Making Budget-friendly Wax Melters from
Presto Kitchen Kettles
Contributed by Alan Wallace, Peak Candle Supplies www.peakcandle.com,
to Candletech.com and posted at www.candletech.com
Sooner or later you may find that a double boiler
just can't keep up with your demand for hot wax. While commercial
wax melters certainly have their place in a production environment,
prices for a commercial melter may set you back at least $600.
For many candle-makers that kind of investment simply isn't practical
while they are trying to grow their business. Enter the Presto
Kitchen Kettle, often simply referred to as a Presto Pot.
Built in thermostat to regulate heat.
Never set the thermostat beyond 250 F.
*Important: Read the editorial notes at the end of the
article regarding the thermostat.
A Presto Pot has a few features that make it
attractive to candle-makers that are looking to expand their wax
melting capacity beyond the traditional double boiler. First of
all, it has a built-in heating element that is able to melt seven
or eight pounds of wax in about 20 minutes. It has an adjustable
thermostat to regulate the temperature and get you in the ballpark
of your proper temperatures (you still need to monitor your temperatures
with a real thermometer). It has a non-stick surface that is easy
to wipe clean with a paper towel while it is still warm. And the
most attractive thing about them is that they are cheap, and as
your needs grow you can scale up the number of Presto Pots that
you use.
You can find them at your local discount stores like Wal-Mart
or Target for about $20-30. Many second-hand stores will also
have used ones for a few dollars. Just be sure that it has the
adjustable thermostat. Non-adjustable deep fryers, like fry-daddy's,
are not to be used for melting wax as they have a fixed heat setting
that is dangerously high for wax. Don't even think about it. Never
let your wax exceed 250 degrees F and never set your thermostat
beyond that. It will not speed up the melting process.
In this article, we are going to attach a spigot to make a used
Presto Pot handier for our purposes. With a spigot attached, we
can easily dispense molten wax directly into our pouring pitcher.
Some candle-makers will prefer to mix dye, fragrance oil, etc.
directly in the Presto Pot. Others will prefer to do the mixing
only after the melted wax is in the pouring pitcher, in essence
leaving only clean wax in the melter. It is really up to you and
probably depends on the size of the batches you typically do.
Here we go.
In addition to a Presto Pot, we'll need the following
brass parts:
• 3/8" Hex Nipple
• 3/8" Full-Port Ball Valve, ball valves are preferred
over any other kind of valve because of the heat tolerance and
because of the short motion required to open and close them.
• 3/8" Elbow
We'll also need some tools:
• Power Drill
• Crescent Wrench
• 19/32" Drill Bit
• small drill bit
• center punch
• Thread tap to match the size and threads of the brass
fittings
• Teflon tape
Step 1: Create a Pilot Hole
Begin by using the center punch to mark the location for your
pilot hole. Because of the non-stick surface of the Presto Pot,
this step is important to guide your drill bit. Position it as
close to the bottom as possible, but keep in mind that the resulting
hole will need to be slightly above the heating element (don't
want to end up drilling into the heating element).
Make sure you are wearing proper eye protection.
Using a small drill bit, create a pilot hole to guide the larger
drill bit. The size of the smaller bit is unimportant, the point
is to create a pilot hole to guide the larger bit. without a pilot,
things can get sloppy.
(continued on Page 7)
