Jump to content


Photo

Is this tallow?


  • Please log in to reply
8 replies to this topic

#1 fishy1

fishy1

    Name

  • General Public Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 659 posts

Posted 03 December 2006 - 06:23 PM

I bought a bunch of large candles a year or so ago, think large white night lights. I took one out tonight, intending to use it for lost wax casting. I took it out it's silver casting, where to my surprise there was a layer of white wax (paraffin) that you saw when you looked at while it was in it's casing. Below the white layer, there was a light browny layer for most of the depth of the candle. Further inspection of this layer reveals it is greasier than the normal paraffin wax, and it also is softer and has a strange smell. Is this layer tallow? I hope not, as I have a fair weight of it.

Anyone with ideas please help.

#2 lew

lew

    Hi. Im Barry Scott!

  • General Public Members
  • PipPip
  • 79 posts

Posted 03 December 2006 - 08:52 PM

I don't know what tallow is?

would you be so bold as to enlighten me!

#3 fishy1

fishy1

    Name

  • General Public Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 659 posts

Posted 03 December 2006 - 10:13 PM

Tallow is a kind of wax, used for some candles, made from rendered animal fats.

#4 etrek

etrek

    New Member

  • General Public Members
  • Pip
  • 9 posts

Posted 04 December 2006 - 03:21 AM

It definitely could be, but I thought they stopped using tallow a long time ago. Does it smell like shortening?

#5 fishy1

fishy1

    Name

  • General Public Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 659 posts

Posted 04 December 2006 - 07:39 PM

I couldn't tell you what shortening smells like.

#6 etrek

etrek

    New Member

  • General Public Members
  • Pip
  • 9 posts

Posted 04 December 2006 - 11:50 PM

I couldn't tell you what shortening smells like.


Ehh, good point.

#7 phildunford

phildunford

    Member

  • General Public Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,299 posts

Posted 05 December 2006 - 08:53 AM

It's very unlikely to be tallow...

Yes tallow smells like cooking fat, but not so strong - it's still sometimes used as a flux in soldering lead for stained glass windows!

Most likely its undyed parafin wax. I've noticed that most modern candles have a core of (cheap?) undyed wax and are dipped with a thin layer of the main colour - obvious when it's a bright colour, but not so much when it's white...

The product is not so good, as you can often see chips of the underneath layer, and when it burns the resolidified (is that a word?) wax is much lighter than the main coating.

Another cheap mass market product I'm afraid, but the wax is probably fine for coating Iron Filings :)
Teaching moft plainly, and withall moft exactly, the composing of all manner of fire-works for tryumph and recreation (John Bate 1635)
Posted Imagethegreenman

#8 fishy1

fishy1

    Name

  • General Public Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 659 posts

Posted 05 December 2006 - 10:36 PM

I don't need it for treating iron, it's for lost wax process.

#9 phildunford

phildunford

    Member

  • General Public Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,299 posts

Posted 06 December 2006 - 06:15 PM

Should be fine!
Teaching moft plainly, and withall moft exactly, the composing of all manner of fire-works for tryumph and recreation (John Bate 1635)
Posted Imagethegreenman




1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users