wakeylad

Robert: I'm just curious as to how much vybar you add per lb of wax. Do you find this wax generally leaks oil at 1.2oz/lb of scent or does it leak oil under certain environmental conditions? Thanks in advance for your reply. Neil

Maybe you could just introduce her to the craftserver forum. If she already knows about it then she doesn't care about safety as almost every other thread has some mention of it. If she doesn't know about it and becomes a new member, I'm sure she'll be excited to read up on candlemaking as well as get an education about safety to boot. Have a good weekend.

P.S. Most of the wax will be 4630, but the odd bit of random paraffin may get added. If the other paraffin waxes become less random then I can always use the store brand beans for those or switch to soup. Maybe I can cook my beans over a bean candle and my soup over a soup candle. I can leave the price on to make people think they were expensive (or cheap). When the "what's in you pot this weekend" message goes out, I can can just respond "Soup" or "Beans" and be telling the truth.

Oops, my mistake, forgetting the wax type. Yes, I'm using paraffin. I keep and old can in the freezer that gets topped off with bacon fat . It gets thrown out when it's full. Isaw it this morning and thought I should do the same with my candles (except for the freezer part).

Hi: Wax + Baked Bean Can + Wick = Candle. Which wick would you use for a 14.5-16oz baked bean can? I want to use up old wax from different experiments. These will be burned outside so some smoking shouldn't be a problem especially if the mosquitos are out in force. Wax, Dye, FO are unimportant since I'll be using all the leftovers and be throwing them into the same can. I don't even care about tunneling or left over wax because that'll get remelted and used in the next can. Looking to add a little ambience to the patio. Hopefully, this will be one of those times when someone actually got a nice smell from beans. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Sliver: Did you have to Roll on the Floor and Laugh? I'll definitely be the one testing my own candles before anyone else even looks at them. After what I just heared from you, I can't believe that my friends and family could be so cunning and devious, and all in the name of obtaining a freebie. I should disown them. Wait, if I do that then they won't be friends and family anymore and I can use them as testers. Wow! Everything worked out in the end. Now, where did I put my funny GIF file........?

SliverOfWax: Thanks for the reply. I'm more concerned with safety than with quality of burn. I figured that using the starter kits that I could appease my family and friend's but I do have an ulterior motive of recruiting them later as testers. Is that too sinister? Thanks again

@SliverofWax I wasn't sure if you were responding to my post, the thread in general or both. Just to clarify on my part, I was wondering about the quality of the candles kits from the Candle Supply companies such as Peak, Candle Science, LoneStar, Bitter Creek (sorry if I left any one out). Would the quality of the candle kit give me something that I would be able to give away to friends and family. I'm still in the process of developing my Container Candle but figure making the odd pillar or using a different container would quiet these guys while giving me a nice welcome change. Thanks again for any replies.

Welcome to the board, Lisa. @SliverOfWax (or anyone else that wants to chip in): How are the Candle Kits? Can you make candles that are of acceptable quality to give away to friends and family or are they designed to be more of an introduction to the candle making process? Thanks in advance for any replies.

After reading about other people's experiences, I'm most likely going to do blind testing of my wicks so I don't subconciously make a decision based on the wick number. I'll probably just stick the wick information on the bottom the container so I can't see it until I'm done testing. I usually tag my testers with numbers that corresponds to a test sheet that contains all the pertinent information about that candle so I can easily leave the the wick# off the sheet if I need to.

More reading: http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?78198-small-wick-burning-wax-quicker-than-large&highlight=burning

In my orignal post I just wanted to point out the differences in the charts. Now I'm more curious to find out whether certain containers have this "eye of the storm" effect (if it does indeed exist). BTW, to both rjdaines and ChrisR, did the hotter wick happen to be the widk of choice ofor the candle you were testing?

ChrisR: I couldn't agree more. Once you add containers, additives, etc, into the mix then everything changes. Personally, I would use the message board to find a good starting point for my wax/container combination. I think the usefulness of the wick charts comes more into play then testing out a different wick line. Then you could probably use melt pool width and R.O.C. to find a good starting point in that wick line. Obviously you and rjdaines have had the experience of a lower number wick burning hotter than a higher number wick. Based on the assumption that this is happening in a container environment, I wonder if that would be the same if you tested those two wicks in a slab of wax. I'm not trying to condradict anyone here. Just curious if, in a certain container, a particular wick creates certain conditions (air currents, etc), that allow it to burn hotter. Kind of like a hurricane's eye. That could mean that in some cases the LX-16 may burn hotter than a LX-18 based on the container shape. If either of you two decide to put that theory to the test, I would be very interested in the results. Until this has been tested, I guess we can only speculate. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Rj: As a 1/8" and 1/4" burner I will be definitely following your posts. If the big boys are moving towards 1/8" then I think that is something we should be aware of. I prefer the 1/4" myself but the 1/8" testing is definitely something that I will revisit. I think we have to question why the big boys are moving in this direction. Maybe they something we don't know. Take care and have a good weekend

I did some 1/8" testing this week and noticed that I can grossly overwick and not get any smoke or soot. Saying that, I'm testing 4630 with 10% fragrance and the bigger wicks yellow the melt pool (BTW, adding 10% wasn't intentional - I get good CT and HT from 6.25%. I just made a mistake on this batch.) I noticed on my older "big boy" candles from 2001 that they used to recommend trimming to 1/4" but now recommend trimming to 1/8". I have read articles regarding European Standards that relate to sooting. I'm wondering if the switch to 1/8" has something to do with that.