blow outs with feather palm and csn wicks......help!!

[Debbie73]

I just started making pillars out of feather palm wax. I made 4 of them but only one had the blow out and one on the way. The one that had the blow out is a square 3x3 1/2" with 5% FO with a csn 12 wick. I did start out burning all four in 5 hr. test burns. I was going into the 16th hour when I saw two small holes. I know that you're only supposed to burn for 3 to 4 hours with this size, but I know I will get someone who will want to burn it longer than that. For all of you that make pillars, how do you determine the size of wick that you use? For me this is way harder than trying to wick a container where at least the wax is confined. I would hate to ruin someone's furniture! Thanks everyone!

[Stella1952]

Because palm wax is not easy to "hug," I wick my pillars to leave a shell of about 1/4"-3/8". Because the wicks I use (CDNs) have a self-trimming posture, they will have a lop-sided melt pool unless they are twisted or the candle is turned at intervals or the wick is recentered from time to time. I opt for twisting since I have no faith that a customer will keep an eye on a pillar and turn or recenter the wick as needed to get the best burn.

While customers may "power burn" candles, the first phase of testing is to find the closest wick for our purpose. A power burn test (once you've ascertained the closest wick by testing for 1 hour per inch of diameter all the way to the bitter end) should be conducted to fine-tune the wicking. Try not to jump past the tedious testing process, especially with a product that is new to you. You'll end up right back at square one.

No matter WHAT kind of wax is used in a pillar, they should always have a fireproof dish of some sort underneath them. This is simply common sense. I burn pillars in deep saucers, glass bowls or set inside a glass hurricane so that if a blowout occurs (and they DO happen...), the mess will be contained. A shallow dish or plate isn't suitable for palm wax as when it does blow out, it is really runny and makes quite a mess.

Below are a couple of photos of a powerburn test on a 3" pillar using a CDN 14 for the particular FO I was testing (sometimes, I use 12s). As you can see, the candle was set inside a glass hurricane and continuously burned until it reached the last 3/4" - 1". There's about 1½ - 2" left at this point...

The candle had gotten a little off-center during the night, so I recentered the wick (did not twist this one) and turned the container right after this photo was taken to even up the walls of the shell. Had I not done so, eventually one area would have thinned out and blown out.

At the end of the burn, I remove the wick and then enjoy the candle for much longer by placing an electric tea light inside the shell. HTH

[Debbie73]

Thank you Stella! Start out with the correct way of burning (3 to 4 hrs) all the way to the bottom. If all works for what you are trying to achieve, then do the power burn? I have gone over these threads now for 2 weeks looking for wick suggestions and I had the csn spooled wick so I started with that. I had intended to go back and do a test burn the correct way, just got excited and started out backwards. I never burned pillars myself, only bought them for decoration. But I could not leave the palm pillar wax alone and want to do my chunk candles. I thought it might be nice to have a wick that I could start with, so here I am! Thank you again.

[Mannie]

how to you explain to the costumers about having this thick wall of wax left.