Forums > Technical Discussion > New Wicks

Posted: 25th Dec 2003
Nope... first few burns aren't so great, don't bother saving them for a good occasion... on the contrary, actually, I'd soak them and light them 3 or so times before you do any real burns... I found my burns peaked at the 7th burn and beyond, without a noticable degrade in quality until far after my 100th burn. Don't worry about "wasting" a burn, as impossible as that is

Posted: 25th Dec 2003
Hope its not too late..... Don't forget, You'll want to soak them wicks for at least 15-20 min and shake them out real good before ya go to it...... (lots of reasons why)

one love

One Love, Dont forget.

Posted: 26th Dec 2003
couldn't disagree more with either reply actually

to me the first burn is always the best, deflowering a toy so to spaek is lovely.

it frequently tells you how the ensuing relationship is going to be....

and the whole extra soaking thing.... well it's been argued in lots of places so i wont go into it here..
but for me a few minutes rather than 20seconds is fine, 20 minutes doen't make all that much difference....

espescially with concertina(cathedral) wicks...



i realise this is probably a bit late... but hey.

R

Holistic Spinner (I hope)

Posted: 26th Dec 2003
Bluecat: I was simply saying on a technical level, not an... erm... emotional... level. Your first burn is a great experience, but the flames are smaller and don't last as long, in my experience. I've done first-burns on 4 different pairs of wicks, and on every single one the first burn kinda sucked.

Posted: 26th Dec 2003
pity


so here's to the next one being lovely

R

Holistic Spinner (I hope)

Posted: 26th Dec 2003
when i make a stick for the first burn i usually light the wicks and just hold it still and watch the way the flame turns the wicks from that yellowy kevlary colour to blackness kind of a bringing the staff into the world of fire right of passage

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?

Posted: 29th Dec 2003
I've found that for the first 10 or so burns, a new set of wicks takes longer to soak (a few minutes) and is more stubborn to light, especially with lamp oil. But I also find that the first few burns last the longest.

Once broken in, a wick only needs a quick dunking (maybe 10 seconds) and will light pretty readily. Once a wick is used hard (100 burns or so), it will get ratty around the edges and have shorter burn durations.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy