Dariablue Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I have recently had a request from a customer to make her unity candle and two palm wax tapers for her wedding in October. I have worked with palm wax for several years and make pillars and tarts, but I have never made a palm wax taper. To ensure that the crystalline formation forms properly, I am planning to use a taper mold rather then dipping the candles.Has anyone ever made a taper with palm wax, and if so - do you have any advice? And also any suggestions of what type of wick for a palm wax taper would be best? I am looking at making 1 x 12" tapers - if palm wax can be made into tapers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wessex Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I hope you can do it, but I don't think Feather or Starburst Palm would hold up as a taper. Too brittle, and the crystal formation would probably crack through. Tortoise might work, but I'm still thinking too brittle. I think wicking would be a problem, as far as the nature of how palm burns. Of course I have never tried it, this is just an opinion.Cheers,Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dariablue Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 Steve,I'm having the same thoughts and I think that the palm might be too brittle. However, I am hoping that someone has done it and had success - I think that they would be beautiful - if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 (edited) Yes. They looked like warty penises, but looked cool when burned. Nearly anyone could do a better job of hand dipping than I did. :embarasseHere's some more I snapped a pic of before my partner, Jen, delivered them to a friend. See what I mean... Probably should have wrapped them in a condom rather than plastic wrap...:lipsrseal:tiptoe: Edited April 21, 2011 by Stella1952 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wessex Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 (edited) This is how I get in trouble. Now I want to try it, LOL! But the only taper molds I have are silicone (for beeswax), and they can't really be heated. And without the heated mold, the pattern won't form. OK, now I have to go buy some metal taper molds for no real reason! Thanks alot, LOL!Cheers,SteveBTW, I would probably start with CSN 5 wicking. That is the only appropriate spooled wicking I have (although I do have some square braid for beeswax, but probably too big). Edited April 21, 2011 by Wessex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 (edited) Best advice for making palm wax tapers: use a MOLD. BTW, We just used the feather or starburst pillar palm - whichever we had lying around at that time. A molded taper would look prettier because the crystal pattern would form mo' better. We used square braid, but don't remember what size... Edited April 21, 2011 by Stella1952 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dariablue Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Thank you!! I am planning to use a taper mold, I'm not going to attempt to dip palm wax. Thank you for the wick advice too, that gives me a great place to start with. I've made the same sizes of candles for so long that I know which wicks I usually use, but trying to find a wick for a completely different size is difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbrook Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Probably should have wrapped them in a condom rather than plastic wrap...:lipsrseal:tiptoe:QUOTE]:laugh2: Good One! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whisper Girl Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Stella - you are a hoot!! Thanks for a good laugh, I needed it today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricofAZ Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 (edited) So I thought it would be fun to try this. First batch of only feather palm and very slight dye in a 4 cavity Hawthorn type mould (8 inch taper) came out with one in good shape and the other three cracked. I went ahead and test burned one of the cracked ones and it was perfect. 15 Ply. Right down the center, no drip, no leaks.So I heated the mould up with the heat gun for a second pour. This time with a little FO - Ocean by Peaks, and some blue dye. I also changed to starburst palm mixed nearly 50/50 with feather palm. I let it cool slower. All 4 of the starburst palm came out solid, no cracks. The crystals are not fully formed, as you can see, but they look good. I might go back to feather and then to some of the other palms just to see if pre-heating the mould and cooling slowly is the key to making palm tapers. So far it looks good. Edited April 25, 2011 by EricofAZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Lovely candles! Good craftsmanship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dariablue Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Eric - Great looking candles. I have hope that palm wax can be made into tapers, so now I just have to practice (and get taper molds)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 I have recently had a request from a customer to make her unity candle and two palm wax tapers for her wedding in October. I have worked with palm wax for several years and make pillars and tarts, but I have never made a palm wax taper. To ensure that the crystalline formation forms properly, I am planning to use a taper mold rather then dipping the candles.Has anyone ever made a taper with palm wax, and if so - do you have any advice? And also any suggestions of what type of wick for a palm wax taper would be best? I am looking at making 1 x 12" tapers - if palm wax can be made into tapers.I don't make palm candles, so I just have to ask...since wedding candles are usually white, will the pattern show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 The crystal pattern shows on uncolored pillars and containers, so I don't see why it wouldn't on these. Eric stated that the crystals weren't totally formed, but will try again for better crystal pattern formation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricofAZ Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 (edited) I didn't post a photo of the cracked ones, but for some odd reason, the tops (bottom in the mould) had a slight dye color to them from mixing the dye and the bottoms (top in the mould) were just white. The white section formed very nice crystals, the dyed section has no formation at all and that's where the cracking was. I can't explain the dye separation (unless maybe I didn't mix well enough) but I think I can explain the reason why the candle was half crystalized. I believe that the non crystal formation of the candle was in a thinner section of the mould that cooled too fast (hence no crystals and lots of cracking). That seems to have been corrected in the second pour by pre-heating. Clearly the dye was not the cause because the dye in the second batch had no negative effects.I'll make some white ones without dye and see if I can slow the cooling down a bit more then post. Oh, and don't burn cracked candles for safety reasons. I just tried it for fun and had an extinguisher nearby in case it looked like it was going to blow up the lab. Edited April 26, 2011 by EricofAZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricofAZ Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Um, be careful what holder you use for palm tapers. The ones that are metal or glass that cup the taper are probably fine. The ones that are flat with a pin sticking up that you impale the taper on will shatter the base. Palm can't take the pressure of a dowel going up the center even if you use the wick. Maybe drilling would work, but I can see a customer dropping one of these on a pin type holder and being very disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dariablue Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 Eric - thank you for that tip - great advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soy327 Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Eric are you sure Einstein didn't make those beautiful tapers, are you trying taking credit for them:laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:Shame on you.Good job, I love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.