blend with the IGI 1343A as the base wax. I'd love to see some pictures. If I can ever figure out how to download from my phone I'll post a few of my own. Best of luck.

I'm a little hesitant to chime in here because I'm not very experienced. I started carving just recently and I've only done about a dozen candles so far. So, take my 2 cents for what it's worth. :-) I agree with JOYM. That dipping temperature seems way too low. I dip even higher than JOYM... about 170F. Also, make sure that your water dip isn't really cold, about 70F or so. I'm glad to hear that someone else on this board is interested in candle carving. There don't seem to be very many of us here. Best of luck!

I'm also using the ancient IE 8 and I get a security warning when I enter. If I only want the secure data, I get nothing but red x thumbnails. Mozilla lets me right in. Sounds like an IE 8 problem.

This is a great thread. Thanks for starting it emilyspoppy.

I never wear an apron because it seems like I'm always snagging it on one thing or another. I just wear my grubby jeans and shirts.

I don't think there is any outfit faster at getting an order shipped than Peak. If I order by noon, it's shipped that day.

If my wife walked in the kitchen and saw that, my life expectancy would drop to zero.

Here's a handy calculator. The volume, of course, would be the area X the height of the jar. HTH http://www.math-prof.com/AreaVolume/Hexagon.aspx

I've owned several heat guns and they all had fans to blow the hot air. If they didn't, I think they would overheat.

What bugs me is that soon after I buy something from one of the big suppliers, they immediately e-mail a "Save 20% on shipping" or "10% off orders over $200" or something similar. Of course, since I just bought what I needed, these promotional offers are useless. Thanks for nothing.

I like it. :-) Great Yellow. Nice curls. Way better than my first try. Which was this morning.

Peak is an awesome supply company. I ordered a case of wax, a few molds, pigments, and wicks yesterday at about 10 AM and they arrived just now, 30 hrs later, via UPS standard ground. 385 miles. Also, I had a couple of questions before I placed my order that the tech support people answered on the live, online chat. How cool is that? I live out in the boonies and really appreciate that kind of service.

That's a good start on your website. I do have a few observations. The first thing that I noticed when I started navigating around is that some writing is superimposed over the candle flame background and is nearly impossible to read. You want to carefully proof-read the entire site as I noticed a few grammar mistakes. The "Warnings" category sounds a little bit ominous. Maybe you could change that to "Candle Safety" or "Burning Instructions". P.S. I know how hard a website can be to get "just right", but you're getting there. Best of luck.

I'm not laughing, that is large production. To earn vacation money, I make and sell a few hundred a year that I decorate with dried/pressed flowers. I can't be much help with ideas for production of that quantity. You could do it manually, but the process would be very labor intensive. A mechanized production installation would be expensive, but if you are selling enough units, that might be cost effective. Only you can determine if it would be. My only other thought would be to negotiate a significant discount from the manufacturer in the link from the original post. Then you act as the retailer. I don't know enough about your business to know if any of those options might work. Best of luck.

I'm not sure what you mean by "large production". How many units/hour or day did you want? I can make 5 - 6 / hour. I usually make 20 at a time which takes about 4 hours from start to finish. More than that will require more people or some sort of mechanized production, IMHO. Best of luck.

Looks like a balloon hurricane. Here's a link to the basic method. http://www.candletech.com/techniques-and-ideas/water-balloon-luminaries/ Here's a link that will save you the learning curve. She charges for the tutorial, but it's worth it for the specific info on waxes and temperatures as well as methods and suppliers. http://www.donitalouise.com/tutorials.html HTH

Do yourself a favor and forget about consignment, especially when you're dealing with a retailer long distance. There are just too many hassles involved. Just MHO from somebody that's been there, done that.

You could probably get the bottles for free from a local restaraunt and cutting the tops off isn't as tough as you might think. $28 for an 11 oz candle is an awesome margin. More power to them for a clever idea.

"Get lost" usually works.

Sorry to hear this person is being a jerk. I've tried consignment before and in my experience, it just isn't worth the hassle.