This project was just a quick one and was my response to finding a vintage brass and porcelain candelabra at an antique store. The candelabra didn’t come with any candles, but had space for two, and while I could’ve just ordered some candlesticks, it was such a nice candelabra I didn’t like the idea of getting it covered in wax. I had also recently been wanting to try machining something from a 3D model (rather than just 2.5D) and came up with the idea to build brass candlesticks that would house a wick and reservoir for cleaner-burning alcohol. The body of the candlestick could be brass pipe, but I’d need to design and machine a topper to sell the candle look.

After designing a cap in CAD, and generating the g-code, I first produced a test piece in HDPE, and since that looked good, I moved onto brass.

A few additional pieces needed to be machined too: a small bottom cap that could be soldered to seal the end of the candle, and an additional spacer piece, which would be soldered to the topper to help index it into the pipe. Following the soldering, a little sanding and polishing was all that was needed to finish the candles. As the pockets for the candelabras weren’t quite cylindrical, nor did they have a flat bottom, I quickly machined some little brass skirts that sit around the candle and grab onto the lip of the candelabra, just to keep everything upright and tight.