The .clmg (candle Light Makers Guide)

welcome dungeon masters and candle makers, this is the candle light makers guide, and I will be showing you how to make candles using a combo two part sprue mold for all of your dnd campaigns that need a little more candles that can be used as minis. or if you just like candles, I don't care.

you will need wax, wicks, a 3d printer, and a basic understanding of fusion 360. fusion 360 is free for hobbyist with exceptions (https://productdesignonline.com/tips-and-tricks/how-to-get-fusion-360-for-free/#personal) and for students. if you don't have a 3d printer, you can either get one which I would recommend, they are awesome (I would recommend the ender 3, it is cheap and a great entry level printer), or you could get someone to print it for you. there are a million companies that will do it for you, or you can go to r/printmything, there are a lot of people who will print it for you and charge not to much.

first things first, you need a model. if you want to use the models from six sided dice candles, here is the link (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5136178). now you need to find the model you would like to cast into a candle. I recommend finding models on thingiverse if you want free mediocre models or artisans guild if you want amazing models that you have to pay for. today, I am going to be using xantaras the tyrant eye by artisans guild (https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-xantaras-the-tyrant-eye-99094) however, I will not be doing the eye stalks because I the body, which was much easier, did not work well with out funnels. fair warning, smaller details will be cut out and small pieces may break during clean up, eg the horns on the model, I tried to weld them back on, but it didn't go super well. of course, it also depends on how careful you are during the final removal step. after you get your model, pop open fusion 360 and import the model into fusion 360 by using the insert mesh option under the mesh tab.

draw a outline of your model using the line tool in a sketch. technically you could just do a rectangle around it, but its helpful to reduce filament use later and print time if you are say, hypothetically, making a instruction sheet on a Saturday for a competition and haven't printed all the parts yet... but who would ever do that? then you have to make holes for the wax to flow into the model. turn down the opacity and sketch out a hole, then cut it until it hits the model. you can make the holes anywhere, but I would suggest that you do it where you want to put the wicks and at the highest points of the model. it sounds obvious but model funnels, model funnels, model funnels. they make it so much easier. for the beholder I had to break apart the model and pour it directly into the face because I didn't make them. to make a funnel, just chamfer the hole

Go into the mesh tab and tessellate it, or tell fusion to make the model like a stl mesh instead of a fancy fusion 360 model. this means that we can combine the two because they are the same type. use the combine tool, select the mold body as the target body, and the model as the tool body. chose the option of cut under operation, and then pray that your computer doesn't lay down and cry. once it has pulled through, you are almost done. select plane cut and chop it in half. export the model and name it competently, trust me it helps. then go back in the time line and flip the direction on that plane cut and export it. Congratulations, you now have both halves of the model. time to get it on a printer.

pop over to r/printmything, a website to print it for you, or your slicing software of choice. orient it so that the opening is facing up and turn infill to somewhere between 0-3 percent so it prints fast and you don't have to worry about it later. the slicing software will tell you that it is going to fail, but do it anyway, cura might hate you, but remember, software doesn't have feelings. yet. save your gcode to the sd card and start the print. if you have water dissolvable filament, it will save you a lot of hassle down the rode and I would consider it if I were you.

this step is really annoying. you have to remove any supports on the model. difficulty is going to vary based on models. I had a beholder with long stocky arms, meaning I had to try and push out supports with a tooth pick. I would recommend a tooth pick or tweezers to pull supports out of those small pipes, or a flush cutter if it is more open. Make sure to get the wick through the holes be it with a sowing needle or pair of tweezers while you are there. line up the two halves, and hot glue them together. do not use tape, the wax will leak and leave it all over your workspace.

gather all of your wax and toss it in a pan, and melt it. personally, I would recommend putting the wax into a paper bowl and then folding the bowl to get a pour spout. if you have the funnel, let it cool in the mold and clear a bit of time to clean it up in post. you may have to melt the wax again, if you don't have a funnel, I would just cry and make one. once it is cool, pull off the mold, if you have a pair of flush cutters, they are amazing, but any pair of cutting tool will work.

Pull away the 3d printed mold over a bowl, leaving you with the wax candle. fair warning, it will be very annoying, and finding a place to hold it on complex models will by hard. if something breaks off, you can use a lighter to "weld" bits back together or smooth out rough parts. other than that, light it or just keep em on a shelf. you may notice in the picture that he does not have a wick, the wicks were going to be in the eye stalks of the beholder, but that didn't work out, so now he is a wax statue. in future, I would add a funnel, some color, and may be colorant to the flame (eg: https://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Fire-Campfire-Fireplace-Colorant/dp/B07FB4TC8N/ref=asc_df_B07FB4TC8N/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241963364311&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5028644336429972339&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1013961&hvtargid=pla-486028235959&psc=1 ).