How do you wick large batches?

[TallTayl]

11 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

Could you not just screw the lid onto the jar and drill it like that? I know my hub does stuff like that all the time and the jars don't spin. 

 

The tins are not threaded. 

 

On a jar you will need to hold the jar securely to keep it from spinning too - with the added bonus of glass shards if something goes wrong. 

[Forrest]

10 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

@Forrest, if the hole saw works, would you mind if I make this into a short article - crediting you of course ?

 

i think a little nail to tack it in place might do the trick.

You are welcome to it. Everything I know about making candles I learned from this forum so anything I can do to help is my pleasure. If you put the lid on a board and clamp it down with a couple of C clamps it will hold still. I used a gel super glue to glue the PVC in place, but there are much better products for that task, it was just what I had at the moment.

[Forrest]

On 2/27/2018 at 10:34 AM, TallTayl said:

@Forrest, if the hole saw works, would you mind if I make this into a short article - crediting you of course ?

 

i think a little nail to tack it in place might do the trick.

I bought a hole saw, just haven't tried it yet, I've been absorbed in wick testing . I think a starter hole is needed to keep from having drift when you start cutting. I'll try it first chance I get and report back. I'll try and take some pictures also. I still haven't come up with the right way to glue it in place.

[Forrest]

 

I had some excess lids so I decided try out the hole saw. Do not put it on a jar and try and drill the hole, I was lucky this time but it made a mess of the lid. Fortunately I had a nice clamp with rubber pads that did the trick. First I marked the center of the lid and put a guide hole in it with a nail. I put the lid from a 4 oz tin under it for support when I did this. Next I drilled it with the hole saw, that went well except the hole is slightly undersized. The dremel tool with a grinder bit opened it up with ease. After that you need to mark the center of your container so that you can look down the PVC pipe and see that it is centered. It is very important that the bottom of the PVC pipe be flat. The next part is gluing the PVC in place, I didn't like what I used last time and I haven't done any research to find something better, maybe some epoxy would work. If anyone has any Ideas I would welcome them.

 

[kandlekrazy]

Great idea and easy to follow your instructions!

I need a tutorial on making wick holders the X type that we use while the candle sets up.  The dude that did customs is nowhere to be found.

Edited May 14, 2018 by kandlekrazy

[bfroberts]

Y'all are so high tech.  And here I am with my cut off drinking straw...

[Forrest]

49 minutes ago, bfroberts said:

Y'all are so high tech.  And here I am with my cut off drinking straw...

If I could manage to get a wick in the center of my container I'd use a cut off straw too. I think my eyes are off center.

[ncraiders]

37 minutes ago, Forrest said:

If I could manage to get a wick in the center of my container I'd use a cut off straw too. I think my eyes are off center.

Better off center than not working at all.  I have major eyesight issues and when i try to center a wick in my jar, I get it to what looks center when i place it in the jar.  then i turn it upside down and find that i am 0.125-0.5 inches off in one or more directing. directions.  I feel like i am playing pin the tail on the donkey honestly.  All 3 of my test candles i poured for palm container wick testing have off center wicks ranging from 0.125 to 0.5 inches off center.

[Testing123]

I made the wick contraption however i molded the lid out of aluminum foil because I don't have a drill. used exacto knife to carve a hole then i glued pvc pipe. of course you need many layers of foil to make it firm

[Candybee]

Forrest, I think you missed your true calling... as an inventor!

[ncraiders]

If i was good with tools i would make something like that for my apothecary jars using the wooden lid you can buy for them.  But in the end i would mess the lid up end up wasting money.  If i could i would actually make 2 of them one to place the wick, the other to keep it centered.

Edited May 15, 2018 by ncraiders

[Jcandleattic]

21 hours ago, bfroberts said:

Y'all are so high tech.  And here I am with my cut off drinking straw...

LOL before I got my wick setter took, I used a hollowed out pen. 

[Forrest]

I did a production run on what I hope is the last one of these I will need. The first thing I had to do was mark the center of my container, if that’s not right all this device does is consistently put the wick in the wrong place; as you can see I measured carefully. The bottom of the PVC pipe has to be flat, so following the advice of some experienced people I used a hacksaw and a miter box. Using the lid from the pictures in my previous post and a two part epoxy I put the PVC pipe in place, aligned it with my mark so that it was centered and flus on the bottom of the container. Next I applied the epoxy. The epoxy worked perfectly, and the finished product is solid, I believe I may actually get my wicks in the center from now on; it will be the first time. The next step is to make one for my other containers. I’ll be doing that soon because my test candles have been telling me over and over that my wicks aren’t centered.

[pughaus]

this is really clever.

I don't have the right power tools, nor do I have a lidded container, but I do I have thick foam core.   I think I'll try cutting a small square and then tracing the diameter of my glass and carving a circle in with my exacto knife so it sits snug, when pressed down onto the rim of the glass.  Then I'll cut a hole in the center and drop in the pipe.  Thanks for the 💡@Forrest !!

[Laura C]

On 2/27/2018 at 6:48 AM, Sarah S said:

Very cool DIY @Forrest!

And that jar is very pretty too! 😁

I concur.

[Laura C]

On 2/22/2018 at 11:09 AM, strugglebrother said:

I use the EZ Wick Setter.

They will adjust it for you to any container size free, you only have to pay postage for it.

Here's some hacks for the EZ Wick Setter tool without having to send it back to the company for resizing. I have done both of these and they have worked great for me.

 

- If the white plastic piece does not fit your particular jar perfectly then you could try placing a rubber seal/washer on the plastic piece to give it a snug and level fit.

- Or if that particular jar has an extra wood or metal lid then switch out the white plastic piece with the jar lid and use it as a part of the centering tool. Of course you have to measure and drill holes in the wood or metal lid and then you can insert the metal tubes into it.

 

http://www.ezwicksys.com/The_Multi.htm

Edited September 4, 2018 by Laura C