Jaye Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Hi Everybody! What a wonderful find this message board is! I only started "experimenting" with candle making a couple of months ago... but OMG, how addictive it has become! It all started with just melting down a few old candles I found lying around... and escalated from there! I've made some pretty amazing (if I do say so myself ) creations since then and now I don't think there's much else I'd rather do! I know you're all going to be sick to death of me and my questions before too long, so I'll make this one the one that's been bugging me for a while...Lacking a hurricane mold and insert, I improvised using a Coke can (top and bottom removed) and a square mold. I followed the directions to make the hurricane from this website... and it worked perfectly!! At first. I placed a tealight inside the hurricane and the whole thing lit up beautifully! Unfortunately, the walls began melting inside. I thought I could fix this by using a knife to make the walls thinner and therefore further away from the flame of the tealight. To cut an incredibly long story short... I came back to it an hour or so later... and the tealight was embedded in the wall of the hurricane! The walls had melted so much that the tealight was sliding around in the melted wax...My question is, do I need to use a different type of wax (I used what I think was 100% parrafin), do I need to make my hole in the middle larger... or do I need to just bite the bullet and buy the professional mold and insert?I know that one of you experts here will be able to help me with this (and probably the first of many! ) question. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 You need a high meltpoint wax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaye Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 Oh. Okay. Thanks Scented! :smiley2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candle Man Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 You need a high meltpoint wax.Also a larger mold, to give you more room from the flame, is what you need.Also some people put something in the bottom to keep the candle from melting into the bottom of the 'cane. Like sand, cork, or a glass pillar holder. If you use a votive in a glass holder you can pour water in the bottom, up to about half way of the glass votive holder, to help with heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaye Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 Some people put something in the bottom to keep the candle from melting into the bottom of the 'cane. Like sand, cork, or a glass pillar holder. If you use a votive in a glass holder you can pour water in the bottom, up to about half way of the glass votive holder, to help with heat.Candle Man! Thank you, thank you, thank you! That is a brilliant idea! I can put my tealight in some sand or something to prevent it getting too close to the walls! You are a genious! Of course, I would have thought of this myself eventually... Using the high meltpoint wax and the sand will solve all my problems. Thanks again guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I'm sorry ( I'm laughing so hard my sides hurt) forgive me. I can just picture you and your delemma. I'm not an expert but I work mostly with hurricanes (luv 'em) mand you MUST use a high melt point wax (very hard) and as some one else pointed out, you should also invest in a hurricane mold or two. Good luck and I hope you aren't offended at me laughing, but I really had a picture in my minds eye of what you were going thru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharyl55 Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Jaye, 1st welcome to the CT family.2nd I think most of us improvised on our first hurricane. Made mine in a cool whip tub using a mayo jar for the insert. If you want to make hurricanes, you need to invest in a paraffin wax with a mp of at least 155 degrees. Molds should be at least 4.75" in diameter. You only need inserts if you plan on embedding botanicals in the walls of your 'cane. I embed a 2" square ceramic tile from Lowes in the bottom of mine and set the votive holder in it. You could set your tea light in a glass oyster cup to keep it from sliding around and set the glass on a 1/8" thick piece of cork.There are many good suppliers of wax and molds. Peaks, which sponsors this board, is one. Don't know where you are located. The best wax supplier is the one closest to you.Most importantly have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinDucky Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Howdy and welcome to the board I agree with the others. You efinately need a high meltpoint hurricane wax. The inside diameter also needs to be larger. You might get by with 4" if you stick to tea lihgts, but need a 5" mold for votives, just to be safe. You don't really have to buy a professional mold. I've seen some posted here done in the buter tubs. I have a round utensil caddy that's right close to 5" across and works good. You just have to make sure the walls are straight or slant out as it goes up and has no lip/ridges inside. And as Sharyl said, you don't even need an insert unless you're embedding something 3 dimensional in the walls. If you look at the instructions for embedding photos, there's the step by step for doing it without the insert. It all kinda depends on how you want the hurricane to turn out. For the heat protection, I use the oyster cups and cork with the tealights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creativegems Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Or you could make it electric. You could scent your wax and the heat from a bulb would warm up the insides enough, without melting, so it throws a very light scent. With a 5 watt bulb it would be ok to have a smaller opening in the center and the mp wouldn't have to be so high.Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donita Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 When I do a small hurricane, I fill it up halfway with wax. Then place a plastic tea light on top of a little square of Styrofoam. The plastic doesn't get as hot as the tin or glass and it lets more light shine through than tin. My first cane mold was a salt box and I used paraffin wax from Safeway. That was many many years ago. Hurricane wax is a must. Unless you are going for the "melted look"...LOL....Tucker...you crack me up. We all know about wax melting when it shouldn't. Even when we figure it all out, the "little green men" come out of hiding and screw things up. Donitahttp://www.donitahoyer.com/ If you have questions, just keep on asking. We all try to help!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaye Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 Thank you all so much for the welcome and the great advice! I know at first this is all trial and error and I'm going to have mistakes until I know what I'm doing, but having your words of wisdom may save me some major catastrophes! I know there are ways I can improvise, but I went and bought an embedding mold yesterday. For some reason I thought I was buying a hurricane mold. :rolleyes2 So that I could make an embedded hurricane with colored wax chunks instead of an embedded candle, rather than put a candle in the middle... (Tucker you're going to be rolling around on the floor with this one! ) I used a can of baked beans in the middle of the mold. In my defense, I did grease it first! Well, of course, I could NOT get the can out. After much cursing and swearing and thrown utensils, I eventually got it out. I managed to repair the cracks in the cane, and... it actually isn't too bad! As soon as I figure out how to attach a pic, I'll share my first creation.Thanks again for all your help guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinDucky Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 That's what it's all about, trial and error Be sure and post a pic in the gallery, we'd love to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam W Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I used a can of baked beans in the middle of the mold.that's funny - I did some 'canes around Thanksgiving and used a can of cranberry sauce...they don't float :highfive: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharyl55 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Check out Techniques and Ideas on the left side of this screen. There are instructions to walk you thru making an embbed hurricane. The baked beans would have worked if you would have lifted the can up 1/2" every couple of minutes as the wax was setting up to hold you chunks. It would ber a good idea to atart with Basic Instructions and work you way thru all the info down the left side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 You and I just gotta meet up, ya sound like my kinda woman, (a laugh a minute). Seriously, keep plugging away, you'll get it. Remember, there's only one Donita and a lot of would be's (including myself) but what the H___ we all strive for excellence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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