palm torch ball candle

[evergreen]

Hi all,

I bought a palm wax pillar kit from Candlewic about a month ago so I could get started making candles. My first ones were scented and colored votives. I used the wicks from the kit. No issues. For the next batch of feathering wax, I decided to use the 3" polycarb ball mold from the kit but no scent and no FO because I wanted an unscented white candle for the holidays. (This was a prelude to making tapers with palm wax.) The wick that was included with the kit for the ball mold was raw RRD-40 wicking. So, I let it cure a few days and decided to burn it. As it burned, I noticed that the flame was regularly about 2" high and would occasionally flair up to what appeared to be 3". I extinguished the candle and let it cure another day or two and then lit it again. Same result. I have decided that the wicking included in the kit was only meant to be used with FO and colorant. The candle went back in the melting pot.

I made three 17 hr votives at the same time and had, thankfully, used wick pins. The CSN9 wicks (that I bought from CS for palm) also yielded a large flame. I popped that wick out and went to an ECO-2 that I'd bought for beeswax and it worked nicely...leaving a small wall of wax around the outside of the votive like a pillar candle burn. This candle was tested in a votive container with straight sides and snug fit. The flame was a normal size. I've gleaned somewhere in these forums that palm burns differently and should leave a little shell that later melts down. Is that correct?

So, I didn't really expect a difference with the plain palm wax...especially since CS recommends the CSN9 wicks for palm feather wax votives. Does anyone routinely make unscented palm candles? What wicks do you use? (I'm making pillars and no container candles at this time.)

Any tips appreciated!

Thanks,

Renee

[bugtussle]

For votives use a CSN 5 or 7, nothing larger! I don't think unscented will make much difference in palm. Carole

[soy327]

I use CD4 & 5 for votives, Sorry the CSN's are to torchy for my comfort level. I have no experience with the RRD's

[EricofAZ]

I use palm in pillars mostly but also in containers. For the life of me, I have not been able to get a 3 inch melt pool for the container (or near that for the pillar) without using a large wick and dealing with a taller flame.

The pillars seem to like the #4 square braided wick and it burns about as tall as you mentioned.

The containers are not so easy. I use a CD14 and that still leaves wax on the wall. I hate to go higher because I want to keep the heat of the glass rim under control.

I did notice that after an hour of burn, the flame settles down a bit. Its just when I first light it off again that it burns tall.

One thing I will say about palm is that I am very impressed with how it throws EO's like Lavender or Ylang Ylang.

Edited November 15, 2010 by EricofAZ

[evergreen]

>For votives use a CSN 5 or 7, nothing larger! I don't think unscented will make much difference in palm.

Carole:

The wick guide from Candle Science indicates CSN9 for palm feather wax. That's why I bought them. They work fine in the votives I made that have both FO and dye block added from the kit. The kit came with RRD-29 votive wicks. I used most of those and then made the transition to the CSN that I purchased for palm wax. Only the unscented/plain wax gave me flare up issues with those wicks.

Edited November 15, 2010 by evergreen