robertgibbens

I have no problem with power burning, but can't imagine how it can be done in a store or such without blowing the candle out and trimming the wick. My candles are heavily scented and would be smoking like a chimney after 4 or 5 hours!!

Power burning is a ridiculously overcautious activity. If you do it, more power to you. But if your really interested in making sure your candles are safe for every moron out there, I'd suggest you trade this hobby for stamp collecting. When does the insanity end? If your going to power burn, I think you need to also test how close you can power burn to various types of walls from wood to gypsum to steel before they catch on fire. Come to think of it, you better put a heat monitor on the ceiling. Some idiot might like to burn his candles on a high shelf. What if he leaves for the weekend and forgets to extinguish his candle? Will his book shelf catch on fire? What if his book shelf was made of cotton candy? I hope your testing for flame heat on cotton candy!! hee hee Use common sense people.... Candle making is NOT rocket science.....

You will receive different opinions from just about everyone in here, but here is mine. Depending on the size of your container, hang up may occur for more than 2 or 3 burns. My hang ups usually are gone by about mid candle, but are never too sever from the start. If they were I would wick up. Dancing flames are fine. It is unlikely that many rooms are completely draft free. I also believe its more difficult for the flame to pull in air when the flame is deep within the container. As long as the flame is about 1/2 inch I do not get concerned with dancing. Smoke comes from scent. A heavily scented candle (like mine) will smoke a bit. Again, as long as the wick is properly trimmed (meaning using the proper burn time for the candle), then I am not concerned with some minor smoking.

Swell? Never heard of soy wax swelling? I have had wicks drowned out when the wick was too small. But not caused by "swelling.

That has been said before (requiring the use of grams). I think its a bunch of horse crap. I have looked at candles sold everywhere and do not find the weight listed on most of them (including every candle sold at Pier One here on Maui). It is not a requirement or if it is, it's not followed in my neck of the woods.

It's called "drift" and it's common with printers, particularly laser. I have found that you have to leave plenty of "bleed" room which is the area between the text and the edge of the label and live with some labels that are not perfectly centered!!

Everything on planet earth is meltable! (sorry, just being a pain in the neck!)

Bottom line...your FO will mix just as well at 175 as it does at 185. If it fell to 165 I'd worry.

It will clean up for sure. As the flame travels down into the glass it will trap way more heat. I'd bet the glass will be clean. Most of my 3-inch diameter round glass containers do not burn that close to the edge over the first quarter of the glass and always clean up by mid point. Love the glass!

I used wick pins and centering tools and can run circles around anyone trying to standard wick multiple molds. For bulk pillar making, there is no substitute...

My experience with square glass is that I found it very difficult to properly wick. Wax in the corners was hard to get hot enough to liquify without making the glass very hot. No square for me!

The problem with ASTM is their recommendations, once made, are required by many agencies to be used so in fact it is not always "voluntary" as you say. In my field, geotechnical engineering, ASTM lays out the ways something like a field investigation should be performed. Unfortunately every investigation is different with some requiring more or less scope than the last. It is impossible to account for all details so ASTM overdoes their recommendations. I imagine this is a normal part of how they operate...

The wick pin is inserted through the bottom of the mold (top of the candle). So the base of the wick pin is supporting the mold. Wick pins are so much easier.

I would suggest using wick pins fed from the bottom of the mold. That way there is a conduit in the candle for you to try several wick combinations. If your first try is not right, cut the candle with a saw (below the burn), replace with smaller or larger wicks, and try again. Cut again if necessary. This prevents wasting the wax when a permanent wick is used.

ASTM is not the end all be all in certification. How many of you even know what astm is? Too many blindly follow things they don't understand too often. Astm has its uses. As a professional engineer, astm governs much of what I do testing wise. But it also specifies procedures that are unnecessary and or are overkill. Fortunately my license allows me to use my judgement and not follow blindly. I recommend more of our do the same.

I would recommend switching cell service to a carrier like Verizon who has far better coverage.

The spacing of the wicks for a double wicking makes a big difference. I have tested dozens of 4 inch diameter tins with both evenly spaces wicks and 1 inch spaced wicks. In every case where the evenly spaced wicks did not achieve a FMP, the 1 inch spacing easily did. I am assuming the closer wicks are able to heat the wax hotter than spaced wicks. You might try both methods and see which works for you.

This is a stupid argument. If anyone out there wants to trade a gram scale I have which measures to the nearest 5 grams with an ounce scale that measures to the nearest .001 oz, I'm game because the .001 oz scale is far more accurate, and yes, far more precise (in other words has far more precision)!!

Yes you will need an EIN. Yes you can write off purchases made prior to incorporation. I would suggest using an accountant as business taxes are far more complex. I would suggest looking in the phone book for an insurance agent. Homeowners will not cover it.

Do people not read other posts or are they often times incapable of logical thought? Grams are not more accurate then ounces.

Be careful. The FO that Walmart sells (if its the same as our Walmart), are NOT for candles. They are for warmers. Their is a huge selection, but the flash point of these oils is waaaaaay too low to be used in candles. Walmart is not in the business of selling anything that they cannot sell lots of and candle FO's do not fall into that category. But anyone can use a scent warmer filled with scent oil.

Save the real excitement for when the test burn turns out perfectly. Makes no sense to learn to make a smooth top if the candle is not wicked properly.

The only dumb questions are those you never ask!

Measuring in grams is NOT more accurate than measuring in ounces. The precision of the scale determines the accuracy. There are scales that measure to the nearest 5 grams and scales that measure to the nearest .0001 ounces. In this case the ounce scale is far far more accurate.

I think the weight means nothing. Most folks have no grasp of weight anyway. Do you put the warning label directly on the bottom of the candle or the bottom of the celo bag?