craftyinala Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 I use J223 and soy for my candles and usually use the heat gun to fix the dip around the wick. Is it easier to repour after the candle has cooled to level the top. Would I still heat the wax to 10 degrees hotter. I don't like the way the candle looks using the heat gun. TIA for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 My opinion is that it is easier to heat the top with the heat gun. If you're doing it properly, it should look perfect. The mistake you might be making is that you're not heating it to the point that you get a decent size melt pool going. If your merely heating around the wick itself, it's not going to look good, you have to remelt the entire surface to about 1/32 to 1/8th of an inch if you want it to be perfectly smooth. You also might consider poking relief holes near the wick. Often times when you have dip around the wick, there's an air hole lurking underneath the surface that you won't discover until you hear a pop and bubble sound while your burning your candle and then your wick suddenly tunnels. You'd like to avoid this of course, and the only way to do that is to poke the relief holes prior to reheating the surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriBeth Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 I agree with Fern. When I level mine with the heat gun, they're perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyinala Posted September 14, 2006 Author Share Posted September 14, 2006 This will probably sound like a totally dumb question -- when using your heat gun do you go around the outside of the jar or hold it straight down on opening of jar. After all this time of pouring candles, I have begun to doubt what I am doing. This must definitely be a sign of old age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 You want to heat the entire "top" surface of the jar, not the sides. Do it in a slow, gentle, sweeping motion until a full melt pool develops to about 1/8" in depth. Be careful though, if your heat gun is too close, it will blow the melted wax right out of the container. Let the wax set up again, and it will look good as new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyinala Posted September 14, 2006 Author Share Posted September 14, 2006 Thanks the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Your welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyinala Posted September 14, 2006 Author Share Posted September 14, 2006 Hi, noticed you are in Waterford, CT. We have a son in the Navy at Groton. They live in Plainfield, CT. We visited them in July. He will be retiring in Jun, 2007 and surprised us with the news that they planned to move back to Alabama. We did a lot of shopping in Waterford. Beautiful country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Yeah, I love it here in Waterford. Groton is about 15 minutes from here and Plainfield, probably about 45 mintues. I don't blame your son for wanting to move back to Alabama...it's very expensive to live here. I'd move myself if I didn't have so much family here. We're very close and couldn't imagine not being able to jump in the car to visit anyone one of them in a matter of minutes. I've got a few siblings that live elsewhere and it's rough not being able to see them more than a couple of times a year...and they're the most entertaining ones out of the whole bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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