CandlemakingCandlemaking is the art and science of creating candles and other luminaries.
Related Skills- Beekeeping - Probably the most commonly paired skill, this allows the Candlemaker access to a steady supply of beeswax, generally seen as more desirable than animal fat.
- Foraging - For those without access to their own bees, wild hives can be harvested for the wax
- Food Preservation/Hunting/Butchering - Useful when using animal fats as a base
- Perfumery - Used to create the scents for scented candles rather than having to purchase them
- Carving - Used in several styles to create some of the most elaborate candles
- Botany/Herbalism/Floristry - Useful for using herbs or flowers either to scent or decorate a candle. A florist might be able to make a candle look the prettiest, a herbalist would know which might have an effect, for example that lavender would be calming and soothing to add.
- Glassworking - To create containers for candles without having to buy them from elsewhere
- Poison - Those with the knowledge, the equipment and a nefarious purpose could create candles that slowly poison with skin contact, or more commonly though requiring higher skill, that release their deadly cargo when heated. Contact poisons are most common, but air carried are possible though generally less effective.
Main TechniquesThere are three main candle-making techniques.
The most simple and least refined is to have a container of an acceptable size, a weighted wick which is placed in the center and generally tied to a rod to keep it straight and as centered as possible, and melted wax to pour into the container. It is allowed to set, the rod is removed, and the candle is burned within the container.
The second technique is quite similar, but instead of a permanent container a mold is used which is removed once the candle is set. These are often simple pillar shapes, but can be more intricate as a Candlemakers skill increases.
The third and most well known although hardest technique to master involves repeatedly dipping the wick into a pot of wax. Beginners often use this to make simple taper shaped candles quickly and easily. With increased skill however, fancier candles could be made, for example multicoloured candles made by dipping the wick into different vats of coloured wax. This also allows for either fairly straight, even candle, or dramatically tapering ones with very large bases rising to a narrow top.
Decorations
Pressed FlowersDried, pressed flowers can be applied to pre-made candles. Slightly heat the area you want to apply the flowers until it is tacky to the touch. Some candlemakers will use an adhesive instead of this, but purists frown upon it. Apply the flowers, pressing them gently to the wax and, shape allowing, rolling them on a flat surface. During this, a small amount of clear, uncoloured wax, the purer the better, should be heating in a pot of water. Either holding the wick or having tied it to a rod, dip the candle, allowing a thin transparent coat to cover the flower more firmly affixing it permanently to the candle.
You can experiment with coloured wax to alter how the flower is seen, or doing thicker layers of wax increasing the opacity.
Pressed HerbsDried, pressed herbs are applied in the same manner as flowers, but often have the added bonus of releasing a faint subtle scent as the heat of the candle releases their essential oils. Lavender is a favourite for this, although many herbs are suitable.
ColourDyes can be added to colour the wax. At it's simplest, this allows for candles of colours other than the usual untreated white or yellow. Using either the container or mold method of candle making allows for horizontal layers of colours by pouring in one colour, allowing it to set, and then adding the next and so on. The dipping method allows for a candle to appear to be all one colour, until it begins to melt, when another (or many other!) colour is revealed. Fade effects can also be achieved by dipping the candle in a subsequently shallow manner, giving a thicker covering and thus a deeper colour on the bottom.
ScentAlthough making the scents ties into the Perfumery skill, any candlemaker can add scents to their wax with varying degrees of success. Judging the strength, keeping the batches roughly even, and ensuring the scents don't clash particularly when using more heavily naturally scented beeswax does take some practice and skill. When doing horizontally layered candles it is more than possible to have a candle that changes scents as it burns.
CarvingThe simplest form of carving usually involves turning candles into geometric shapes. Rectangles, Pyramids and the like. Those who've dedicated themselves to the craft (and have points in the carving skill!) can make more intricate shapes, carving candles into figures, bears, buildings, more abstract shapes or in the case of a simple two colour dipped candle an image can be carved in relief. Those who dip candles with multiple colours or layers can carve them to reveal the intricate work concealed within. They can either just carve shapes or nicks out of the candle, creating an almost geode like appearance, or they can carve strips, leaving them attached at some point to the candle and curling or bending them into decorative patterns or shapes. With skill this becomes more and more complex, until the 'ribbons' of carved wax can appear to be almost braided.
Skill progression
Novice (1-25)At this level you can make basic candles using any of the three methods. They may come out crooked or bumpy. Simple dyes and scents can be used with varying degrees of success. Wax may not absorb dyes evenly, and scents make come out almost unnoticeably faint or overwhelming. Candles may burn too quickly, and candles in a single batch will usually burn at different rates. Horizontal layered candles may be uneven or have colour smearing.
Competent (26-50)At this level you are putting out a consistent product. Your layers are even, your scents and colours are about where you want them to be, you are perfectly suited to creating enough candles of a good enough quality for sale. Your pressed flower, colour layering, and geometric shape carving are almost always exactly as you want them to be.
Expert (51-75)You are capable of getting scents and colours nearly perfect. A light floral scent that fades to a more piney one as it burns? Done. Someone wants a candle that matches the exact shade of their lady loves eyes? Done. You've started being able to use the ribboning technique on dipped candles. You can start attempting to make multi-wicked candles with a fair success rate.
Master (76-100)Your candles are works of art. On top of that, you understand and control how long they will burn so well that your candles can be used to keep the time, either by burning to completion over a set period, or in the case of horizontally layered candles, indicating specific units of time. The rich and well bred would be pleased to have your ribboned candles in their homes. You can easily create multi-wicked candles, and combine the different techniques seamlessly.
by Fiachra on April 13th, 2016, 9:47 pm 
