Uploaded June 2015 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Our project is an automated variable candle-maker for the luxury gadget market, aimed at arts and technology enthusiasts. The machine can be programmed to print many different candle types.
Unlike current commercial 3D printers which use plastics, such as PLA, we decided to extrude wax and use that process to form candles. Although there are some specialised wax 3D printers, there are currently none for the commercial market, and nothing specifically for making candles. The overall vision for our product is a candle-maker where the candle produced is influenced by external inputs from the surrounding environment (such as motion, manual control, noise, light etc.) Our product would be aimed at the luxury arts and crafts market, intended for use in the home and in art-related shops and galleries.
There are many interesting challenges associated with wax extrusions and candle formation: how to incorporate the wick in the design; how to control the temperature of the wax so it could be extruded in near-solid state, not dripped; how to control the feed rate of the wax and subsequently the motion of the ‘printer’; how to control the shape of the candle; what are the limitation of the shapes we can produce; and many more.
Our aim for the project was to produce a functional prototype that would be able to print a simple candle design from wax pellets. This prototype would need to store wax, feed into a heating element at a steady rate, have movement on three axes (radial movement of extruder, vertical movement of bed, rotation of bed), and control all these actions. This involves significant mechanical and electronic challenges, but we are confident we can deliver a working prototype, paving the way for future development. In the future we would hope to improve our product by adding support for more complex designs and environmental interaction.
Team:
Ellie Griffiths
Melissa Leonard
Titas Sokolovas
Edmond Wang
Our project is an automated variable candle-maker for the luxury gadget market, aimed at arts and technology enthusiasts. The machine can be programmed to print many different candle types.
Unlike current commercial 3D printers which use plastics, such as PLA, we decided to extrude wax and use that process to form candles. Although there are some specialised wax 3D printers, there are currently none for the commercial market, and nothing specifically for making candles. The overall vision for our product is a candle-maker where the candle produced is influenced by external inputs from the surrounding environment (such as motion, manual control, noise, light etc.) Our product would be aimed at the luxury arts and crafts market, intended for use in the home and in art-related shops and galleries.
There are many interesting challenges associated with wax extrusions and candle formation: how to incorporate the wick in the design; how to control the temperature of the wax so it could be extruded in near-solid state, not dripped; how to control the feed rate of the wax and subsequently the motion of the ‘printer’; how to control the shape of the candle; what are the limitation of the shapes we can produce; and many more.
Our aim for the project was to produce a functional prototype that would be able to print a simple candle design from wax pellets. This prototype would need to store wax, feed into a heating element at a steady rate, have movement on three axes (radial movement of extruder, vertical movement of bed, rotation of bed), and control all these actions. This involves significant mechanical and electronic challenges, but we are confident we can deliver a working prototype, paving the way for future development. In the future we would hope to improve our product by adding support for more complex designs and environmental interaction.
Team:
Ellie Griffiths
Melissa Leonard
Titas Sokolovas
Edmond Wang
