Thanks for all the suggestions. I thought about all of them and was about
to set up a steady rest on my wood lathe, and go after the inside with
sandpaper on a stick. Then I stopped by a plumbing supplier this morning
and just scrounged a piece of 3" schedule 30 pipe, which is much smoother on
the inside. The problem I was worrying about wasn't mold release so much as
being left with the rippled surface on the finished product. This new pipe
is much smoother inside, although it's a bit thin to make a split mold out
of. I may glue a strip of the schedule 40 along one side and split it
through the strip, although I suspect that the wax will shrink enough that I
might be able to push the candle out one end with little trouble.
Unfortunately, PVC has a much larger coefficient of thermal expansion than
most metals, and may shrink too much with the wax. We'll see.

Anyway, I'll report back after I try my first candle.

Bob

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
I've been asked by our Pastor to cast a 3" x 22" "Christ Candle". I
haven't
been able to find a candle mold this big. I have a few feet of new 3" PVC
pipe that I can make into a mold, but the inside is rippled from the
extrusion process. Any suggestions as to the best way to make the inside
of
this true and smooth so that the candle can be extracted after molding?
I''ve thought of running a cylinder hone down it, but this will probably
not
do exactly what I want, and will leave a grooved surface.

I've thought of buying a piece of 3" copper drain pipe, but this will be
expensive and may be unobtainable in a two-foot lenght. I don't have slip
rollers, so I can't see how I could roll a mold. Any other suggestions?

Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

I don't have to like Bush and Cheney (Or Kerry, for that matter) to love
America