When turning candlesticks or candleholders, is it customary to place a metal insert of some sort into which the candle is inserted? Or is it sufficient to just turn a recessed opening to accommodate the candle?
Depends on the people using the candlesticks, or the legal disclaimer you provide with them, as the case may be. Inserts of both metal and glass have been used, as well as no inserts at all.
I've just been commissioned to do a couple of altar candlesticks for the local church. I'm doing them from yew, but I did a prototype in pine to see how well the design it would go with the setting and the church furniture. After I'd figured out the tweaks I have to make with the design, I left the prototype in the dining room. Over Christmas, the missus lit the candle to add to the general festive cheer and forgot about it one night. The candle burned right down and went out without fuss. However, it gave rise to a couple of misgivings on my part. What if it hadn't gone out, but had set light to the stick? The second misgiving is that it's left the stump in the well, and it was a - well not a PITA, but certainly an inconvenience to clean it out. Craft Supplies
I don't think I would want to offer the sticks without some sort of protection between the wood and the flame. Perhaps that might be a bit over-cautious on my part, but I wouldn't like to rely on the candle burning out unspectacularly every time. I was lucky this time, and perhaps I might be for perhaps 99.99% of the time. However, the candle's only got to get lucky once!
Cheers
Frank
As an Alter Boy in a previous life, I can say that in my own experiences with the few churches I dealt with, you needn't worry about the candles burning down that far. We never let them get burned more than half way down. It just didn't look good being that short or having the wax drip down beyond the candle sides and onto the floor. Candles are cheap anyway.
For my candlesticks, I usually put in some brass inserts that I picked up at a business closeout. I bought hundreds of them really cheap. They just look good and you don't have to worry about getting the wood messy trying to insert or take out the candle from it.
I think you have valid concerns, Frank. But not for a church, or at least my own experiences with churches.
- Andrew
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