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Rolled Beeswax Tapers
One sheet of beeswax makes two of these 7″ taper candles.
Materials:
- 13½” x 8″ beeswax sheet
- ¾” square-braided cotton wick
- Ruler
- Pizza wheel (to cut the wax)
Directions:
- Warm the beeswax slightly before you begin so that it’s easy to cut and roll. Use a hairdryer if necessary. Warming the pizza wheel in hot water helps too!
- Cut the sheet into two pieces as indicated by the dotted line in Figure 1. The degree of “slant” on the cut line will determine the taper on your finished candle. The greater the “slant”, the more tapered the final candle will be. If you’re using 13½” sheets, aim for a cut that will give you 2 pieces that are 6½” tall on one edge and 7″ on the other.
- Cut a piece of wick so that it is slightly longer than the longest edge of your pieces of beeswax.
- Place the wick about ¼ inch from the longest edge of one piece and press it down slightly. Do not stretch it! Just make sure that it’s straight and the ‘V’ shapes in the wick are the right way up.
- Roll the wax tightly around the wick once and pinch it slightly to ensure an air-tight seal.
- Now continue rolling in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2. Use the left-hand uncut edge to keep you straight.
- If you do start to roll at an angle, unroll a little and realign as you go.
- When all of the wax has been rolled, use your finger, or the flat blade of a warm metal knife, to seal the final edge.
- Trim the wick at the top of the candle to ¼ inch before lighting.
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