rjdaines

LOL, we'll go crazy together Pam W. There must be an answer to the 2" riddle. Yes, lots of air flow in my house too, fans and A/C and the occasional dog running through the house. Let us know how the honeycomb is.

Working on wicking a 2" pillar, kind of a personal challenge now. Also working on a single wick for a 4" GB-464 soy container candle. Tomorrow is remelting day for so old container candles.

Interesting, how is the HT on the 4794 by itself? I have 12 or more pounds of CD-Advanced that I need to do something with, I know I can blend it to at least 20% and still use the same wicks that work well with just the paraffin. The paraffin I have been using is the Hobby Lobby which takes just 3% FO. So neither one is super thrower.

I like HTP wicks and they work well for me in the soy waxes I've tried. I use 2 HTP 83s for a 4" container so I am not surprised that a single has trouble melting 3". You may need to wick up to a HTP 104 or 105 but depends on how much wax is left unmelted. That said, one does have to wait until the bitter end to know for sure as the hottest part of the flame may still be above the wax. I have been impatient in the past and wicked up only to find that it was a mistake. Also, waxes will vary. I spent a lot of time wicking for CD-Advanced and all that data was worthless when I switched to GB 464. Best advise, get wick sample packs.

Digital thermometers should give a fast response time, jumping 50 to 100 degrees on seconds would not concern me. Contacting the probe on a metal surface which is nearer to the heat source may give a higher reading than when the probe is just in contact with the liquid wax. I know that when I have a pot with just 8 oz of wax in it, taking an accurate reading can be a challenge.

Pretty cool, looks like a fast way to make a fair number of votives. Right now I make my votives using left-over wax so the metal cups/wick pins work for me as I may only need 2 or 3 at a time. Not sure why yours are cracking, can you post a picture? The only time I got cracks was when I was using pillar wax that had stearic in it and I cooled them quick in the freezer. Something that I don't do any more.

So true, had I known before I got sucked into all this maybe..... Nah, I like a good challenge and, besides, look at all the cool, homemade candles one gets to burn while testing.

You may be right about the thermometer and meat but a thermometer is a thermometer. When you say "way off" can you describe that? Have you tested it with know standards (ice water for 32F and boiling water for 212F), does it read air temp right? How much of the probe has to be in contact with the solution to give a good, steady reading? Is it set to the units you want, Fahrenheit/Celsius?

Nice looking burn there with the 15 ply Pam especially without stearic. Can't wait for the power burn photos. PM coming your way.

Interesting, I gave up Ecosoya CD Advanced for 464 because CD A gave me no HT while 464 seems pretty good. Now I'll have to try the C3. For the most part, 464 gives me good tops when poured, minimal wet sports and a little frosting with red/pink dyes. Remelt tops after a burn are so-so. How does the C3 look?

The smallest I ordered was 18 ply, let me know how your's burns and whether me trying 18 would be a waste of wax. It would be fun to crack this little 2" puzzle. Thanks again.

It was too much wick and the melt pool got a little out of hand, LOL. I ordered some FB and will try those when they come. Thanks for the help and I will let you know what happens.

I do have the wax you mentioned and maybe I should cut my losses and give it a try. The C-60 is already in the candle and burning I'll give it a try on the "more consumption is better and cooler" idea. I don't have any FB wicks but I'll Google it and find a source. I have two 2" molds, a 3" and 6" high, I'd really like to get some use out of them. I'll keep trying. Thanks

Thanks Pam, I have a C-50 in there now and the melt pool is too large and is ready to spill over, I will try a C-60. In the mean time, I will look up that wax you are using and compare it to the HL wax. Thanks for the feedback.

I am still having troubles with both my 2 and 3 inch pillars, I have wicked up and down (LX wicks) to the point where the flame height is just a small glow to a 2" flame where the wick need constant trimming. I've just started looking at the Cotton Core wicks that Peak sells with the 2" pillar. As far a recipe goes, these are all done with Hobby Lobby wax and 2 tbls of stearic, minimal color and 3% FO. My questions for today are: - am I too low of the stearic, do I need to make the candle harder? - does vybar increase hardness, should I be using that? - I have the following wicks on hand to try; LX, CD, Cotton Core, RRD, HTP; do any of these strike you as a preferred wick? - as mentioned above, I'm using the HL wax because it's readily available and requires no shipping, I also have 4625 on hand which I have not yet tried. The 4625 claims to not need additivies, do you find that to be true? Thanks for any help.

I find converting the measurements to grams helpful, makes the math easier.

Prepping takes me the longest, cleaning jars, selecting and attaching wicks, deciding on color and fragrance. Once the jars are ready, it doesn't take long to weigh out the wax and melt it. Add color, stir, add FO and stir; cool and pour. Using a large mat protects the counter from spills which are more like a drip or two. My largest mess was with a pillar mold where I did not do a good job sealing the hole at the bottom. Even that was not a big deal as the wax sealed the hole, eventually. All this talk about candle making and now I have the urge to make one.

I took the left over wax (5 oz) and made a small container candle out of it. The scent won't be as good as the original but it's pretty-much a freebie the way I look at it. Can't have too many candles.

I just made two 8 oz container candles (GW 464 and pink candy FO), the house smells like cotton candy. More wick testing. Just don't get distracted when melting the wax. It really is fun.

I think it comes down to the intent of the product, if Libby and others are manufacturing glassware for people and businesses to use, then that is the intent of their product whether it is filled with sand, jelly beans or wax. If the product is not approved for a particular use, let say gasoline storage and an accident occurs, they have a legal out. If they sell a product which is intended to be a candle, then it must meet some specifications (I would assume) and their liability probably extends only to manufacture's defects. A beer bottle, on the other hand, was intended to be just that, a chilled-fluid container; not a candle or art du jour. If you use it for other purposes, you are taking the risk not them. Just my thoughts.

Excellent discussion, it certainly changes some of my preconceived notions. I've talked with some people who strive to have candles that end with a clean container, just the tab left. I see that this is not a good thing to do since the only way this can happen is to suck wax through the bottom of the tab. In some cases that may mean a loose or partially attached tab. As far as make one's own pre-tabs, is there a crimping device because when I try by using pliers, the tab base bends? Just to finish the thread in terms of the amount of wax left over, each container had 2.5 ounces left out of the 8 originally added.

Looks fine to me but I'm a newbie to all this. Thanks for sharing the photo.

LOL, 2.5 would probably be fine, put me in your Will.

About the final wax weight, I was trying to back calculate and appear to have screwed it up, I will melt it out tomorrow but a recalculation puts it close to 2 ounces of unburned wax per container. Since it started at 8 oz, that's a quarter of the wax left unused. Which (if I am calculating correctly) is about another 8 hrs of burn (the ROC was 0.19 oz/hr).

Well folks, I just found this on Candle-Safety. org: Discontinue use of a container candle when ½" of wax remains. Seem these 10mm clips have that covered, still seems to be a waste of wax.