Today it is difficult to imagine an Orthodox church in which candles would not be lit. Flickering lights are a welcome addition to prayer. They evoke joyful feelings and tenderness in the soul of any person. At the same time, some people quite often give church candles some magical meaning.
Candle production as a business
This type of business can be profitable and profitable. Equipment for the production of church candles does not require large investments and large areas. Yes, and the raw materials are quite acceptable: paraffin, which in some industries is a waste, so it costs quite inexpensively.
Home-made
This is a good opportunity to experiment a little without investing large sums of money. With good results, you can already start manufacturing on an industrial scale.
So, the equipment for the production of church candles at home is as follows:
- metal containers of various diameters;
- cooker (electric or gas);
- paraffin and wick;
- forms for future candles;
- flavoring and coloring agent;
- plasticine, thermometer and toothpicks.
The production technology is quite simple. Paraffin is melted in a water bath, flavor (essential oils) and dye are added to it. The resulting mass is thoroughly mixed until completely dissolved.
Next, the form is filled with the mixture, lubricated with vegetable oil, in which the wick is previously placed. We wait until it completely hardens and carefully pull out the finished candle from the mold behind the wick.
Industrial scale
For the manufacture of large quantities, special equipment for the production of church candles must be purchased. Sometimes even a semi-automatic line is used, which includes: a cutting machine, a press and a melter.
The productivity of such a line is up to 25 kg per hour.
Equipment for the production of church candles allows the following technology. First of all, an alloy is prepared, which consists in a certain percentage of the following components: paraffin, ceresin, wax and petrolatum. Often, candle cinders are used as raw materials. The molten mass is poured into low troughs, where it freezes naturally. Before the mass finally hardens, it is cut with a sharp knife into blanks of the required size.
At the next stage, we use equipment for the production of church candles. Already cooled blanks are placed under the press, where a candle of the required size is formed under high pressure. At the same time, a wick is laid in the middle, which is fed from the bobbins. For a second, a machine for the production of church candles allows you to get a long candle ribbon, which comes in suspension to another machine, located at some distance from the press and intended for cutting. Finished candles fall into a special tray, from which finished products are sorted into bundles. So that the wick in the candles burns well, the products are placed in the melter for a while.
Features of the use of equipment
The specified technology is quite effective, since among the advantages we can distinguish:
- the press and the cutting machine can be configured to release the candles of the required size, this process takes only 10 minutes;
- the thickness of the wick is easily controlled by the number of threads used;
- the candle has a fairly dense structure without air bubbles;
- machines due to their small dimensions are easy to install and move.
