Stephanie Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Still trying to figure out the pinhole/small pits in the tops of my pillars. I just poured dark brown with a touch of black for one batch. They came out with lots of small holes on just the tops. I poured orange with a touch of brown and they came out with maybe one or two small holes in the tops. Same batch of wax and additives, different FOs. Could it be the brown? I use color blocks. This is driving me NUTS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donita Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Stephanie..I made some mottles yesterday and just unmolded them. The ivory made in acrylic do not have the pin holes.....but the red done in aluminum does....about 1/2" around the top....a few from the other day, tin, violet, have a little marking around the top...I heated them with a heat gun, not too hot, poured at 180......so am not sure what is going on either. Donita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 And you're doing nothing but wiping out the molds between pours? Are you using a heat gun or anything besides a paper towel?I really don't think it's the color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Pits are almost always from pouring too hot. I'd not suspect the color. The wax can be too hot or if you are heating the mold, the mold was too hot.e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 With respect E, I've gone through pit phases that had nothing to do with pouring too hot and have noticed other posters having the same experience. Often they mention the pouring temperature or all the different temps they've tried, so you can rule it out.The annoying thing about pits is that there seem to be a number of things that can cause them. For instance, I sometimes get them with molds I haven't used recently. With the first pour they'll be covered with pits only on the top, and maybe a few on the side right near the top. Don't know why. If I then do nothing but wipe the mold out cold with a paper towel and repeat the pour, the mold is properly conditioned and everything is perfect from then on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 I slightly warm my molds and try not to heat them too much as I know that causes pitting. Also I've found that a few of the stronger FOs sometimes appear to cause pitting (like blackberry sage). My smoothest pillars have been - slighlt warm molds and pouring at around 175-180 and tapping the mold right after pouring. You can actually see the little bubbles come to the surface. A water bath is also suggested, but I don't do it always.As for cold pours, when the wax has gone really cold, it seems to incorporate bubbles as I pour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 As for cold pours, when the wax has gone really cold, it seems to incorporate bubbles as I pour.Very true! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breanna Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 The annoying thing about pits is that there seem to be a number of things that can cause them. For instance, I sometimes get them with molds I haven't used recently. With the first pour they'll be covered with pits only on the top, and maybe a few on the side right near the top. Don't know why. If I then do nothing but wipe the mold out cold with a paper towel and repeat the pour, the mold is properly conditioned and everything is perfect from then on.I must totally agree with Top here,,the last 3 days I have been doing alot of pillars and the first one I did I had little pinholes,,,But from then on I did not get them on the other pillars I made,,,So I to believe that the Mold gets properly conditioned the more you use it,,,Let it set a week,,,then try to make a pillar and I would bet on the first one you will get some(maybe not alot) of pin holes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanaE Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 The only time I got pits was when I left a pillar in a mold for several days and had used a heavy, sweet scent. I'm sure there are many reasons for pitting - a mold that has dust but you can't see it, too much Pam/mold release, pouring way too hot perhaps, etc.. I make sure my molds are absolutely, perfectly clean before I pour so I know that isn't the problem. I'm lucky that I only had pitting that one time, since I pour hundreds of pillars a month! (oh, one thing I've noticed, at least with OK6228, is that the wax can be quite dirty when I get it. I let the gunk settle to the bottom of the wax melter and about once a week empty it completely and wipe it all out - it could be something in the wax causing the problem).Now, MY problem seems to be colors like blue and green that just don't completely dissolve and I get cool little color lines on the top of the pillar. I don't stress over it, but I do notice that it only happens with blue and green. I melt these colors in the pour pot, along with whatever additives I'm using, before I add my wax, so I can't believe they didn't incorporate well. I add my wax to the pour pot at around 200, stir stir stir, add FO around 190 and pour right around 190-180 with OK6228, so I can't believe it's operator error! I don't have this problem with mottling wax.All I can say is clean the molds well, wipe out excess Pam, don't pour too hot, unmold within a day or two, and pray! lolDanaE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donita Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Something else that I noticed, the tall acrylic mold with the Sandalwood layers were tilted when I poured.....no pit holes at the top.....the other metal molds weren't tipped. All the same wax, same pouring temp, but different FO's....but the pit holes were just in the top 1/2 inch which makes me think that if you don't tip the mold, sometimes you slosh air into the mold??????????? I'm working on that today. Donita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinDucky Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 I've been puzzling over this for a while. I honestly believe it has nothing to do with air bubbles. I'm not sure how, but I'm thinking it may be some kind of chemical/physical reaction. I had forgotten, because it had been so long since I had the pin hole problem... using a water bath did stop them. I had remade the same pair of obliques 5 times, with pin holes. Water bath on the 6th try and they were gone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 I've been puzzling over this for a while. I honestly believe it has nothing to do with air bubbles. I'm not sure how, but I'm thinking it may be some kind of chemical/physical reaction. I had forgotten, because it had been so long since I had the pin hole problem... using a water bath did stop them. I had remade the same pair of obliques 5 times, with pin holes. Water bath on the 6th try and they were gone!I've come to exactly the same conclusion about it being a reaction caused by a buildup of something on the mold surface.Yesterday I used a brand new metal mold and decided to do nothing except make sure it was visually clean. The first time I got pinholes and I bet the next time it will be perfect. With the metal mold the holes were randomly distributed, whereas with aluminum molds they are on or around the top probably because that's where the mold surface is the roughest. Oil, silicone, oxidation, or whatever accumulates in the nooks and crannies.So tentatively I think the type of pinholes we're talking about are caused by a buildup of one thing or another on the mold, and the solution is to eliminate it by doing the opposite of whatever you've been doing. If you've been wiping out between pours without any cleaner or silicone, give it a deep cleaning and a coat of mold release. Or if you've been doing that between pours, then do nothing except wipe them out. Whenever you switch up like that, the next pour seems to be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie Posted October 9, 2005 Author Share Posted October 9, 2005 So tentatively I think the type of pinholes we're talking about are caused by a buildup of one thing or another on the mold, and the solution is to eliminate it by doing the opposite of whatever you've been doing. If you've been wiping out between pours without any cleaner or silicone, give it a deep cleaning and a coat of mold release. Or if you've been doing that between pours, then do nothing except wipe them out. Whenever you switch up like that, the next pour seems to be good.Believe me, I wish it was that easy. I took all of my molds, none of which are new, sprayed them well with cleaner, wiped them out really well...got the holes. So for the next batch, I did nothing. Not even a wipe out. Holes. I'm pretty sure temperature isn't the problem since I've tried all ranges. At one point I thought maybe it was the FO - it was older. But the last batch was made with brand new FO. I don't want to keep belaboring this issue because clearly there is no easy remedy. I'll keep testing and when the holes disappear I'll let you all know what the magic solution is. Thanks for all the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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