Yesterday and today, I have been busy making candles and today I prototyped a candle holder for Christmas. I have it saved and ready to make for next year, too. But for now, I am happy with the design of it, and will certainly be making some to sell at the markets we attend in the next couple of weeks. Maybe it will go over well, and maybe it won’t at all. But I am certain that the more I do with the candles, the more I am liking what I am doing with them, and the more I’d like to!
The cup hooks we have permanently installed in the molding over the stairs for Christmas stockings have found a new use as I hang hand dipped candles there till it is time to select what will go to market. I am doing two different lengths of birthday candles, and some 9- to 10-inch-tall tapers. I am happy with them that they certainly look hand dipped. Neatness is not the goal at the moment so much as just getting the candles to look rustic and of a Colonial American period. After all, that is what I want of everything I make in the candle business.
I have a good lot of tin molded candles ready to go already. They do fit in the candle holders better, but they also have a different appearance than the hand dipped. I don’t use a weight on the dipping ends of my wicks, so they wicks begin to build up a bit of wax, and I straighten them while they are still fairly warm. I like the look of the finished products, that way, where they are more organic in shape.
The candle holder is a star I shaped on the laser cutter, then added some festive decorations. The whole thing is etched into a board, then I cut the shape out on the bandsaw, as the wood is too thick to cut with the laser. Again, it adds an organic shape to the wood, and I think, completes the old-time look of the stand.
The wood star with a cup set in place atop the laser etcher as it works on a second copy. I plan to have several ready for the markets coming up, and will also put some online, I’m sure, as well as in the shop, if Missus has space and will allow!
The star with the candle cup affixed and a candle in it. This is the final product that I think I would like to sell at $6.95 and $9.95 with a candle included, which would normally be $3.75 on its own.
Careful work at the saw leaves a satisfactory finish, then I coat the wood with an mix of oil and beeswax before I put in the screw and washer that hold the candle cup to the wood, for a final product. I am designing a new star now that is not Christmas themed, but more America and the Fourth of July themed. I also have a medallion that I would like to try on a square board. There was a fair bit of waste in the prototype board, but bear in mind, it was lay on the ground outside, and while I grabbed it out of convenience, I was really happy with the finish left by a little hand plane work. It is pretty stable and looks just how I wanted it to!
This is a fairly easy project to do, especially with the laser involved to help imprint design elements and to score or etch the outline of the shape of the final product. It does take a fair bit of time to whack together, and that is where the cost comes from. I may still be estimating it cheap even at $6.95. A final decision is to come, or I will settle on what I have already guessed.