Raising the Candle Game- Wet Tile Saw, Scents, Wood Wicks

We've been enjoying the soy candles in bottles I've been making for a couple of years, both at home and to use as little gifts. I've struggled with cutting the bottles with the Dremel I previously posted about, so I found a used table top wet tile saw on Craig's list for $30. I bought a new glass-cutting blade for it and set it up in the garage (good thing, since it sprays water everywhere) and cut some bottles. Cutting round bottles work pretty well and it's MUCH easier to use than the Dremel, as well as yielding a much more uniform cut surface. Unfortunately, square bottles (especially larger ones) don't work well with the saw's blade and guard configuration.

I've had no problem with unscented candles, but Andy wanted to try some scented, so I got an 8-pack sampler of 1 oz bottles (each enough for 1 lb of wax, or one big candle). There are literally hundreds of scents to choose from. I ended up picking campfire, frasier pine, cappuccino, gingerbread, banana nut bread, hot baked apple pie, apple cider spiced rum and warm pear cedar. I marked ounce lines on an old 28 oz tin can as a mixing vessel, and mixed each 1 oz scent bottle with about 20 oz of liquid soy wax (equivalent to about 1 lb by weight) before pouring. Based on the scents so far, without lighting them yet, we think campfire, pine and gingerbread are going to be our favorites.

I'm also trying wood wicks for the first time, along with better formulated cotton wicks, RRD-40. We'll see how this batch works out.

A more uniform cut on this bottle than with the Dremel, or bottle scorer

A little tougher with square bottles you can't spin against the blade- you can see the little jogs where I had to connect the cuts

Scenting this one with gingerbread seemed fitting

Update Oct 2022

I've been putting off cutting bottles as I dread it, but I'm getting more practiced, so it's really not too bad. I just did 12, and all of them "made it." Total time with set up and clearn up was 90 min. Reminders for next time:

• Wear clothes that can get wet and covered with glass dust. Wear good eye protection (science goggles) and a N95 mask
• Set up in the garage where everything can get wet. After removing the blade, hose off the tile saw and the water tray that collects glass sludge
• While cutting, rotate the bottle against the blade, pull back sligthly when you need to change your hand grip. Take your time. Look for any jagged edges after the cut and smooth them with the blade
• After cutting, rinse each bottle in the utility sink to remove sludge, pat the paper labels dry quickly
• I dressed the saw blade for the first time using this rubbing stone- I cut through the stone at about 1/3" or so- it seemed to make a difference in how the blade performed. I dressed the blade at the end of the session, so it's ready for next time

Some sentimental bottles- our trip to CA in July '21, Topo Chico from TX in Sep '21,Aquavit from outdoor winter seating at Vikre in Duluth, wine from Meg & Ben's wedding in May

 
I made a total of 11 candles (2 full pour-pots) including a number of Christmas gifts.