melt pool side to side?

[Denise06]

how long should it take to get side to side?

[chrisasst]

what kind of candle are you burning? ( votive, container etc..)

[Brenda (OH)]

General rule of thumb is 1 hour per each inch diameter.

[Denise06]

ok, so if my container is 3" diameter, it should take 3 hrs. to get side to side and then be 1/4" deep.

[Henryk]

The one inch per hour rule always results both in glass that gets too hot for my taste and a jumpy flame later on if I don't babysit it - especially as it gets down in the container. I look for a good melt pool only on the second or third burn. JMO and to each his own. I know many candlemakers do look for that type of melt pool on the first burn ...

[Denise06]

The one inch per hour rule always results both in glass that gets too hot for my taste and a jumpy flame later on if I don't babysit it - especially as it gets down in the container. I look for a good melt pool only on the second or third burn. JMO and to each his own. I know many candlemakers do look for that type of melt pool on the first burn ...

So Henryk, do you still only burn it 3 hrs. for the 1-2 burns even if it doesnt have a side to side burn?

[Henryk]

Approximately. Sometimes it'll be a bit longer. Naturally if you are making candles for others they aren't going to be using a stopwatch so there is only so much you can do, but if I light a candle for an average evening and the MP gets too big, it flickers like crazy, or the glass gets too darn hot then for me its too big a wick. All I'm saying is that inch per hour rule usually results in one or more of these conditions further on down the jar. So, you would say to most, I actually underwick!

[Stella1952]

Again, what kind of wax are you burning? The rule of thumb is true for most paraffin and soy candles but NOT for palm wax. Palm wax burns more slowly than the others and frequently does not achieve a full melt pool during the first burn.

[Denise06]

gb 415 soy

[Crafty1_AJ]

Couple tips when checking for melt pool.

1. I agree that you need to reserve judgment until you've done several subsequent test burns. This is especially true if the jar has a varying diameter. If you think you've got the wicking down right, take that baby all the way down to the bottom of the jar.

2. Make sure your wick is always trimmed to the same length each test burn. I've screwed that one up and ended up with vastly different results. Whoops.

I also shoot for roughly one inch in diameter per hour of burn time, but I don't sweat it if that's off just a bit. If it's WAY off, time to try a new wick.

[jakalex]

The one inch per hour rule always results both in glass that gets too hot for my taste and a jumpy flame later on if I don't babysit it - especially as it gets down in the container. I look for a good melt pool only on the second or third burn. JMO and to each his own. I know many candlemakers do look for that type of melt pool on the first burn ...

I agree! I especially use caution when wicking my tins. Usually on the second burn I get a full melt pool, depending on the FO.

I also test a couple of different ways. I will test one candle trimming the wick before each burn. Then I test one and vary the trimming ( trim wick only every other burn). I do this because customers will not always trim the wick. I want to make sure the container will not get too hot if the wick is not always trimmed.