Candle making

[John Fenna]

A few minutes playtime produced these -

The wicks were made from threads from some old canvas, dipped in melted bee' wax and the two large candles were cast in old Mince Pie cases the lit free standing one hand moulded and the one on it's side, hand dipped.
I think they burn well, give off a good light and they smell great!
Paleo candles

 

[Woody girl]

Paleo mince pie cases
I like that idea.!
I use cotton string for wicks in my home made candles. Works ok.
Have you made any oil candles? I used to make them using small bottle but they are a bit dicey if you knock them over.
I lover beeswax candles too. They do smell much nicer for sure.

 

[Nice65]

Nice playing with wax isn’t it? We must have moulding built into our genes. Clay, wax, dough, Play-Doh, all pleasing things to feel.

Nice thing about beeswax, apart from the smell, is the golden light. It’s subtly different from paraffin wax which is more refined and burns with a whiter flame.

 

[Janne]

Beeswax is the best. Heavenly smell.

If you ever make an oil from Pine needles, you can add it ( a tiny amount) to the usual (cheap) wax.
Tar works a treat too.

 

[Robson Valley]

I think it's "fire." That's the really primeval part of it.
The very fastest known method to get ratty kids to settle down at supper time.
I would have Mr Fenna's candles on my table any night.

 

[John Fenna]

Thanks for the nice comments
I like playing with wax - I have made Dubbin, furniture wax, candles and other bits with it. I scored about 6kg in a charity shop recently for a very reasonable price
It makes those £1.50 mini ingots look very expensive!
I was inspired to try the candles after seeing some about the size of the cast ones I made for nearly £7 each!!!!!!

 

[Woody girl]

I have a bee place near me and they sell sheets of wax with wicks in a kit. I've had several kits over the years and made the candles by rolling the sheets round the wick. They don't last as long as dipped or moulded candles but they make great presents and look realy nice.
I always buy beeswax candles if I can get them. I'm lucky to have two other beekeepers localy so can get wax and raw honey at good prices. Still not cheap tho!
You were lucky to get that amount of wax in the charity shop.

 

[Janne]

Remember, you can dilute the precious bees wax. Maybe 10-20% . Still keeps the look and smell.

I buy bees wax from a local 'handmade candles@ shop in pellet form.

 

[John Fenna]

I have had a trial burn ...
The hand moulded one lasted about half an hour (in a container for safety) before drowning the wick in melted wax... the Mince pie style was still burning well and had only used up about half a cm in an hour and a half! Nice 3/4" flame all that time too!

 

[Nice65]

I have a bee place near me and they sell sheets of wax with wicks in a kit. I've had several kits over the years and made the candles by rolling the sheets round the wick. They don't last as long as dipped or moulded candles but they make great presents and look realy nice.

Those are foundations, for the bees to build their storage cupboards upon.

 

[Muddypaws]

Nice! Lucky that you scored such a lot of beeswax for a good price. But you could add just a little beeswax to paraffin wax to get just a hint of the nice smell, if you didn't have so much beeswax to play with.

 

[John Fenna]

Today I tried "Sand Casting".
Basically the same as the mince pie casting but the mould is made by ramming sand around a former - in this case a length of wood - and hanging the wick in that before pouring the wax in. Some sand sticks to the wax - but I like the look - and the rest of the beach is reusable after the candle is withdrawn (after it has cooled and hardened) - the pie foils tended to tear and not be reusable....

 

[Janne]

Those look seriously cool!

Have you tried to line the mold with aromatic leaves before you pour in the wax?

I used to do that with the cheap waxes. Mint, lemon verbena, greenery like that.

 

[John Fenna]

Those look seriously cool!

Have you tried to line the mold with aromatic leaves before you pour in the wax?

I used to do that with the cheap waxes. Mint, lemon verbena, greenery like that.

Nice idea!
I may try that with a future batch but I have all the candles I need at the moment so the wax is back on the shelf

 

[SaraR]

I have a bee place near me and they sell sheets of wax with wicks in a kit. I've had several kits over the years and made the candles by rolling the sheets round the wick. They don't last as long as dipped or moulded candles but they make great presents and look realy nice.
I always buy beeswax candles if I can get them. I'm lucky to have two other beekeepers localy so can get wax and raw honey at good prices. Still not cheap tho!
You were lucky to get that amount of wax in the charity shop.

To be fair, wax is expensive for both the bees and the beekeeper, so it's not surprising that it costs a bit.

 

[SaraR]

Today I tried "Sand Casting".
Basically the same as the mince pie casting but the mould is made by ramming sand around a former - in this case a length of wood - and hanging the wick in that before pouring the wax in. Some sand sticks to the wax - but I like the look - and the rest of the beach is reusable after the candle is withdrawn (after it has cooled and hardened) - the pie foils tended to tear and not be reusable....

Nice! I've wondered about sand forms for candles but never tried it myself.

 

[John Fenna]

I first came across the idea some45 years ago - but only just tried it

 

[TLM]

If memory serves on history of technology casting in sand moulds is only about 2500 years old maybe slightly older. Even considering that was not in a neighboring country that still makes the speed of information transfer fairly slow.

 

[Janne]

British Isles.
Islands.



( joking. Tin is very British. What, 3 sources of Tin in Europe? Maybe 4? Casting in clay or stone moulds was more common I think in those happy days?)

 

[Nomad666]

I intend on making some birch and pine tar this summer this adding it to home made candles sounds great thanks for the idea...