The next morning, the candle was nice and cool with a couple of holes in the middle, just like we left it the night before. I melted some of the leftover wax (about an inch in one of the small pots) and poured it into the holes we had made last night. It poured in quickly and there was no sign that the holes were filled. So I melted another couple of chunks of wax. I poured that in and still no sign. So I melt some more two more times before finally seeing the holes were filled. This took a good two or three pounds of wax, a lot more than I thought it would. Experience is a good teacher. I let the candle cool again.
Now the candle is ready to be pushed out of the mold at church. Last year, this was quite an ordeal from what I have heard. I wasn't helping push it out. I think they used a big stick and several strong people to get the deed done. Since I am writing this before going to church, I don't know what the results are. I hope it came out okay and it looks alright. Since we are traveling to San Francisco, I'm probably going to have to drop off the candle and not find out until we get back how it went. Maybe someone will call me to say it's a do-over or it's perfect. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Also, I am probably going to pre-write a couple of blogs so I make my blog-a-day goal. So readers may not hear till Monday what the results are. I hope the suspense isn't too much.
Showing posts with label pascal candle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pascal candle. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Paschal Candle Making--Melting Wax and Pouring
A paschal candle is typically very large for a candle. The diameter is 3-5 inches and several feet tall. That means a lot of wax goes into making it. We've wound up using almost 15 pounds of wax for the candle (luckily the store sells an 11 pound block and a 4 pound block). Melting it all isn't easy and could take forever if there's only one pot.
Luckily, last year's candle maker found this out and managed to put together a pile of pots to use for melting the wax. One large lobster pot is used to accumulate the melted wax from three or four other pots, depending on how many burners you have on the stove. I know the web site recommends using a double-boiler for safety, but that slows the melting process down and would require 4 double boilers in this scheme! So smaller chunks of wax are melted in the small pots and poured into the big pot. The small pots easily melt in five minutes or so, resulting in many pours into the big pot. I think it took us about half an hour to 45 minutes to melt all the wax for the initial pour.
The main pot did get above the 175-185 degree temperature recommended for pouring the candle, so we did have to wait a bit for it to cool down. Good thing we had a candle thermometer to keep track. While it was cooling, we double checked the set up for the candle mold.
To hold a four foot mold up straight, we used a five-gallon bucket. Last year we filled it with sand, but this year we had a change and a breakthrough. We didn't have any sand handy here at the house, so we used the small white decorating stone chips that have been sitting in the garage for decades. That's the change; the breakthrough involves putting the mold into the bucket. Instead of trying to dig a hole, I put a cardboard carton inside the bucket before filling it with stone chips. The candle mold fit nicely into the box. After we were done pouring, we pulled it out and the rocks filled in nicely.
The mold was loose enough in the box that we could angle it slightly to the side (something recommended so that air bubbles don't get trapped in the wax right after you pour). We poked a hole in an aluminum foil pan and used that as a funnel to pour in the hot wax. It worked pretty well until we took it away and both tried to look down the mold to see how high it was filled. Yes, we clonked heads together. Eventually it was full enough. After tapping the side of the mold with a screwdriver (to help the bubbles come off the mold and come to the top) for five minutes, we stood the mold upright and let it start to cool. After about half an hour, I checked and poke some vent holes as recommended on the web page. We have a big bamboo stick that was used last year that worked well. Half an hour later I repoked the holes. Then we left the candle in the garage overnight.
The next step will be in the next blog...
Luckily, last year's candle maker found this out and managed to put together a pile of pots to use for melting the wax. One large lobster pot is used to accumulate the melted wax from three or four other pots, depending on how many burners you have on the stove. I know the web site recommends using a double-boiler for safety, but that slows the melting process down and would require 4 double boilers in this scheme! So smaller chunks of wax are melted in the small pots and poured into the big pot. The small pots easily melt in five minutes or so, resulting in many pours into the big pot. I think it took us about half an hour to 45 minutes to melt all the wax for the initial pour.
The main pot did get above the 175-185 degree temperature recommended for pouring the candle, so we did have to wait a bit for it to cool down. Good thing we had a candle thermometer to keep track. While it was cooling, we double checked the set up for the candle mold.
To hold a four foot mold up straight, we used a five-gallon bucket. Last year we filled it with sand, but this year we had a change and a breakthrough. We didn't have any sand handy here at the house, so we used the small white decorating stone chips that have been sitting in the garage for decades. That's the change; the breakthrough involves putting the mold into the bucket. Instead of trying to dig a hole, I put a cardboard carton inside the bucket before filling it with stone chips. The candle mold fit nicely into the box. After we were done pouring, we pulled it out and the rocks filled in nicely.
The mold was loose enough in the box that we could angle it slightly to the side (something recommended so that air bubbles don't get trapped in the wax right after you pour). We poked a hole in an aluminum foil pan and used that as a funnel to pour in the hot wax. It worked pretty well until we took it away and both tried to look down the mold to see how high it was filled. Yes, we clonked heads together. Eventually it was full enough. After tapping the side of the mold with a screwdriver (to help the bubbles come off the mold and come to the top) for five minutes, we stood the mold upright and let it start to cool. After about half an hour, I checked and poke some vent holes as recommended on the web page. We have a big bamboo stick that was used last year that worked well. Half an hour later I repoked the holes. Then we left the candle in the garage overnight.
The next step will be in the next blog...
Monday, March 30, 2009
Paschal Candle Making--setting up the mold
We are making a Paschal candle for our church group. Last year, another member made the candle and I helped with the process. This year, he is out of town so it's fallen to us. We made our first pour last night and let the candle cool in the garage. To make next year's candle easier, I decided to chronicle the process for whoever winds up making the candle.
The first thing to document is the web site we used to guide the candle making process. The good thing about the web site is that it goes through the process of making a pillar candle step by step with clear instructions and with pictures (something we failed to do, sorry!). The bad thing is that it describes using a metal mold, which we are not using for this candle.
We are using a four-inch diameter PVC pipe that is about four feet long. We have a cap for the end of the pipe through which a small hole is drilled. This serves as the base of the pillar and it's where the wick goes through. Before assembling, though, we sprayed the inside of the pipe and the cap with candle mold release so that it will come out of the tube more easily at the end.
Tacky wax is used to seal the hole so that hot wax does not leak out of the mold while it cools. To hold the wick up straight, we tied it to a chop stick. Any stick would do; we have plenty of chopsticks in our drawer that never get used. We twisted the wick around the stick until it was tight. This set up should keep the wick centered during pouring.
Everything is set, except for melting the wax and pouring, which will be a separate blog.
The first thing to document is the web site we used to guide the candle making process. The good thing about the web site is that it goes through the process of making a pillar candle step by step with clear instructions and with pictures (something we failed to do, sorry!). The bad thing is that it describes using a metal mold, which we are not using for this candle.
We are using a four-inch diameter PVC pipe that is about four feet long. We have a cap for the end of the pipe through which a small hole is drilled. This serves as the base of the pillar and it's where the wick goes through. Before assembling, though, we sprayed the inside of the pipe and the cap with candle mold release so that it will come out of the tube more easily at the end.
Tacky wax is used to seal the hole so that hot wax does not leak out of the mold while it cools. To hold the wick up straight, we tied it to a chop stick. Any stick would do; we have plenty of chopsticks in our drawer that never get used. We twisted the wick around the stick until it was tight. This set up should keep the wick centered during pouring.
Everything is set, except for melting the wax and pouring, which will be a separate blog.
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