Feather Palm Testing

[topofmurrayhill]

Hi I have only been playing with Feather palm since Sept last year but I wick that size pillar with CDN 14 or 16 depending on FO.

Thanks, are you talking about 3" pillars?

[Tribalvixen]

3" is 76 mm isnt it? My mold is 76 mm.

[topofmurrayhill]

Yes, thank you. Maybe it would be worth testing CDN 14.

[topofmurrayhill]

Some newbie testers here. 30-ply flat braid on the left, to compare with the 36, and CSN 9 on the right. I tested CSN 11-16 near the beginning and the 12 worked very well, but I was curious about the small size. The wicks were both trimmed to about 1/2". The photos are 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours and 4 hours (end of burn).

[lrbd]

you are actually getting more of a burn then I did with the CSN9

[soy327]

Top, what do you think of the CSN9? I have 8 burns on mine haven't burned it since I posted here been to busy. But curious as to what your findings are.

[topofmurrayhill]

Only burned it once so far.

You have to admire how well-matched these CSNs are to the feather and starburst waxes. With the semi-compatible wicks you have to go with a large size and watch it go from big to puny right before your eyes. But here is a skinny wick that worked perfectly for a continous 15-hour self-trimming burn in a votive, and now it's off to a strong start for an entire 4-hour burn in a 3-inch pillar. I assume it will settle down to a slower burn, but I'm very interested to see how it works. Maybe it will be good for longer burns or something.

Remember that you probably shouldn't have to trim CSNs in feather and starburst. lrbd, maybe that's the difference in the results we got. I started at 1/2" and let it trim down to the length it wanted to be. I don't plan to snip it at any point.

[lrbd]

Remember that you probably shouldn't have to trim CSNs in feather and starburst. lrbd, maybe that's the difference in the results we got. I started at 1/2" and let it trim down to the length it wanted to be. I don't plan to snip it at any point.

/QUOTE] maybe .... I am burning the 11 now . I had to trim it before I started burning it again.

I am told that self trimming means that the bend will go into the melted wax . I find it bends but not enough to go into the melted wax. I see that with the CDN and the CSN . But I am only on the second burn so we'll see.

Hey Top... I went back to your votives. Not sure but I see the last photo was 9 hours . Is that how long they burned for?

[topofmurrayhill]

No I think they burned for about 15, but I messed up. The last time I checked them was at 13 1/2 hours and then I dozed off, but they seemed to be on track. I just never got the exact time and the last photo.

If you get the burn rate correct, single-pour votives such as palm should burn about 15 hours. Double-pour votives such as paraffin more like 18.

I think you may not need to be snipping those wicks. I didn't trim any of the CSNs in Feather Palm. They trim at the outer edge of the flame. Having the tips touch the melted wax would be bad because the flame would flare up. I also never touched the wicks on the votives with either feather or tortoise shell.

[topofmurrayhill]

Here's burn 2 (4 hours) for 30-ply (left) and CSN 9 (right). The CSN 9 tester is burning like a champ. Trimming nice and clean, no mushroom.

Also we have CDN 12 at the end of the 6th 4-hour burn. The CDN 10 blew out on burn 5. The 12 previously left a very thin shell but is doing OK now. It hasn't done more than nibble on the rim so far. I'm thinking I'll add CDN 14 to the test also.

[lrbd]

can I see a photo of you candle wicks before your next burn please.

[topofmurrayhill]

can I see a photo of you candle wicks before your next burn please.

Here you go.

[lrbd]

thank you . I see now . I have been trimming the curl off . I won't this time and see what happens. I also wanted to share with you that I made 4 votives with CSN 7 they only burned for 10 hours.

[topofmurrayhill]

I also wanted to share with you that I made 4 votives with CSN 7 they only burned for 10 hours.

That burn time is too short for votives, but it should be easy to figure out. Either they burned too fast (big flames), or there wasn't enough wax (fill the molds to overflowing), or not all the wax burned (long-neck wick tab or wrong container).

[Stella1952]

Yah but you have those teeny flames. It doesn't resemble anything I'd wanna make. I don't even know how why you measure container diameters to the fraction of an inch but apply some alternate reality to how pillars should burn.

Then you add 5% stearic, which I tried in an offline tester and it was murder on the wick.

Top, I can see my comments are neither welcome nor respected so I will keep my "alternative reality" observations to myself. They work out fine for me and my customers which is the reality I care about. The 1 Tbsp./pp of TPP stearic isn't "murder" on the wicks I use. Best of luck with your testing.

[lrbd]

stella I'm very interested in your comments as well as your results. As far as I am concerned the more the better. I would think everyone feels that way so please keep it coming. I can't tell you how helpful this testing has been tops. can i ask someone anyone What does the stearic acid do other than help in release because it really really helps with release for sure . I had a hell of time prior to using it . But what else is it for ? I tried to find out but was unable

[topofmurrayhill]

Burn 3 for 30-ply Classic and CSN 9 with photos at 1 hour and 4 hours.

Also, the end of the 7th burn for CDN 12.

The 30-ply tester lost a little steam on this burn. We are testing this size because the 36-ply worked well but seemed just slightly large. However, 30-ply is not "just slightly" smaller. There is a significant size gap between those two that makes me wish there were a 33-ply.

The CSN 9 is burning and trimming well so far. I'm testing it because I wasn't convinced that the previous 11-16 test was broad enough. I usually prefer to test the "too small" wick rather than just assuming. And CSN 9 may not be too small at all from the looks of it. My only concern is that too slow a burn tends to cause blowouts until the overhanging wax has melted down.

The CDN 12 tester has settled into a good groove and is now munching on the edges of the wax shell. It almost succumbed to that "slow burn" issue at the beginning, but now it's over the hump. I think we can add it to the list of successful wicks in these Feather Palm tests.

[soy327]

Stella, I'm with Laura on that one tooooo, Your advice and imput is very very helpful. I'm know there are alot of people on CT that are interested in what you have to say.

Top, I'm glad you tested the CSN9 also, I think it's my wick of choice for this application.

[sherry]

Me To Please! Stella and Top! You both have more experience, including some experience people on the board then all of us newbies. I don't thing I would have try do do any candles Soy Or Palm with out everybody's pictures and explanation. :rockon:So please keep the good work coming

[topofmurrayhill]

This is the beginning and end of the first burn for our new CDN 14 tester.

Even though CDN 12 is working out, it's always good to test the next size. Maybe it's too big, but better to test it and find out.

[topofmurrayhill]

Beginning and end of burn 4 for the 30-ply and CSN 9 testers. The 30-ply went through a bit of a birthday candle phase this time. I'm not sure it will be good for anything except hollowing out the center of the candle. We'll continue with it for now and see what happens. I am tentatively pretty impressed by how well the CSN 9 is burning.

We also have the end of burn 8 for the CDN 12 tester. I think it's looking very purdy.

[topofmurrayhill]

Let's bid a fond farewell to the CDN 12 tester. Since I didn't cut the wick short to fall over, I'm calling the test completed after 9 burns.

[lrbd]

Since I didn't cut the wick short to fall over, I'm calling the test completed after 9 burns/QUOTE] so about 36 hours ...correct?

[topofmurrayhill]

so about 36 hours ...correct?

Yeah, but it should be over 40 with a fully-finished candle. I could have gotten a few more burns out of this one.

[topofmurrayhill]

The first photo is the end of burn 2 for CDN 14. It's been burning very consistently and I have a better feeling about it than I did about the smaller CDN sizes I tried previously. The larger flame also lends a more pillar-like look to the burn, which I also like.

The second photo is burn 4 with 30-ply Classic flat braid on the left and CSN 9 on the right. As noted previously, the 30-ply is significantly under-performing the 36-ply I tried previously. The CSN 9 burns very well, but the shell is a little thin and the melt pool was rather large at the end of this burn. I think it goes to show that a smaller wick is not always the answer to preventing blowouts. I suspect that CSN 12 may still be the way to go in the end.