hand dipped candles

[silas thatcher]

toying around with hand dipping a few short candles for one of my lanterns... i found a source for beeswax cheap and wanna experiment a little... read up on dipping candles already but i wanna know what wick size and shape others have had good luck with...

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

It has been years since I messed with candles, but we used to get the wicks from a place called Wicks-n-Sticks, or something like that, at one of the malls. Don't know if you have anything like that, but as St. Charles has that really cool downtown historic district, you might try a run through those shops too. Sorry I cannot remeber more, but I only helped others a few times about ten years back. Be careful, it can be very dangerous even under the best conditions!

Bo

[silas thatcher]

hobby lobby, and michaels both carry candle making supplies... they have rough guidelines as to which wick works best for which application... so far, the little pillar candles i have made have turned out as well as i want them too... the wick and size combo i used ( got lucky ) seems to work out real well... a 2 inch round candle with beeswax mixed in, 3 and 1/2 inches tall burns for almost 12 hours...

now with that under my belt, i wanna try hand dipped ones :)

[Littleneckhalfshell]

toying around with hand dipping a few short candles for one of my lanterns... i found a source for beeswax cheap and wanna experiment a little... read up on dipping candles already but i wanna know what wick size and shape others have had good luck with...

Just a note on candles, in case anyone wants to be 'historically correct' for our time period. Check out

http://www.candlewic.com/candlemaking-history.asp

here you will find that beeswax was not always 'cheap' and candles made from it were usually only found among the 'upper classes'

also the braided wicks you are so familiar with, and that are sold today in shops with candle making supply sections, are a invention of the 19th century.

""The braided wick was also invented in the 19th century. Wicks before this time were made simply of twisted strands of cotton, which burned very poorly and needed constant maintenance. The braided wick was tightly plaited and a portion of the wick curled over and enabled it to be completely consumed.""

thus the reason for 'wick trimmers' in our time period, a non braided wick does not 'curl-in' to the flame and thus does not become consumed and thus self limiting, if not trimmed, the non braided wick will increase the size of the candle flame and that is not a good thing. Anyway, just in case anyone wants to go the whole 9 yards with the candle making bit, carry on.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Littleneckhalfshell

[Littleneckhalfshell]

Just a note on 'tallow'

for any of you deer hunters out there, the very hard fat found around the organs can be harvested and melted. it provides a relatively hard stable fat that is suitable for making period candles. It may droop in the heat of Key west, but should hold together, or you could cheat and mix it with some modern wax. But be forwarned, as the previously quoted article mentions, tallow for candles is an 'acquired' taste Candles made with it are definitely not the 'modern' scented product most of us are used to. If you are not into recreating the 'smells' of the period, then 'tallow' candles are not for you.

[Salty]

silas,

for hand dipped candles, you can try a cotton, or linen string, waited with a washer as you dip and cool them. good luck

Edited January 5, 2010 by Saltypots

[Asolfr]

Dadant and sons, is a Bee supply company , but they have candle supplies, and if you call them they sell spools of wick, and wax by pound, 25+ or singles, $4-$5 per pound depending. just search google.