double width wick pins?

[morgenstern77]

Good afternoon to all and Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans out there!

I've done a bit of research on this topic on my own but I'm still pretty new to candle making so I thought I'd go to the experts. I'm experimenting with hemp wicking in beeswax candles and wanted to try 2 different "sizes" of wicks, a single width hemp wick or a strand of the hemp twisted to double it in effect. The primed single strand fit perfectly in to the hole created by the wick pin but I wasn't able to thread the double width wick. After burning the single width I can tell that its not going to cut the mustard.

My questions are these:

1. Is there such a critter as a double width autowick pin?

2. If not, is there an easy way to enlarge the wick hole without a. making the hole ginormous and b. damaging the top of the votive?

If all else fails I could go back to centering them by hand by my hands shake like I'm on a fault line and it never turns out well.

Thanks for any advice!

[Oh-MYo]

Hello Morgenstern. I have had some luck enlarging already created wick holes in votives that I had bought at the dollar store. I didnt feel that I liked the wick cuz it was too tiny.

However, my husband had a metal drill bit sitting close by and a little light bulb went on in my head. The bit was just slightly larger than the already existing hole.

I just turned the drill bit by hand and had to draw it out several times just so it wouldnt get clogged I guess. It was only a little messy and the candle looked fine when I was finished.

And the drill bit was none the worse for wear, if anything, perhaps a little better rust proofed.

I dont know how many you plan to do but if I were to repeat the experiment on a larger scale I would be thinking drill press.

Clearly this is not so much about wick pins as inventiveness. Good luck and have fun :-))

Oh and the other thing about twisting the double wick together as you describe, I have tried that as well and find that they separate as they burn anyway and one of the wicks ends up creating a crooked burn on the candle or drowning itself because it is not level with the other one. I even tried lashing them together with light cotton thread.

Maybe I gave up too soon. If you have better luck I would be delighted to hear about it.

[Stella1952]

A heated ice pick works wonders also.

I am a little confused, though, because it is much easier to order a larger wick size then start twisting wicks together, especially when you are new and haven't much wicking experience. I think you may be making things much tougher for yourself than need be...

There are MANY different kinds of wicks! Unless you are married to hemp for some reason, don't over look other kinds of wicks. Might save you some headaches.