Everlasting Oil Burning Candles for Cut and Curl

[The Poker Mechanic]

I have spent long long hours trying to find a suitable solution to hold lamp oil inside cut and curl or other everlasting type candles. I have found plenty of options for oil wick holders, but not much on a container to hold the lamp oil in. I know candlefun.com has oil tubes, but they need to be mounted when the wax is poured I'm pretty sure because they are expanded near the bottom. I have found some other options, but all of them will hold very little lamp oil. I don't want to make them if they can only burn for a couple of hours. I have looked for the right size glass and plastic vials. I can't find the right size or shape I need. I have considered getting polycarbonate tube and sheet and making my own. I have also emailed a few companies to see if their coating materials would be suitable for this application. I am driving myself nuts trying to work out small details on things like this. I wonder if the Acrylic coating you dip the candles in can hold in the lamp oil? Does anyone know how silicone would react with lamp oil? It might be easy to use clear tubing and put a dab of silicone at the bottom to hold in the oil.

I haven't had any luck landing a job so I'm really working hard to try and make some money with candles. I'm trying to get my wife set up to make cut and curls while I take care of all the other types. I have spent about 4k on everything. I have about one months living expenses and about 1k left to work with on the business. Even though I will surely have to get a job soon I plan to stick with the candle business hell or high water. I would so much appreciate any information you can give me. I know I am new, but I do plan to contribute to this forum in the future.

[JanetsCandles]

Silicone shouldn't react to lamp oil, at least not if you use the standard stuff. You'd have to wait until the silicone was kicked off of course. But silicone won't stick to wax as a general rule (someone else may have found differently, but that's my experience). Polycarbonate should in theory handle the stuff, but no idea if the silicone would stick. Just be aware that you'll need a way to keep the flame away from the sides of the tube (and wax of course). I know they make some sort of glass tube that holds the wicks for some of the oil lamp wicks, so it keeps it out of the oil. I just haven't found a source for it yet.

Keep in mind, any special applications or shapes may require you to contract someone for making the mold for the plastic or glass, and that's expensive. If you have a local glass blower, you might ask if there is something that they could suggest. The one I have near me has made quite a few specialized shapes from glass in the past, but I haven't asked for something like this. Good luck on it though!

[MoonshadowLane]

Instead of lamp oil, you might consider disposable fuel cells. You would need to pour a knockout for the fuel cell or drill a hole for it in the base candle. They come in a lot of different sizes but 8hrs seems to be about the minimum burn time for the smallest.

Here's a link to what I use in my luminaries. The 8 hr is what I use.

http://www.candles4less.com/s.nl

You might also take a look at this one. http://www.brightsettings.com/table-linens/Fuel-Cells-PHOLHD29-A59.html

I can't get the "more info" page to load, so I'm not sure of the dimensions. HTH

[EricofAZ]

Poker Mechanic, best wishes on a job.

Decorative candles that are not meant to be used, but merely admired, are great for many occasions. I read where 7 out of 10 homes have candles and most are decorative.

Please be cautious about making candles for sale that are meant to be lit, or could be lit even if that was not the purpose. 18,000 homes a year go up in flames from candle fires. Testing and getting it right for the wick/wax/FO/size is very important and testing can take a lot more than a month.

http://www.candles.org/safety.html

The folks here on this forum seem to be pretty dedicated to safety. You are new to this, the folks responding to you are new to this. Consider the importance of properly building a candle and testing it so that the common misuse issues are addressed (ie, burning too long, burning unattended, etc).

Safety has to come first. Best wishes to you.

[The Poker Mechanic]

Poker Mechanic, best wishes on a job.

Decorative candles that are not meant to be used, but merely admired, are great for many occasions. I read where 7 out of 10 homes have candles and most are decorative.

Please be cautious about making candles for sale that are meant to be lit, or could be lit even if that was not the purpose. 18,000 homes a year go up in flames from candle fires. Testing and getting it right for the wick/wax/FO/size is very important and testing can take a lot more than a month.

http://www.candles.org/safety.html

The folks here on this forum seem to be pretty dedicated to safety. You are new to this, the folks responding to you are new to this. Consider the importance of properly building a candle and testing it so that the common misuse issues are addressed (ie, burning too long, burning unattended, etc).

Safety has to come first. Best wishes to you.

I have been working on candles for two months. I also have people helping me.

I have tested over 80 different combinations for my jelly jar candles before I narrowed it down to two wick sizes that I use. I also test every single combo of FO and Dye individually. I make sure the jar doesn't get too hot. I make sure there is minimal amounts of soot. I make sure the candle is safe even if burned from start to finish in one burn. I also got it to where I get almost no mushrooming. My candles burn long, steady, safely, and with very little soot or at least I don't see any black smoke coming from them or any buildup of black on the jar. I am in the process of developing a better standard to measure the emission of soot. I will of course include standard instructions for candle safety with every candle. I can assure that I am exhausting all possibilities pertaining to safety.

[The Poker Mechanic]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I appreciate that. I am going to fabricate my own containers out of plastic to hold the lamp oil. I will buy glass wick holders and fiberglass wick to insert into my custom container. I will of course burn this under severe conditions for long periods of time to be certain that it is safe. I have done the research to make sure the plastics I am going to try will hold up good to lamp oil and heat.

[sheller]

hi i read your thread with interest, i am currently going through the exact same process (looking for candle tube inserts) i di find a couple of companies in china that could custom make them for me i was wondering if you were interested in them as well maybe we can bulk order and split the costs? or perhaps you have better ideas and i can actually purchase from you?

Edited June 2, 2011 by sheller