General video · Level C1 - Part 2

How It's Made Candles

There's a lot more to candles than lights the eye. Before they were invented, people relied on candles made with wicks floating in flammable, spillable oil.

Level: C1 · 59 sentences

Transcript

There's a lot more to candles than lights the eye.
Before they were invented, people relied on candles made with wicks floating in flammable, spillable oil.
In the past, candles weren't just used for illumination.
Since they burn at such a steady rate, people have even used them as clocks.
Thanks to electricity, candles no longer have to illuminate our homes.
They can simply brighten our evenings with atmospheric lighting.
This wax has been made into a powder with a rotating bar that sprays drops of hot wax into the air.
As the drops fall, they cool and become solid wax particles.
A specialized machine called a core press, vacuums the powder and begins a multi-step process.
A series of small tube-shaped holes are filled with powder.
Then, hydraulic pistons compress the powder into short cylinders.
Transport units move them to the next station.
The compressed wax cylinder will form the core of the candle
and prevent the burning wick from touching the edges of the glass.
First, the candle needs a wick and a sustainer.
The metal sustainer is the wick's base.
This machine shoots wicks into the sustainers, crimps them,
and inserts the components into the candle core.
A machine places drops of glue in the bottom of a series of small glass containers
before placing the candle cores inside.
The glue holds the sustainers in place to prevent them from sliding around when hot.
Onto the next phase of production.
Liquefied wax is poured into a mixing tank.
A technician pours in a series of additives,
that include plasticizers to help solidify the wax and prevent crystallization,
as well as UV light inhibitors that can protect the wax from color fading.
He pours a pre-measured quantity of dye into the container.
An agitator begins the mixing process, which takes 20 to 30 minutes
to ensure that everything is thoroughly combined.
The wax temperature is maintained at 185 degrees Fahrenheit
so the liquid is kept in its liquid state.
Then the liquid wax travels through tubing to a computerized filling station.
A set of nozzles fill the jars, surrounding and covering the cores.
Once filled, the jars move slowly through two separate cooling chambers.
The candles undergo extensive quality control testing for flame height
and temperature on the exterior of the container.
This facility also manufactures tealight candles.
The containers are made of aluminum alloy, pressed into a cup shape with small panels at the bottom
designed to direct melted wax to the center.
Moved by air, the containers fall into a sorter,
which spins them into an upright position
and onto a conveyor that offloads them to the next stations.
Like candles, tealights require sustainers and glue to hold the wick in place.
The steel discs drop into a vibrating sorting device.
A giant spool of waxed thread is fed into the wicking machine.
The machine cuts and inserts it into the sustainer clip
and glues the assembly into a tealight container.
The containers with sustainers and wicks in place move to a circular buffering table,
which disperses into three channels.
A multi-prong device advances the containers onto the filling machine's conveyor system.
The machine fills the containers in a two-step process:
filling them halfway, letting them cool,
then filling them up and cooling the completed product.
The two-step filling process ensures a consistent product
at a faster manufacturing rate.
The cooling chamber circulates air through the space at a specific temperature
to cool the candles at a calibrated rate.
From start to finish, it takes just 45 minutes to produce and package a tealight.
There's a lot more to that cozy candle glow than just wax and wicks.