Candle Melter From........
This was a project like no other.. Here for the last few weeks we (my wife and I) have been working, researching a new home based business. This business is candle making, And it seemed like it was easy enough to learn. So we jumped in feet first and started researching everything we could.
First steps.
First things was first. I needed to know what I was supposed to build and why. I needed to make myself a check list and fast. However I still didn't know what all was needed or the steps required to produce the finished project. Quickly I sunk myself into the computer and was lost in the net in no time flat. I stumbled upon many sites dealing with candle making for the lonely warrior or the professional.. I soaked up all I could and came to what I thought was a pretty good idea on what I wanted to build.
As I fumbled threw the countless pages of the internet I found that there wasn't any shortage of information, However there wasn't really a place to buy your melting equipment at a fair price. Since I only found a hand full of places that sale the major melting equipment for candle making.(the more commercial stuff) They really didn't have enough competition to get the prices down. So I opted to build what ever My wife and I needed to get through until our new home based business showed some type of profit.
Going for the build.
Going for the build. Coming into it I still had no clue as to what to build. I mean I seen what candle melters look like. Single cambers all the way to 12 cambers. From $49.95 - $10,995.00
They range from small enough to fit on your counter tops to large enough to require their own room.
First I need to figure out what our production targets was for my first go rounds in the biz...This was a total pain as I have never made candles. Heck I don't even know how long it takes to make a candle or anything. (So Back to you tube to watch more candle carving videos and candle videos in general)..
Now armed to the gills with knowledge. I know what I what kind of candles I will be doing. I know how many and how long it takes me to make them. (Even though I still have never made my first candle)
We have decided to go the hardest route. Artisan candles. Hand carved beauties, along with your regular stuff like votive, pilliar, Containers, tapers, and of course tarts. Can't forget the Tarts..(Wick less candle) made no sense to me but whatever. Carved candles are going to be the hard part. As everything that I have read says you need to apprentice for a year before even being allowed to even dip the candles in the wax vats. Here we are about to start out fresh.. (Ole yeah)...
Picture Of the types of candles I will be making.
Picture from Google Images search
The above photo is what we are going to be making. This isn't done with regular molds like a lot of candles. It is kind like making taper candles in the since that you dip these. However that is where the similarity stops. The one above is also a solid color. which I feel is beautiful. But they also make these with lots of colors. In fact it can be any color ranges that you like. As seen below in the next pic.. (either way it goes these all have one factor in common. They all have to be dipped to vats of molten wax to build layers in order to carve).
Beautiful color hand carved candle.
(Picture from google image search)
One look at these awesome candles and I knew that I didn't want to make just plain ole boring container candles, This is what I wanted to make.. No no.. This is what I am going to make.. So how do we do it. Of course as I watched the videos I was seeing that a dipping vat was always used. Its the money maker of the candle world.. And I knew I had to have one. This is where I found only a few companies make the wax melter systems. The best one I found was in India I think. They offer a few different models to choose from, and they also have business packages to go along with the melters.
My only issue with these units. Is the Price. One knows that you would have made a cash return of some sort, and of course the equipment will pay for it self.. However what does one do when they don't have the capital to spend on something that cost that much when they are first starting. Of course used equipment is an option. With used equipment you have to worry about how it was taken care of and how long it will last for you before needing replaced or repaired.
This is the business 10 unit.. It is awesome. And I wish I had 5-10 grand to spend on these up front. This would def. make the whole process faster and just a breeze. But this is the real world. I have 5 kids and I am a broke man. So I have to get my old dusty brain into overdrive and figure out how to achieve the same thing but with only a fraction of the cost....
This I have done. I just completed what I call the CM1.1. Which was a corny way of giving credit to the person that helped me most with the build. The C stands for my middle name Cole. And the M stands for My good friend and Build helper, Marshall. And the One stands for the first one of its kind. And last the dot one stands for the first edition of its kind with no updates. However the letters also stand for what it was intended for at first.. Candle Melter 1.1 .....
(photo by Jesse Goodman)
Cm1.1 finished product
My build doesn't have that wonderful awesome Stainless Steel look to it. But it does have a look all on its own. Wouldn't you agree?
What we have here is items that any everyday person can get their hands on. All the materials came from http://www.lowes.com/. I live 2 miles from our Lowes so I did not order anything on line. But you could if you had to. It would just take a little bit longer.
Materials for the job wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Lets see if I can remember of the top of my head what all was used.
- Metal 30 gallon trash can With lid
- single cabinet with counter top
- 1500 watt hot water heater element
- Pack of 1inch emt connector ring(comes with two in the pack you only need one. These are the lock rings that secure Metal one inch electrical pipes to work boxes. The thread patterns is a perfect match for the heating element. This is very important in the future)
- Temperature controller IE: (replacement thermostat for oven control)
- One pound silver solder
- Soldering Flux
- 6 Foot #6 pre made Plug (For electric connection to wall outlet) In my case it is 110V (plugs right into any outlet in your house that doesn't already have a lot of load of the circuit its on).
- Small box of zip screws (1/4 inch by 1/4inch self tapper)
- Torch (I used blue can with out o2 because we are only using silver solder, this works just fine, However you can use yellow tank with o2 and silver brazing sticks for a much higher tinsel strength, but this isn't need as I will never have any type of pressure on the system at all)
- Small roll of 12/2 electric wire. (if you don't have a few small pieces laying around at home)
- 6 cans spray foam
- 1 1/8 metal hole saw
- Teflon Tape
I think this is pretty close to the items you will need, Although as old as I am I am sure I will be back adding in items as we go. (Thankfully to me. You will never Notice as I will fix it before being published, Unless I blow That to. Which would/will make this all the more ironic)
It's a pretty straight forward build. And now that you have seen it. I am sure you have already about figured how it was assembled and how it works.
As soon as you get home grab the cordless drill, chuck up the metal hole saw and find a spot near the bottom but not all the way at the bottom and drill, make your hole. Clean it well then find the 1 inch lock ring (That you tested at store to make sure it thread on and off your element We hope) and solder it to the can.
After you solder the ring to the can. You can now start the long process of soldering all the seams on the can, This will ensure you of no leaks. I soldered all mine from the out side. It seemed like the best idea at the time as the seems were much smaller and tighter than that of the inside.
After soldering to the can.. Find your element and wrap a few good wraps of Teflon around the threads of the heating element. Once That is done Thread it into the lock nut that you soldered onto you Trash can.
at this point you have a large self heating vessel. However if wired at this point it would heat and never shut off. Even after it is boiling.
This is why you purchased your thermostat. It controls the electric flow so to speak..
Wiring this in should be done by some one whom is licensed. Or if you truly trust your work then be my guest. I did my own but. I also worked in the field a long time as well. I really urge the fact of hiring some one for this part if you are unsure. Just for the fact that you are using high volts with high amps. And water/oil plus metal. I don't have to have a PHD for me to figure out that this is a Bad plan gone worse if done incorrectly.
On the same note when installed correctly this is an awesome little setup to get started with.
(Those other units on google search are all crafted of metal as well and require the same care as with you home unit.. Just something to keep in mind)
I used a small half box and zip screwed it above water level at first before I knew that I wanted to install it into the cabinet. (using it this way was ok to I was going to keep it like this and just wrap it with insulation then tightly wrap with plastic wrap)
For my dipping vats I used pre made stuff from lowes for heating and air. they are 8inch flumes, I bought them and matching end caps. (these are great but as you can see the awful seem on the inside. Once you use these for a color. it will be used for that color for ever more as there is no way to clean all the way with these seams the way they are. Which is just a minor set back. And meant that I had to make a vat for every color. but its not bad now as we can switch them out fast and simple now.
No way to fill that... I mean there is but It isn't worth putting what it would cost into it.. Although I am sure there is other people whom see it way better or different. If so I would love the feed back or ideas.. I am all about making it better for cheaper.. You know what they say. If it's Free it's for me.
close up before cleaning and getting a false bottom and added to the cabinet
This is what it looked like right before I added it to the cabinet. This showing the unit with out a false bottom on the inside, You can tell by how low the vat was sitting inside..
You have to add a false bottom which I don't have a picture of but I made mine out of a second metal lid. I bought a second lid and used a pair of metal snips and cut it smaller then normal as to fit inside. it ended up being a 15 inch diameter to fit perfectly. used a few copper pipe pieces that I had here at the house for the legs and boom False bottom. Which i only need because I allow my vats to sit instead of hang. Other wise my vats would touch the heating element, and well that can't be good.
the last thing on the list is almost the most simple. Find the counter top that came with the cabinet you purchased. Put it on the cabinet and see how it sets. Make marks to ensure it goes back into the same spot everytime.
remove it find center. mark center. Grab your can set it in the top of the cabinet, You can do so now because it has not top.. See where the can sits in center. Try and get the best measurements you can from any points that you can. (to help transfer to counter top).
However your methods. This can be easy and it can be a real pain. For myself. I found my center and flipped the can up side down tracing the largest part of the can. Then as I cut I held in off my line about a 1/4 inch. As to make my hole 1/4inch smaller than it should have been. This turned out to be perfect.. It rested nice and tight and fit great.
Once I fed it thru the hole and had it seated the way I wanted It was all be over. With the electric installed and the can installed. I ended up moving my control to fit into the cabinet as seen in the photo.
I also On the inside. Used spray foam. (wish I had a photo of this.) to insulate and help retain heat. This was achieved very easily. All I had to do was section off sections with cardboard. Spray in the foam from the top watch it expand.. Let it dry a little bit, And remove cardboard. Repeat the process on all sides.
If done correctly you should end up with something close to this. A working unit that does what it is supposed to do.
Mine takes about 1 1/2 hours to heat up to 200F. Not to bad considering its holding 15 gallons of water about 120 pounds of wax.
(photo by 
.
