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| andyf:
Only 25 watts, Ade? The battery should last for hours, but as you say, there might not be enough heat. I think you said you want to end up with a block of wax 22x10x2.5" = 550 cu inches. As a cube, that would only be a little over 8" each side. Could you find a container(s) of somewhat larger volume to allow for shrinkage and machining, and simply keep the stuff warm and liquid in the oven on a low setting (100C would probably suffice) as you fill up the container with successive dollops of the mix? As a cube, 9x9x9" would be ample at 729 cu ins. Some cut down old gallon oilcans might get you there. Then, pour the whole lot into your mould. Andy |
| AdeV:
--- Quote from: andyf on February 18, 2010, 12:43:49 PM ---Only 25 watts, Ade? The battery should last for hours, but as you say, there might not be enough heat. --- End quote --- Yep, only 25 watts. Slightly less, in fact... The resistance is 5.6 ohms, voltage is 12v, giving 2.14 amps; amps * volts = watts. I was a bit surprised myself, I thought it'd be more than that. But, there you go... --- Quote ---I think you said you want to end up with a block of wax 22x10x2.5" = 550 cu inches. As a cube, that would only be a little over 8" each side. Could you find a container(s) of somewhat larger volume to allow for shrinkage and machining, and simply keep the stuff warm and liquid in the oven on a low setting (100C would probably suffice) as you fill up the container with successive dollops of the mix? As a cube, 9x9x9" would be ample at 729 cu ins. Some cut down old gallon oilcans might get you there. Then, pour the whole lot into your mould. --- End quote --- Good thinking, using a cube form hadn't occurred to me. Probably a couple of those "vintage car oil" metal cans from Halfords would easily fit the bill. I'm pretty sure I've got one of those knocking about somewhere, maybe 2. I don't think I'd want to risk using a plastic oil can, though! :bugeye: [calculators out] Just under 12 ltrs (9"x9"x9" cube), so 2 oil cans should do the job nicely :) Anyone got any old metal oil cans lying around, by any chance? --- Quote from: No1_sonuk on February 18, 2010, 11:28:07 AM ---Might be ok - yo just need to delay one layer setting until the next is poured. --- End quote --- Indeed, it may be; especially if I keep the mould covered between applications. Even if I can only find 1 oil can, I can use my little toaster oven to melt 1st batch in that; the sheer volume of that + the nichrome heater + a cover, should keep the wax liquid long enough to melt the 2nd batch. Also, it turns out that new wax poured onto old (cold) wax, does "glue" itself into the old wax quite satisfactorily - or, so one experiment has shown. I took the round piece, which I'd drilled out to various diameters, filled the hole with new wax. It shrunk quite considerably, leaving a void; which I then filled again. A facing cut showed that the new wax (which was a slightly different colour) didn't form a sharp divide, but quite a blurred join. The only concern is the huge shrinkage may have left voids deeper in the material.... I'll find out tomorrow when I cut it open. |
| John Stevenson:
Get an ten quid immersion heater element and bypass the thermostat and keep an eye on the temp and melt the lot in one go. Previous to this melt in stages from raw materiel as as this takes longer, the remelt stage takes less time. John S. |
| AdeV:
--- Quote from: John Stevenson on February 18, 2010, 07:15:52 PM ---Get an ten quid immersion heater element and bypass the thermostat and keep an eye on the temp and melt the lot in one go. Previous to this melt in stages from raw materiel as as this takes longer, the remelt stage takes less time. --- End quote --- The nichrome wire cost £2 (delivered), and the car battery is free (already got it)... Of course, if it proves to be unsatisfactory.... :doh: I'm up to around 9kgs of wax made & cast so far, which probably equates to about 8 litres. So, 2 more days of stirring should do it... which reminds me, I need more freezer bags - but, as a bonus, I can take some candles back to Tesco for a refund. As they say, every little helps! |
| AdeV:
Update Today was, mainly, about experimenting - as well as finishing up the last packet of bags... On John's suggestion, I bought a £10 fryer from Argos (it's £13.97 in the catalogue, but £9.99 in the shop) - in fact, I bought two. These worked as well as the saucepan, only with less mess and more convenience. And I didn't need to worry about the temperature, it maxes out at 190. Simply wait for the wax to melt, add the bags, give it 5-10 mins to get the bags nice & soft; stir/poke/prod/scrape the bags about a bit until they break up. Wait 5 mins, repeat; etc. until dissolved. For what it's worth, here's what I've discovered: * Get the candle wax good & hot before you add the bags. 160 degrees is good, 180 is better * Dump all the bags in, as 2 or 3 handfuls. Poke/push each bunch of bags under the wax (it will shrivel up a lot) to make room for the next handful. Don't bother cutting them up, it makes no difference to the melting time, and just means you've got millions of strips of bag to try gather up & add... * Once all the bags are in and shrivelly, poke them a few times to get the wax into the mass, then close the fryer lid & leave for 5 mins. * After 5 mins, the bags will soften. Using a stick (or screwdriver if you don't care about the non-stick finish), pierce the mass of bags and drag to the side. Push the stick all the way through the mass, effectively cutting it. Repeat, then start picking the blobs of plastic up & allow gravity to stretch/tear them back into the melt. Repeat until bored, or it's getting difficult to pick any plastic up. Wait 5 mins. * Start stirring. Keep going until the mixture is smooth. Squash any lumps of plastic agains the side of the pan to try to break them up * After 30-45 mins (total) you should have a silky smooth mixture. Fish any remaining lumps out with your stick (sometimes it's worth leaving the pan for a minute or two, as most lumps will float to the surface), wiping them on a suitable surface - a piece of scrap wood, cardboard, kitchen roll, etc. * Pour into mould. I pour directly from the fryer, rather than using a ladle, mainly because I've not got a ladle here; also, I have a very low boredom threshold. Finally; I got my best results using Tesco freezer bags (with tie handles - i.e. 100% plastic bags). I tried some Wilko bags, but they turned out to be more expensive for the same weight, and rubbish at dissolving. Whatever the white write-on stuff is on the Wilko bags, it doesn't dissolve: Ignore the purple colour, I was experimenting with candle colours again. Finally, I wondered about the yellow Argos bags the fryers came home in.... 'twas the work of but a moment to stir them into some wax: The bags weren't LDPE, they dissolved differently; and the resulting mixture took a lot longer to set, and cool off, than the LDPE based stuff. It machines OK, but as you can see there's lots of air bubbles in it. It seems to be somewhat softer than the other wax I've made. Looks good, though, as a garish orangey-yellow colour :) That's pretty well the end of this thread for now, I think; I will add to it if I ever find a source of raw plastic, or if I modify the setup I'm using at all. :proj: I do plan to automate the stirring..... as that's the really boring bit... |
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