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drilling wick holes


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okay, I was having trouble finding any tutorials on how to do this.

What are tips and tricks for drilling wick holes in a candle if you want to use a candle mold that does not have a wick hole drilled in it.

how do you ensure that the hole is straight? do you use a drill?

do you pour a few drops of wax?

Can you stick a metal rod (is this a wick pin?) into the wax and pull out when it has hardened and then insert a wick?

More questions I know. I always have a million.

Thanks a lot!

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If you want to know how to drill a wick hole into a candle that's already made, get ahold of Shutterbug (Leslie) and she'll help you. Problem with sticking a wick rod in there may be keeping it upright while the candle cools. As for the rest, I'm sure others know. Wick pins already have a base on them, but essentially they look like wick rods and yeah, after it cools and the pin is out, you thread it with a wick.

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You need to use a drill press that has enough throw to get all the way through. You also need a candle that's perfectly leveled or a way to hold it perfectly vertical and centered. I've only dabbled with it so I won't try to give you definitive advice. It just strikes me that it might make more sense to drill the mold once rather than drill every candle. That way you can wick the mold or put a pin in it. If fact, all you need for the pin is an indentation at the bottom center of the mold to hold one end of the rod in place. Then you can either buy wick centering tools like this http://www.ezwicksys.com/default.asp?SID=x5GGM5T8YVBXMHQLHV2KL7&S=E3&Document=Wick+Centering+Tool&NID=2736343 or have a similar contraption made for you if you're not using standard molds.

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Ahhh drilling the wick holes.. This was the only way i could ever get my wicks straight LOL I guess its just what i started with, so i was hooked. You have to be very careful when doing this though, I borrowed *well stole* my hubbys hand held drill and it became my friend. Dont push on it though, let the drill do all the work, if you press on it the candle will break. It does take practice, but like they say, practice makes perfect.. HTH

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since it was your mold I was asking opinions about, I was planning on sending you a pm as well. but this is good info for the board maybe.

how do you make sure your hand drill is drilling straight down...just eyeball it?

I mean, I do independent contracting in the summer times so I'm pretty mean with a drill...but still...

and lets say I make the hole crooked? can I fill it with wax and drill another one?

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Your right dust, most people would do that, but i however am not most people. I couldnt get a wick to sit in there straight if i had money on it. LOL

I rather enjoyed drilling my candles, at least i knew they where straight...

I dont think you want to try and fill the hole with wax, that is a tiny hole and you might get air pockets in the candle..

I always just eyeballed mine. IF your handy with a drill you should have no problems... Like i said just let the drill do the work..

One of the reasons i didnt drill a hole in that candle mold is its so big, there are so many things you can do with that mold, that once you decide to drill a hole in it, you may want to make it a three wicker.. I cant see you having all kinds of holes in there... Just take your time, it will come to you :D

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I am just now trying to get the hang of pillars. I am having a hard time understanding the concept of this wick centering tool. I see that you cover up the hole in the bottom of the mold with something, and I can see from the top how it centers, but I don't understand what is going on at the bottom of the mold ( will be top of the candle)...does a rod just "hang" in the center?

Sorry:sad2: ....did not intend to hijack....the tool has my curiosity up...and I am trying to understand why it is preferred over a wick pin.

Thanks

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You didn't hijack.

Is that the white contraption? Or the metal brace contraption for pillars

There is a white wick centering device and I think all it does it just, you put one of the stickey things on the bottom of your pretabbed wick and this contraption has grooves allowing it to center on top of a container where it could be hard for you to get your hand down into thus allowing you to ensure that you are putting a pretabbed wick directly into the center of whatever container you are going to fill with wax.

Or are you talking about the metal wick centering thing for pillar molds?

I think that all that does is it just keeps it perfectly centered in your mold through the metal cross braces. On the bottom of the mold the pin will just rest on the bottom...maybe it will set slightly into the wick hole to keep it centered. or if you use putty mold sealer it would sink through the hole into the putty a bit.

If I was going to use one, since I will be using a mold with no wick hole, I might take a blunted nail and push a little dent into the bottom of the mold to make a little groove for the pin to set in.

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I am just now trying to get the hang of pillars. I am having a hard time understanding the concept of this wick centering tool. I see that you cover up the hole in the bottom of the mold with something, and I can see from the top how it centers, but I don't understand what is going on at the bottom of the mold ( will be top of the candle)...does a rod just "hang" in the center?

Sorry:sad2: ....did not intend to hijack....the tool has my curiosity up...and I am trying to understand why it is preferred over a wick pin.

Thanks

I've not used the things pictured above, but as I understand it, they generally stick into the wick hole. Or, at least catch on it, to be centered.

I can see where they might be a bit easier for some people, since you stick them in from the top. I can see how they might be a bit quicker to use.

Plus, some molds, like the one Luke is talking about, don't have any wick holes. In this case, those centering devices would be a Godsend. In this case, the pin would simply sit on the bottom of the mold.

There are some that hold 3 pins for triple wicking, too.

A lot of it, though, just boils down to personal preference.

Shudderbutt:p likes to drill her candles. I'd never have the patience.

I used to think wick pins would just be extraneous, til I tried them. Now I would hate to try pouring a candle without them.

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I can see where they might be a bit easier for some people, since you stick them in from the top. I can see how they might be a bit quicker to use. Plus, some molds, like the one Luke is talking about, don't have any wick holes. In this case, those centering devices would be a Godsend. In this case, the pin would simply sit on the bottom of the mold.
You're right about all that. They're quicker because you don't need any putty to secure them and you don't have to mess with getting the pin centered. A piece of metal tape to cover the wick hole can stay in place for multiple pours. So basically you can get a mold ready for pouring almost instantaneously.

The bottom of the rod sits in the wick hole, so if your mold doesn't have a hole I guess you'd at least need to drill a little depression to center the bottom of the rod.

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I bought a bunch of used molds, some of them don't have holes and the ones that do have been soddered over (can you believe that!!) This is one of them & this is how I'm dealing with it for the moment. After I do the test burn and determine that the wicks are properly placed, I plan on drilling holes in the mold but will have to pre-wick cause the wick pin bases overlap each other. On some of the taller molds, I've turned the wick pin upside down and secured it with ducktape which worked really well.

post-450-139458391718_thumb.jpg

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You're right about all that. They're quicker because you don't need any putty to secure them and you don't have to mess with getting the pin centered. A piece of metal tape to cover the wick hole can stay in place for multiple pours. So basically you can get a mold ready for pouring almost instantaneously.

The bottom of the rod sits in the wick hole, so if your mold doesn't have a hole I guess you'd at least need to drill a little depression to center the bottom of the rod.

I would love to see a picture of the wick pin in place ready for the wax to be poured. Do we push the wick pin through the wick hole which will be the top of the candle, and then stand the candle on the wick pin base when we pour?
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I would love to see a picture of the wick pin in place ready for the wax to be poured. Do we push the wick pin through the wick hole which will be the top of the candle, and then stand the candle on the wick pin base when we pour?

I did a tutorial on the old board. Some of my pics got swapped somehow. The ones showing a wooden soap mold don't go with the article, but they are only a couple or three..

http://www.candletech.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Discussions;action=display;num=1102891768

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Jojo,

Ya just slid the wick pin in thru the bottom (good idea to put a wad of plumbers putty around the base of the pin) push mold down to squish the putty and pour. When candle cools, pull out the wick pin, dump out the candle and wick that puppy w/primed wick.

If I'm making beeswax pillars, I put the wick pin on the inside of the mold - that gives me a handle to pull with cause BW doesn't always wanna come out.

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I would love to see a picture of the wick pin in place ready for the wax to be poured. Do we push the wick pin through the wick hole which will be the top of the candle, and then stand the candle on the wick pin base when we pour?
I'm not sure if you're asking about the wick centering tool. That one is different from the pillar pins because there's no base. You put that little bracket over the top of the mold and put the rod in from the top. The end of the rod sits in the wick hole to be centered, but the hole is actually semi-permanently sealed with metal tape. Basically you just drop it in and pour. Candle Man posted what it looks like and there's a link to the manufacturer's site in one of my previous posts.
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Good morning to all!

I made a wick pin out of a coathanger wire and use it in my pillar molds. I bent one end, and run it up through the bottom, put a small piece of electrician's tape over the end, and cover with mold sealer putty. I cut grooves in a clothespin and use it to center the pin by running the pin through the center of the clothespin.

post-116-13945839178_thumb.jpg

post-116-139458391785_thumb.jpg

post-116-139458391787_thumb.jpg

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Thanks everyone, that makes the wick pin for pillars much more understandable. It sure would speed up the process as wicking takes so long and sometime I just want to get on with the pouring. Geek, I love your idea with coat hanger wire and a peg - anything to save money.

:confused: One question, do the wicks ever look loose, and if so, what do you do to fix that without spoiling the finish of the candle?

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:confused: One question, do the wicks ever look loose, and if so, what do you do to fix that without spoiling the finish of the candle?

It doesn't bother me if the wick looks like a loose fit in the wick hole. Depending on the wicking, a #2 primed sq braid fills the hole quite nicely, and the #3 is almost too big if you don't squeeze out the excess wax when priming the wick.

geek

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I was trying to remember why I never tried those wick centering tools, posted by Candle Man. I knew I'd considered them at one point and dismised the idea.

Finally recalled that it was because my primary mold is an odd size that they didn't make a cross piece for.

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