Daniel Moss Candlestick Challenge video

[jlpservicesinc]

So, last January (2021) one of my Subs sent me a note saying that Daniel Moss released a video with a challenge and that I should contact him if I was not invited to the challenge. 

He had sent out notice to other youtubers (there is a group that mingle) but I was not invited so contacted him.   

He was nice enough to send me the sheet on the project and that was about it.. 

I reached out again asking for more defined time frame and such..  His response was as quickly as possible.  I filmed it middle of February and reached out for a shipping address but never heard back.. 

So I shelved the video till this February and here it is. 

It's a great challenge and uses a very good set of skills to pull it all together. 

The measurements in the sheet are off and I think they did it on purpose..   It took a little while while working and there is some allowances or else the sheet would not work at all. 

So here it is.     Be sure to film your own challenge with start and stop times.   

Great skill builder.. 
 

 

[George N. M.]

Did you do it in mild steel or wrought iron?  The choice might affect the time.

PS Glad to see you back.  We've missed you.

GNM

PPS how long did it take you?

[BillyBones]

This may be a dumb question but what is the spike by the cup for? 

[jlpservicesinc]

the only thing I can figure is so it can be driven upwards into a post as a spike.. It also acts as a way to drive it in when the bottom spike is used. 

Can you imagine being in a dark hole underground with only a dim candle in this to light the work and way. 

Unlike today where candles are relatively cheap, candles in the old days were expensive so sure they were used frugally. 

17 hours ago, George N. M. said:

Did you do it in mild steel or wrought iron? 

PPS how long did it take you?

Mild steel..  Wrought iron would be faster for sure.. But a good smith could whip there out in under 20min easliy once they have the measurements down.  Technically the idea is to forge to size.  So the measurements are important. 

But in real life once someone figures out what they want for measurements they could be easily scaled. 

George the times are posted in the video..     Thanks for the response but you might have to watch it..  

[anvil]

Nice job, cool project

[jlpservicesinc]

Thanks..   You setup for forging yet?  You might want to have a go at it and film it.   Great project and fun.. 

[Daswulf]

I'm no historian but didn't other candle holder spikes have the one pointing up bent at a 90° to stick into a wall? honestly from the image I can't see a useful purpose for it sticking up in line with the candle at that length. 

Haven't had a chance to watch the video yet but I will. Looking forward to it then maybe giving it a try. 

[jlpservicesinc]

Totally depends on time frame and location. 

Maybe Thomas Powers has a reference for this style tucked away in the recesses of his mind. 

[George N. M.]

I believe that the upward pointing spike was for candles larger than the socket.  You would just impale the bottom of the candle on the spike to hold it in place.  You sometimes see a combination with a socket and a set of jaws (like a needle nose pliers) to hold a rush light.  A rush light was a pithy reed that had been soaked in fat.  It was smokier and sometimes smellier (if the fat was rancid) than a candle but much cheaper.

Jennifer, I did watch the video after I posted the query. ;-)

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Glenn]

The style I recall was with the spike to be driven in horizontally and the candle turned 90 degrees.  Another style was like a hairpin where the spike was driven in horizontally and the candle pinched and held in place.

[Frosty]

That was an enjoyable watch Jennifer, thanks for posting. 

I've seen a few versions but not with the spikes in this orientation. Usually one was turned 90* to the candle the other as shown here. Another had the lower point turned 90* and the upper was MUCH longer and turned into a J hook with point. Well, not quite a J but not as flat as a 7. The hook could be driven into a beam or hooked over one, the bottom point could be driven vertically. 

Some had a drip pan, wax was valuable so preserving what you could made sense. This version IIRC tended to have the spring clamp candle holder similar to what Glenn described.

I watched a demo in a living history mine smithy maybe 30 years ago and it had a reflector along with the spring clamp and drip pan. There were several versions on display, minors bought their own candle holders so picked the ones they liked.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Daswulf]

59 minutes ago, George N. M. said:

You would just impale the bottom of the candle on the spike

That sounds like a reasonable point of that spike. Thanks. I guess I was only thinking of holder mounting and not for use with a candle. 

[Les L]

The vertical spike is for you to stick a hot dog on and cook it. 
in reality I agree with George NM, put a larger candle on 

[jlpservicesinc]

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

The style I recall was with the spike to be driven in horizontally and the candle turned 90 degrees.  Another style was like a hairpin where the spike was driven in horizontally and the candle pinched and held in place.

These styles are much newer.. 

[Glenn]

6 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Candles in the old days were expensive so sure they were used frugally.

Then why was a drip pan not used to catch the wax so it could be reused? 

[George N. M.]

Old fashioned beeswax candles tend to drip less than modern paraffin candles, IIRC.

GNM

[jlpservicesinc]

2 hours ago, Glenn said:

Then why was a drip pan not used to catch the wax so it could be reused? 

I imagine they did reuse the wax when they were at home..   At work the boss/company would only do the minimum to get the work done..  Nothing has changed..  

Wax candles again were expensive compared to other means..  Fats etc, etc. And even then Fats are more important for a diet then protein all the time. 

 

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Out of curiosity I did a both an image search and a website search for 14th century candle holders and it’s interesting how many different styles popped up,

[jlpservicesinc]

Copied from Candles.org

 

Early Origins

Candles have been used as a source of light and to illuminate celebrations for more than 5,000 years, yet little is known about their origin.

The earliest use of candles is often attributed to the Ancient Egyptians, who made rushlights or torches by soaking the pithy core of reeds in melted animal fat. However, the rushlights had no wick like a true candle.

Early Wicked Candles

While the Egyptians were using wicked candles in 3,000 B.C., the ancient Romans are generally credited with developing the wicked candle before that time by dipping rolled papyrus repeatedly in melted tallow or beeswax. The resulting candles were used to light their homes, to aid travelers at night, and in religious ceremonies.

Historians have found evidence that many other early civilizations developed wicked candles using waxes made from available plants and insects. Early Chinese candles are said to have been molded in paper tubes, using rolled rice paper for the wick, and wax from an indigenous insect that was combined with seeds. In Japan, candles were made of wax extracted from tree nuts, while in India, candle wax was made by boiling the fruit of the cinnamon tree.

It is also known that candles played an important role in early religious ceremonies. Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights which centers on the lighting of candles, dates back to 165 B.C. There are several Biblical references to candles, and the Emperor Constantine is reported to have called for the use of candles during an Easter service in the 4th century.

Middle Ages

Most early Western cultures relied primarily on candles rendered from animal fat (tallow). A major improvement came in the Middle Ages, when beeswax candles were introduced in Europe. Unlike animal-based tallow, beeswax burned pure and cleanly, without producing a smoky flame. It also emitted a pleasant sweet smell rather than the foul, acrid odor of tallow. Beeswax candles were widely used for church ceremonies, but because they were expensive, few individuals other than the wealthy could afford to burn them in the home.

Tallow candles were the common household candle for Europeans, and by the 13th century, candlemaking had become a guild craft in England and France. The candlemakers (chandlers) went from house to house making candles from the kitchen fats saved for that purpose, or made and sold their own candles from small candle shops.

Colonial Times

Colonial women offered America’s first contribution to candlemaking, when they discovered that boiling the grayish-green berries of bayberry bushes produced a sweet-smelling wax that burned cleanly. However, extracting the wax from the bayberries was extremely tedious. As a result, the popularity of bayberry candles soon diminished.

The growth of the whaling industry in the late 18th century brought the first major change in candlemaking since the Middle Ages, when spermaceti — a wax obtained by crystallizing sperm whale oil — became available in quantity. Like beeswax, the spermaceti wax did not elicit a repugnant odor when burned, and produced a significantly brighter light. It also was harder than either tallow or beeswax, so it wouldn’t soften or bend in the summer heat. Historians note that the first “standard candles” were made from spermaceti wax.

19th Century Advances

Most of the major developments impacting contemporary candlemaking occurred during the 19th century. In the 1820s, French chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul discovered how to extract stearic acid from animal fatty acids. This led to the development of stearin wax, which was hard, durable and burned cleanly. Stearin candles remain popular in Europe today.

In 1834, inventor Joseph Morgan helped to further the modern-day candle industry by developing a machine that allowed for continuous production of molded candles by using a cylinder with a movable piston to eject candles as they solidified. With the introduction of mechanized production, candles became an easily affordable commodity for the masses.

Paraffin wax was introduced in the 1850s, after chemists learned how to efficiently separate the naturally-occurring waxy substance from petroleum and refine it. Odorless and bluish-white in color, paraffin was a boon to candlemaking because it burned cleanly, consistently and was more economical to produce than any other candle fuel. Its only disadvantage was a low melting point. This was soon overcome by adding the harder stearic acid, which had become widely available. With the introduction of the light bulb in 1879, candlemaking began to decline.

The 20th Century

Candles enjoyed renewed popularity during the first half of the 20th century, when the growth of U.S. oil and meatpacking industries brought an increase in the byproducts that had become the basic ingredients of candles – paraffin and stearic acid.

The popularity of candles remained steady until the mid-1980s, when interest in candles as decorative items, mood-setters and gifts began to increase notably. Candles were suddenly available in a broad array of sizes, shapes and colors, and consumer interest in scented candles began to escalate.

The 1990s witnessed an unprecedented surge in the popularity of candles, and for the first time in more than a century, new types of candle waxes were being developed. In the U.S., agricultural chemists began to develop soybean wax, a softer and slower burning wax than paraffin. On the other side of the globe, efforts were underway to develop palm wax for use in candles.

Today’s Candles

Candles have come a long way since their initial use. While they are no longer used as a major source of light, they continue to grow in popularity and use. Today, candles serve to symbolize a celebration, ignite romance, soothe the senses, honor a ceremony, and accent home decors — casting a warm and lovely glow for all to enjoy.

[Glenn]

Moss shows the candle holder in use.  The top spike would seem to be a support for the candle and to keep it upright.

[BillyBones]

So here is my try at one. Cant film and it took me just under an hour. 

[jlpservicesinc]

Great job.. 

[Daswulf]

Thanks for the info Jennifer.

Glenn, that helps. Thanks

Good job Billy.

[ThomasPowers]

George beat me to it.  Remember that cheap candles used by lower middle class and down were NOT made of expensive wax but were made of tallow and stunk and smoked in use.  As such they were much softer and easy to impale without the candle breaking up.  As you climbed up the socioeconomic scale your candles would contain more and more wax.  Some churches still mandate a certain percentage of beeswax in their altar candles, 51% for Catholic IIRC.   Also in times of famine eating the candles was known...

Going down the socioeconomic scale you would use rush lights or fat lamps---or do without with the sun and firelight being your only recourse!

[JHCC]

Remember that the measurements of the original drawing are in millimeters.

(Be fun to see someone try it in inches, though. Maybe as the Friday night demo at the next Quad-State....)