Feather Palm Testing

[topofmurrayhill]

HTP 126, end of burn 3 and end of burn 4.

A little smaller than HTP 1212, but I think this one will also work.

[topofmurrayhill]

Presumably it's feasible to wick palm votives with HTP, but it would require an unusually large wick size because HTP overtrims in palm wax. We might also expect some inconsistency in the flame height.

I decided to start with HTP 62 and work my way up. Photos 1 and 2 show HTP 62 at the beginning of the burn and approximately one hour later. Photos 3 and 4 show HTP 73. Neither of these sizes seemed sufficient, because the flames fizzled out too much before they could blow out the top of the candle and recover.

The last photo shows HTP 83 on the left and HTP 93 on the right near the beginning of the burn. These testers are burning now and I will post an update on them later.

I am lighting all the wicks at a length of about 1/2 inch. Any candle that is burning properly will be allowed to burn continuously until it burns out.

[topofmurrayhill]

Both HTP 83 and 93 worked for the feather votives. HTP 83 burned for 14 1/2 hours and HTP 93 burned for 15 1/2 hours. These are near ideal times for a single-pour votive. Neither wick left significant hangup.

The burn photos are at 3 hours, 6 hours, 9 hours and 12 hours.

[8-GRAN-ONES]

you have it down pat...top....

[topofmurrayhill]

HTP 126, end of burn 5 and end of burn 6.

Working very nicely. This one will be fine.

Edited April 19, 2010 by topofmurrayhill

[Tribalvixen]

Thanks Top. Its good to know I can use htp. We cant get csn here so that gives me another option to cdns

Tammy

[topofmurrayhill]

End of burn 7 for HTP 126.

[topofmurrayhill]

Here's the end of burn 8 for HTP 126.

[topofmurrayhill]

And finally, the end of burn 9, which should be sufficient to get the idea of how it works.

[Debbie73]

Top, between the HTP and the CSN, which one was your preference?

[topofmurrayhill]

Top, between the HTP and the CSN, which one was your preference?

My preference would be CSN. The HTP wicks you need for palm pillars are so thick that it gets unwieldy preparing the mold, and I worry that it might leak.

I didn't have any problem with the results though. For people who already have HTP or CDN on hand, my trials demonstrate that they can work well.

If you're buying new wicking for palm, CSN is the way to go. It's the only self-trimming flat braid wick that's totally palm compatible. You can use normal sizes, it burns consistently and true-to-size, the available size range covers votives and 3-4" pillars, and it's available both spooled and as wick assemblies.

Edited April 21, 2010 by topofmurrayhill

[Debbie73]

Thanks, Top. I do use csn in my palm pillars and do like how they burn and even did not trim them, like you said you were doing. I really was amazed that they burned just as well as if I had trimmed them.

I have never used the htp and just wondered if you liked one better than the other. I am always up for trying something that maybe better than what I am already using.

I guess I'll stick with my csn's then. Thanks for all of the great testing that you did, Top!

[topofmurrayhill]

Here is possibly the last test for the feather palm thread.

I'm trying out some CDN sizes for wicking feather votives. I'm using CDN 5, 6, 7, and 8 because I happen to have them, but CDN 8 is the only one that is easy to obtain. Unfortunately, I suspect it will be too large. I'm banking more on sizes 5 and 6.

CDN is not perfectly compatible with palm. This has less impact on votive than on pillar wicking, but it still has an impact. We need to use somewhat larger sizes than would be required with a totally compatible wick like CSN. CSN 7 and 9 worked with this wax, and a size in between would have been perfect. The wick photo shows how much skinnier those are than CDN 5, 6 and 7.

If CDN 5 were to end up being the best size, that wouldn't be a huge difference in wick thickness compared to CSN 9. But that's with votives. The CSN 9 actually worked OK in a 3-inch feather pillar, whereas CDN 5 would totally drown.

The burn photo is just 15 minutes after lighting. The wicks were not trimmed. The candles will burn continuously until the wax is consumed. Updates later.

Edited April 23, 2010 by topofmurrayhill

[topofmurrayhill]

These are the CDN votive testers at the 9 hour point.

Left front - CDN 5

Left rear - CDN 6

Right front - CDN 7

Right rear - CDN 8

Unfortunately it's not possible for the photograph to show you a useful comparison of how fast these wicks are burning and the size of the flames. Once they've burned down into the glass, they flicker quite a lot and a photo either shows a blur or at best a random moment in time. You really just have to watch them burn.

I can tell you that none of them are sooting or doing anything terrible. However, the CDN 5 is the only one that has maintained an ideal flame size for pretty much the whole burn. At this point they have settled down to a stable burn rate, and in my estimation the CDN 7 and 8 are burning a little faster than I'd like. The CDN 8 has also had too large a flame at various point where there was fresh wick exposed, such as when the top of the candle blew out and the melt pool drained to the bottom of the glass. The burn rate of the CDN 6 has generally stayed within bounds.

At this point I would predict that CDN 5 and possibly CDN 6 would be usable with this wax/FO combo. The final verdict will come from the burn times. Generally the best wicks will come in around 15 hours for a single-pour palm votive.

[topofmurrayhill]

12 hours and we're one down. The CDN 7 only burned for 11 1/2 hours. The CDN 8 will be the next to go. I don't think 15 hours is within reach for any of them, but the CDN 5 may at least have a respectable burn time.

[topofmurrayhill]

Final result:

CDN 7 - 11 1/2 hrs

CDN 8 - 12 hrs

CDN 6 - 12 1/4 hrs

CDN 5 - 12 3/4 hrs

Pretty mediocre burn times, even for the smallest wick. CDN 5 seems to be the best choice among these sizes, but I get the feeling that CDN 4 might have been best. However, I don't have it and I'm not motivated to buy an expensive 1 lb roll.

[topofmurrayhill]

I think there would be some benefit to a CD vs CDN test in feather palm. I want to be careful about generalizing too much about wick compatibility, so I'm making sure to do this comparison for each palm wax individually. In the starburst palm thread, I'm currently testing CD 16 vs CDN 16.

Earlier in this thread, you can see the good results I got with CDN 14. This new tester is wicked with plain CD 14 for comparison. The first burn test will be later today, but I'm posting this photo now because it's just damned pretty. I love feather palm.

[lrbd]

I'm posting this photo now because it's just damned pretty. I love feather palm

It is gorgeous ! Is that purple or blue?

[topofmurrayhill]

It is gorgeous ! Is that purple or blue?

It's royal violet, which is on the purplish side of blue.

[Jane42]

I love reading through your posts, Top - not only are they informative, your pillars are just beautiful. Even though I am still struggling to wick the Crystal Palm Pillar correctly, after seeing this Feather Palm Pillar, I may just have to try that one next - just gorgeous!

[Soylicious]

Hey Top

I am a newbie at the candle making thing, but when I grow up, I want to make candles that look like yours!

They are really beautiful.. I just wanted to let you know that... (but you probably already knew... lol)

[topofmurrayhill]

I am a newbie at the candle making thing, but when I grow up, I want to make candles that look like yours!

You don't have to grow up. You can be a Palms 'R' Us kid.

Feather palm is hands down the easiest of the palm pillar waxes. It's not really super sensitive to pouring temperature or technique, and you don't have to do any fancy finishing to fill voids and whatnot. It burns pretty well too. If you want to make a candle that looks like that, just head over the candlescience.com and get some feather palm wax. Also some CSN wicking while you're at it.

[lrbd]

Top I so love this last one the best. Do you liquid dye . I love love love that color

[topofmurrayhill]

Burn 1 for our royal violet (liquid dye) CD 14 tester.

Looking back at it, the original CDN 14 burn was more consistent from beginning to end. What's striking though is the similarity of the CD and CDN burns so far in feather and starburst. Even if CD were to underperform slightly, it could be the better wick to use as far as availability of sizes and spooled wicking is concerned. If CD were better for soy and better for palm, what would CDN actually be good for? There must be something. We'll go back and look at CD vs CDN in tortoise shell palm also. That's a tougher wax to burn.

[topofmurrayhill]

Here's the end of burn 2. It's early, but I was comparing to my CDN 10 test earlier in the thread and thinking it looks similar. So maybe it's as much as a 2 size difference between CD and CDN.