pillar bulge

[Lightning Bug]

Back working on pillars after starting all over...with a notebook. This pillar was 6" (give or take) tall. 1274 wax with 3 Tbsp stearic, color, and maybe 4-5% FO/lb. Sometimes I do question my scale. Wicked with a twisted 24 FB. Haven't touched it except to trim wick every 3-4 hours or so. Burned from 3 to 6 hours at a time. Throw was barely ok. No smoking except if strong air movement as long as I did the trim. So where do I go now? Would look nicer if it didn't pooch out. Hurricanes are sure a lot easier! Thanks. Beth

[ATTACH]16874[/ATTACH]

[Scented]

You could try a flat braid 27 and see how that acts for you as well as learn to hug your pillar too.

THose come to mind for now.

[Lightning Bug]

I'll try a 27. I know I could hug it, just thought most candles sould burn down without it if properly made and wicked. It started out without a bulge and then got bigger and bigger as it burned down. Candle seems a bit "greasy" and figured most people wouldn't want to get their hands oily. Beth

[Scented]

Most won't want to handle a greasy candle. Check your scales or make sure to get some. The 1274 is a mottling wax so it doesn't need extra fragrance to help it.

Sometimes you've got to do the hug thing to help a candle along. No one burns a candle under ideal situations all the time.

[Pam W]

I use 1274 and do agree with Scented. If the candle is greasy, then you need to back down on the FO load. My candles will start to get that small bulge when they get short but I think it's mainly because I'm not as diligent about hugging them as I am when they are taller.

[radellaf]

I just got some 1274 to try, after using 1343 for a while, and hoping 1274 would be easier to work with. I didn't think it needed stearic? 3% FO has been sweating some, but after a day and a paper towel I'm not seeing any further sweating.

The wicking is frustrating so far, though, so I'm looking for a little advice or your experiences here. Is it common for one size of wick to work for both 2" and 3" candles?

I tried LX-18 in three pillars: 2", 2.5", and 3"

Unlike 1343, there was no bulge. However, all three were torches with occasional smoking and a consistent very large flame. Even the 3", which was the biggest surprise.

In my 1343 mottles, 2", 3%, few drops liquid dye, I found LX14 and 16 dripped some, but 18 and 20 were OK. As 14 works well with the regular pillar blend, that's two sizes up, but I figured that was because of using a straight wax with no additives.

The odd part is that the same wick size worked best for all three pillar sizes. You'd think the 2" would need a smaller one, but I find as you get around that size or smaller (like tapers), wick size needs to go up again. Even an LX-10 can generate enough heat to melt through the wall and drip, so it seems you need to counter that by wicking up so that you're using fuel faster and keep the melt pool from overflowing. 1/2" tapers with LX-10 dripped, with LX-14 they were OK (using 10% stearic 1343 for the tapers...)

I'm trying a LX-14 tonight in a 2" and 2.5" to see if it works any better.

FWIW, I found a successful combination for 3% FO and Gulf Wax. LX-10 in a 2.5" pillar. Really small wick, but still get a decently tall flame.

If I market these, I have the unpleasant suspicion that if the room were 85 degrees instead of 75, the same wick that's OK for me might melt through and drip.

Is it at all possible to make dripless 2" pillars, without a high MP wax overdip?

[topofmurrayhill]

I've been perfecting mottled pillars for years. They can be beautiful, but it's tricky to optimize the appearance, burn qualities and fragrance.

If the wax shell gets too big and the flame gets too small, they'll bulge out like that. You'll want to get the burn rate as consistent as possible, fast enough so melting wax doesn't accumulate too much, with just the right balance between burning downwards and melting across.

Burn time greatly affects results, so you should choose a fixed length for burn tests and design around that. You can't optimize for every way the candle could be burned, so choose a time between 3 and 4 hours to use consistently while designing the candle. That will also make it easier to compare results with different amounts of additive and fragrance.

Small differences in stearic and FO amounts can have a big effect on how the candle burns down. It's helpful to make small changes and test them methodically. Maybe start with 1% stearic and work your way up in small increments. Might also be good to start with 3% fragrance and do the same. FOs have varying effects on the wax and the wick, so the maximum you can use will vary.

FO selection is important. A fragrance has to throw well and burn well to give best results in this candle type.

[topofmurrayhill]

The odd part is that the same wick size worked best for all three pillar sizes. You'd think the 2" would need a smaller one, but I find as you get around that size or smaller (like tapers), wick size needs to go up again. Even an LX-10 can generate enough heat to melt through the wall and drip, so it seems you need to counter that by wicking up so that you're using fuel faster and keep the melt pool from overflowing.

You're absolutely correct. As the diameter decreases, the principle of wicking it becomes more and more like a taper. When you finally get down to taper diameter, you actually want to see an empty bowl below the wick. The trick is to use up the fuel as it melts.

The problem is that the wick size and the flame can become too large. You compensate by also increasing the melt point of the wax with decreasing diameter, allowing you to use a smaller wick and get a nicer burn. Additives to harden the wax can also help by preventing the rim from sagging.

It's difficult to design narrow mottled candles that burn well because you don't have much recourse to additives. There is also usually fragrance oil softening the paraffin and making it melt more easily. It's no great loss, because narrow candles with largish wick don't throw that well anyway. 2 inch candles get to the point where they might be better suited to decoration and ambiance than air freshening.

1/2" tapers with LX-10 dripped, with LX-14 they were OK (using 10% stearic 1343 for the tapers...)

LX-14 is already a larger size than you would traditionally use in a taper. The problem there is the 1343. Not only is the melt point at the low end for tapers, but it's a relatively isoparaffinic wax that gets soft as it warms up. Ideally you would use a normal paraffin with a melt point closer to 145. That would be with more like 20%+ stearic or a small amount of an alternative additive like polyethylene or Vybar. You could wick that with 15 ply or 6/0 square. 15 ply would be equivalent to LX-10. Even LX-8 might be worth a try.

Is it at all possible to make dripless 2" pillars, without a high MP wax overdip?

Absolutely. Just select your paraffin and additive well.

Edited January 22, 2010 by topofmurrayhill