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As ever, I’m working toward a séance and I’ve been experimenting with candles. Boy, am I obsessed with making candle effects. I have decided I’d like to do two candle effects. Although “ less is more “, I don’t think two is too many. One I’d like to do is a bank of candles going out, fairly easily achieved via a couple of methods, but the reason for my post is a bit of work I’ve been doing, my own interpretation of Corinda’s spirit candles. The thought being, a bank of candles goes out, except one, which grows brighter and the flame spurts. I’ve put in a couple of links to photos of my efforts.

So, here you go folks, I hope you enjoy...

The idea was to gaff a candle so it burned brighter and spurted and sparked. Yes, I know that does not sound very exciting. But, I believe in the charged atmosphere of a séance something as small as that can have a great effect on participants. Don’t believe me ? Watch some of the various ( and awful ) “ haunted “ types of programs from around the globe. People making themselves have a “ Brown Alert “ by scaring themselves over nothing. Well, I want to help people be scared. If someone wants to apply a supernatural explanation to an event, well, who am I to stop them doing that ? I want to give them what they expect of a séance…supernatural events.

So where was I ? Ah, candles....

I got a black candle and using a jeweller’s type screw driver, bored a hole through, so I could get to the wick.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99754028@N ... 534566262/

To be honest, just scraping away was not a help. I found that by warming the screwdriver in the flame of another candle made it all the more easy. It also helped not to damage the wick, as at one point before I warmed it, I found myself scraping at the wick itself ( heaven forfend that I scraped a wick ! ). Once I got a nice cavity in the candle, I went to work on the sparks. I got a box of matches, and although it said that it averaged 40 matches per box, when counted there were only twenty four…I wonder if all smokers are scammed by match companies like this ? Any how, I used a small craft knife to scrape off ends into an ashtray. I then used the end of the screwdriver to carefully grind the bits smaller.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99754028@N ... 534566262/

Now, how to load the “ charge “ into the cavity ? I found the perfect thing…the wax off Mini Baby Bell cheeses ! These little red wax outer coverings are quite malleable when warm and you can manipulate the shape with just the warmth from your fingers. So, after getting it soft, I used the screwdriver to make into a little pot shape. To which I put the charge in.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99754028@N ... 534566262/

I then had to do a little more work on enlarging the cavity in the candle so the Mini Baby charge would fit. But, as the pictures show, it went in quite well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99754028@N ... 534566262/

and then...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99754028@N ... 534566262/


I then did two things. Firstly, I dripped some wax over the area that was plugged. Then I took some “ drippings “ from the other candle, warmed them on the flame of that candle, then stuck them over the plugged area of the gaffed candle.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99754028@N ... 534566262/

Yes, I know it’s obvious in the photos that it is not the same type of wax, but hey, this was an experiment. In future I would use the same type of candle, so it would not be too obvious if inspected. Though, I don’t think it looks that bad anyway.

Then it was a case of light it and wait, would it work or not ?

Yeah, it worked out pretty well. I took a short video with my camera showing the effects. It happened in two spurts, this being the second one…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NflrOjoYK8


The full set of photos of my experiment can be found as a slide show here…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99754028@N ... 6262/show/


So returning to what I’d like to do, I’d like to have a set of candles. All of them go out except one, which flames and spurts like this one. I don’t think that would be too much, I know its two effects, but to a participant, I suppose it’s just one event.

Any further thoughts…yup. Well, to do this I would have to have my candles set up well away from curtains etc. Also, I’d want them on a large metal base, due to the way the candle burned. Also, I’m going to look for what we used to call in my youth
“ Bengal Matches “. These fellows, when you struck and lit them, had coloured flames. So I’ll try this again with a “ charge “ made with them.

Anyways folks, here is a question for you good people…how about flash paper as a“ charge “ ? I’ve never had the need to use it ( wow, a bloke with CUPS who’s never bought flash paper ! ). What do you think…is it worth a try ?

So that's me for the moment, back to lurking for a while, I suppose. At least, until I have something to offer you good folk.

My next experiment is aging, then marking a deck of tarot cards. Though I must admit, I'd really like to try to shim a few as well. I think that could play really well...just a little bit of other worldly movement of a card. I have a lovely big magnet with a strap, to attach it to my knee, which would be just the job for such a thing. Nothing too extreme, mind you, just enough movement to disturb a participant or two. " Did you see that ! " I can't wait...I shall post my results and any tips I may have.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my experiment. I certainly had fun doing it.

OK, all Pyromaniacs head this way please !

That's an excellent bit of work, the candle looks like a really ugly beast so well done on that score. Flash paper, flash wool, flash string might be useable but as they burn much quicker than match ends you might have a problem with the sudden burst of ignition acting like a powder charge and it could blast hot wax over the specs. You'd need to experiment carefully to get the right amount. There's a sparkly powder sold at flash paper places which can be added to flash effects and it looks a little more spectacular. Not sure if you'd want sparks or not but it might be worth trying some. Finally, Black Hart sells stuff to make candles 'bleed blood' - I've never tried it but I'm sure Keith Hart at www.blackhart.co.uk will be able to tell you more about it.

i've got Mr. Hart's bleeding candle (and i aint bleedin' givin' it neither!), and they're lovely...the instructions and "stuff" to make your own are included...

the how-to's are very clearly explained too...recommended...they were reviewed on here if i remember...

infact, Black Hart has just released another new "scent"..one that smells of a morgue kinda sterile stench...

This link may help a bit with your quest for coloured flames. If you wish for a very bright flame, however, sticking a small strip of magnesium into the candle would produce a very bright, very white glow, which I'm sure could be very effective in certain situations.

As for your current candle flame - it looks brilliant so far! The candles themselves look fantastic and should help with the atmosphere, and the flame looks great too. The uncontrolled spurting of it almost seems to add to the legitimacy of the effect.

Well done!

Thanks for the advice folks.

I have ordered some Flash String to have a play with, so I will see how that goes. I did have a look at the link on how to make coloured flames, which was much appreciated. I even found a UK site at reasonable prices, but when it started to offer advice at what temperature to store it, well, maybe some time in the future. Saying that that though, I went searching for Bengal Matches and ended up finding a firework manufacturer who has a shop about 10 minutes walk from where I work. So, I may bob in and see if they would sell me anything that produces colourful flames.

…and maybe the spirits were guiding me, but, walking past a charity shop, I found metal candelabra for £ 4. Result !

My next experiment will be on gaffing tarot cards. The site that sold the flash string also sold metal shims as well. Don’t know if you have heard of it, it’s called Nothing Up My Sleeve. Now, where have I seen that site before ? Hmmmmm.

I have seen Black Hart’s site before, he has some super looking stuff on it. I had seen the bleeding candle as well. After I get this séance out the way, I want it to be the “ Victorian “ type people imagine, I would like to have a stab at a voodoo themed one…and I had those very candles in mind for that.

I like the idea of his scents. Smells are very evocative. I was at a place in Yorkshire called “ Eden Camp “. They sold a “ Blitz “ smell. All smokey and burned, thinking back, I wished I’d bought some now. Now, I’d love it if he tried to get a “ cadaver “ smell. Or for that matter…fear ! It has been done. There was a debate a few years back about people scenting bills and final notices with it. Now there is a though…

A follow up on the flash string “ charge “…

I spent an age preparing my candle, taking periodic photos of my work. Had to wait till the wee small hours of the morning to test as I had guests who were staying, who spent the best part of the evening having a domestic.

I lit it…I got the video setting of my camera on…I waited.

To be honest, I was a little scared. After all, my flash string had been shipped damp and there were dire warnings on the bag. “ For professional use only ! “, gasp, but I’m only an amateur. Yes, I knew it was not that dangerous when I tested some string out…but I’d now packed it inside a candle... I held my breath.

I waited…and then it happened… Pffft ! An uber disappointment ! It was absolute poo ! I’ll stick with match heads, they look an awful lot better and work an awful lot better.

As for aging my tarot cards, it is trial and error. I’m slowly ageing the cards using tea. Some of them have become warped. Still I’m experimenting with pressing them, dry and wet to see if I can get them flat again. This ain’t a problem as I was using an old deck as a test deck.

As for shimming cards it’s more trial, error and practice. There is enough info on this and other boards for shimming, but there is no substitute for just getting on with it. I’ve been using all sorts of adhesives and using them on all my discarded jokers and poker rules from decks of bikes... I’ll get there in the end.