Candle making

[Tengu]

My, you lot are extravagant!

My beekeeper is very much against burning the valuable wax, -he says he wont sell me any if he hears I have been using it for candles...

besides, there are plenty of old parrafin candles to play with

I love candlemaking myself.

I make some outdoor candles using old oyster or scallop shells

 

[slowworm]

My beekeeper is very much against burning the valuable wax, -he says he wont sell me any if he hears I have been using it for candles...

Did he say why? You always end up with some wax as a bee keeper and although you can sell it to the manufacturers of foundation you only get about £1 - £2 a pound. I expect many bee keepers could sell it for candles for a better price.

As my main aim isn't to maximise honey production from my bees I actually end up with a large amount of wax which I'll turn into candles.

 

[Janne]

If you pay for it it is up to you how you use it...... No?

It is the oldest way to make candles. Beautiful to look at, smells beautifully and gives a nice light.

 

[Trojan]

Very impressive and thank you for sharing

 

[Nomad666]

I guess one could even make a mold by splitting a bit of wood and hollowing it out put it back together ‎tying it up and put in wick and then melted wax I may give that a go right now I am using one of those tea candles for emergency fire starting and to wax thread for field repairs..

 

[Robson Valley]

Beef or mutton tallow candles must certainly be ancient as would be beeswax candles.

Kudlik (quilliq) are stone lamps used by Inuit in iglooliks for heat and light.
The fuel is very fine dice seal blubber which conveniently solidifies in the cold for transport.
The biggest I have seen pictures of is 36" long with a flame every cm.

One thing key to all of these is the wick material.
We have cotton-grass and a profusion of fruticose lichens.
What that might have been, a thousand years ago?

 

[Janne]

The Romans used plant fibers, like flax.
No doubt plant fiber wicks has been used for thousands of years before them.

In a tea light cup, when you make your own, try to use a match as a wick.
Carbonized wood works well.

I used to use matchsticks as a flame booster in my Trangia.
But it burns dry faster, of course!

 

[John Fenna]

I used matches in the "drip wax" that had formed an immovable floor in my home made Alu candle lantern....
They worked so well the wax all reached critical temp and ignited - giving off lots of light but also enough heat to partially melt the lantern.
This is why the candles here are shown with two brand new Alu candle lanterns.... the bee's wax one has no candle holder (shotgun brass) the other one is for standard candles...

 

[Janne]

So a fantastic result!


I did find out the match had not be too long, In a Trangia you do not want a big flame in one corner, not efficient. Heat escapes to the side.
I think I used 4 or 5 matches at most, but that was in temperatures unheard of on UK soil...

 

[Tengu]

In the past here theu used rush dips.

But I think they also used the rushes as candlewicks.

We do have cottongrass in peaty boggy areas.

If you were a church or very rich you did use beeswax candles though!

 

[Robson Valley]

What is a "rush dip?" Sort of a wax-impregnated plant candle thing?

What ever makes for wicks, it has to be simple and abundant.
After yesterday's snowfall, this is not the day to go foraging for lichens on the ground.

I should stop and harvest some cotton grass late next summer.
Grows in great patches in wet spots of the ditches along the highway.

 

[Janne]

Rush dip? Poor man's candle.

Maybe today we should say 'economically developing person's candle' so nobody gets offended?

Candles were luxury. Also because the taxes could be paid in what was produced on the farm, including wax.
I have read how the candles made from rank tallow smelled, and smoked.

It must have been heavenly when the Whale Oil became affordable. Apparently it smelled much less.

 

[santaman2000]

In the past here theu used rush dips.

But I think they also used the rushes as candlewicks.

We do have cottongrass in peaty boggy areas.

If you were a church or very rich you did use beeswax candles though!

What is a "rush dip?" Sort of a wax-impregnated plant candle thing?

What ever makes for wicks, it has to be simple and abundant.
After yesterday's snowfall, this is not the day to go foraging for lichens on the ground.

I should stop and harvest some cotton grass late next summer.
Grows in great patches in wet spots of the ditches along the highway.

This guy does some very good historical videos:

 

[Hbc]

Rush lamps and candles would have been in every household here in North Wales, probably all of Britain? Not that long ago. Rushes are abundant and everywhere. There are a couple of old rush lamps in the attic of my parents farmhouse somewhere along with the old paraffin lamps and other redundant things that old farmers can't bring themselves to throw out. I don't know what they would have used to burn in the old rush lamps though. I assume tallow? I've never actually seen the lamps but I'm told they are up there somewhere. It's a treasure trove in that attic. Found 2 really nice billhooks and my great grandfathers missing old leatherwork tools up there before.

 

[santaman2000]

double post.

 

[santaman2000]

Rush lamps and candles would have been in every household here in North Wales, probably all of Britain? Not that long ago. Rushes are abundant and everywhere. There are a couple of old rush lamps in the attic of my parents farmhouse somewhere along with the old paraffin lamps and other redundant things that old farmers can't bring themselves to throw out. I don't know what they would have used to burn in the old rush lamps though. I assume tallow? I've never actually seen the lamps but I'm told they are up there somewhere. It's a treasure trove in that attic. Found 2 really nice billhooks and my great grandfathers missing old leatherwork tools up there before.

Regarding lofts and attic treasures https://pin.it/rjuxvmid5zzzmz

 

[Robson Valley]

Think I need to fool with that, come summer. We have several species of pith-filled reeds (Scirpus sp).
They should be of similar anatomy to your rushes.