Wax Melter 10L
OPERATION
Wax meltingTo melt clean beeswax or paraffin wax for making candles or polish, choose a container for the wax, preferably stainless steel, although aluminium or plastic will do. Avoid iron, copper or brass containers, which will discolour the wax.
Fill the tank with sufficient water to match the level of the wax in the container. Turn up the thermostat. When the water boils, turn down the thermostat slightly, letting the water simmer. When the wax has melted, the thermostat can be turned down further. Beeswax melts at 65 to 67 C. Depending on the techniques and type of mould being used, a wax temperature of between 69 and 80 C will be required.
Cleaning WaxProducing clean wax from comb or cappings can be done easily in the wax melter without straining or filtering. There are almost no solid impurities that are the same density as wax. Separation is achieved simply by keeping the wax liquid and still for a long time and patience! (i.e. no convection currents continuously stirring the impurities through the wax) Ideally soak old comb in rainwater for days beforehand. This saturates the cocoons and prevents them soaking in the wax as it melts.Bring the wax up to a high temperature, say 90 to 95 C.Switch off the power and pile insulation such as blankets, bubble wrap, sacks etc. on top of and around the melter.After perhaps an hour, gently remove the insulation and the lid. With a small sieve e.g. a tea strainer remove any floating particles-there will only be a few. Replace the lid and insulation.After several hours-the length of time will vary with the amount of wax-remove the insulation and lid. With a ladle gently remove wax and pour into a clean container. You will see through the liquid wax as you approach the layer of settled debris.Stop before you disturb the debris. Let the debris layer set. The worst can be scraped off and disposed of. The remainder should be put aside and added to the next melting.This technique will give good results, often from uncompromising old comb.
Making CandlesUse a ladle or pouring jug to transfer wax from the hot container to the mould. By laying a bar or similar across the top of the tank, the ladle or jug can be suspended in or above the molten wax. This prevents layers of solid wax building up.For dipped candles, a tall narrow container is best, but this may be unstable. A support can be rigged up to keep the container upright. Some candle making processes require the temperature of the wax to be varied.
To drop the temperature, remove the lid and turn down the thermostat. To increase the temperature, keep the lid on and turn up the thermostat.
 
 
WARNING
Do not melt wax directly in the boiler. The wax may be damaged or even ignite through over heating.Always part fill the tank with water and put the wax in a separate container standing in the water.Do not let the boiler run dry.NEVER switch on the boiler without water in the chamber.NB. There may be a burning off of protective oil when used for the first time.