First cane

[Lolas Lights]

Made my first cane this afternoon, didn't try embedding anything,just wanted to see if I could make a basic one. It's still in the mold, but geeze what a mess, the inside is all bumpy and lumpy what in the world did I do wrong:confused: Leave it to me to make a mess.

[raginabr]

My hurricanes are not real smooth on the inside either. Now I am relatively new to hurricanes so I may be making the same errors that you are or (we can hope) that this is just the way they end up.

[Lolas Lights]

Thanks, Good to know I'm not the only one with this prob. I followed the instructions to the T but the inside is so ugly I wouldn't even want to try and sell one of these. I guess I'll just keep practicing and see if I can come up with a smoother one. Oh well guess it's like everything else, trial and error and with me, it's mostly error.

[sharyl55]

You can fix the lumps and bumps a couple of ways. After pouring out the wax I smooth the inside with a butter knife. Then I hit the inside bottom with the heat gun so it will be nice and flat. It's easier for me to fix them when the wax is still hot. Probably could do the same thing with a heat gun after it has cooled off. Good Luck

[Lolas Lights]

thanks bunches, I'll try that tomorrow, think I'll call it a night and start over tomorrow. It's been a tiring week at the hospital and think I need to rest the body and mind, if I don't think about the candles when trying to sleep as I usually do:) Thanks again

[Mtngrl]

The 1st couple of 'canes I made were bumpy on the inside, too, but by the 3rd one, I finally figured it out ....

I kept the insert in the mold until the wax was a soft solid between the mold sidewall & the insert. Then, I'd remove the insert & pour the rest of the wax back into my presto pot.

It finally occured to me to remove the insert, then allow the wax to solidify just a little longer, THEN pour out the rest of the wax. I got smoother walls that way.

However, if you were just trying to make a 'blank' 'cane, did you even use an insert? If not, then what I wrote above may not be the cure.

To make sure I have a nice, smooth, level bottom, after I unmold the 'cane, I pour just a little more melted wax onto the bottom. I'll also use my heat gun on the sides but then I find I have drip thingys.

Oh, Hurricane Queen, Donita, what do you think? Have you noticed how smooth her 'canes appear?

[Lolas Lights]

Thanks for the info. I didn't use an insert, like a dummy I didn't order one. Guess I'll have to place another order and DH is gonna love that. Yep, I've noticed that Donita makes the perfect cane, inside and out. No wonder she's the queen of canes. Wish I could do work like hers. Thanks again.

[Alohagirl]

I'm lousy when it comes to embedding photos in hurricanes, but I've made some nice ones with dried flowers. I don't have a hurricane insert, so I use a 3" seamless pillar mold and place it upside-down in the center of a 4" mold. After the wax starts to set up, I slide it out. It works like a real insert, making the inside of the hurricane nice and smooth.

If you have a seamless mold, you could try it this way until your insert arrives.

[SatinDucky]

I have the insert, but found it to be a royal PITA to use. I heat the insite with a heat gun and smooth it out. When I'm using a ball mold to make a round one, iserts are impossible and heating the insides also means I can leave a bbit of wax in there to make the floor flat. HTH