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Pillar help please.


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i just got my 3 x 6 1/2 mold today i also got the wick pin for it. so i poured into the mold it started setting up and i got a pretty big sink hole around the wick pin, i figured ok its probaly because its so tall i must have to do a repour on taller pillars. so i poked a few relief holes warmed the left over wax back up and repoured. it did it again with the sink hole i only poured maybe 1/4 inch repour. what am i doing wrong with this mold ? the other mold is 4 x 4.5 and i havent had a problem with sink holes.

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I'm going to assume you're making paraffin pillars.

What you're seeing is completely normal. The taller and narrower the mold, the more pronounced the sinkhole. Your new mold is both taller and narrower.

You need to start the relief holes once a solid skin has formed over the surface of the wax, no later than maybe an hour after pouring. Make 3 or 4 holes about 3/8" wide (they can be pretty much any size as long as they aren't too small). Come back periodically to keep the holes open by poking through to liquid wax.

Doing the relief holes properly can transfer a good amount of shrinkage to the interior of the candle and decrease the sinking down the center. It will also decrease the amount of stretching the wax goes through, so you're less likely to get hidden cavities or other problems that the wax shrinkage can cause. What you'll have instead are cavities you've caused yourself, which can be filled by the second pour. The second pour will also come out flatter rather than just giving you another sinkhole.

It will also help if you do your second pour when the first pour has cooled off or mostly cooled. If you tend to get a gap between the side of the candle and the mold, it's good to do the second pour a little before that happens.

If you follow that procedure it should minimize your problems.

HTH.

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I have not had this issue with Ecosoya PB pillars. At what temp are you pouring? :confused:

I agree with Georgia - try cooling the candle more slowly.

I also highly recommend making relief holes, as Top described, because air bubbles are an issue with soy pillars. While not as severe or common as the cavities in palm wax, they do still occur far too often to ignore.

Is there any chance that your mold is leaking? I have had some leak which caused caved-in areas like you describe...

HTH :)

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