Fire proofing question (Driftwood Tea Light holders)

[Tset Tsyung]

Hi all,

First post here, so be gentle

I am have just made 'carved' (well, drilled really) a tea light holder for my wife, as shown in he attached photo below. I have also made another one for a friend, I don't know what type of tea lights she'll use (metal, glass, etc.).

My question is this, are there many products available that can be recommended to fireproof or at least add fire resistance to these sorts of simple projects? Don't want my wife burning down the house next time she want's to relax to candle light :?

Preferably I don't want to add a 'varnish' of any description if I can get away with it. Would rather leave the 'au natural' look of the wood. Will varnish if it's necessary, but was hoping there might be something that'll seep into the wood istelf and protect from there.

Many thanks for your time and answers,

Mike.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

There is a very real fire risk with tea lights and natural wood regardless of the finish. The important consideration is to ensure the tea lights (the metal of the tea lights) don't come in contact with the wood. There are various containers that can be bought into which tea lights sit (glass ones from IKEA are very good value for example).

From your photo, I can only see the last one which look like those little glass candle holders. They're not really tea lights are they?? They look like those little glass candle buckets. Or are there tea lights inside those? They might be safer than tea lights although even then I would be inclined to seat them in another holder like that described above for regular tea lights. (My brother nearly burnt his house down by getting this wrong by the way).

 

[Tset Tsyung]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the reply, sorry to hear about your brother's near self incineration.

You're right, these aren't tea lights per se. They are glass candles, but what you say makes sense, I need a small tea light holder (glass) to then go between the tea lights and the driftwood holder... I think, right? Lol.

Mike

 

[mind_the_goat]

I set fire to a restaurant menu once because I'd failed to notice the tea light on the table. But this just indicates that anything above the level of the flame may get hot, and those holders look like they would be above the flame so may get hot and would warrant an additional dish as protection for the wood.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the reply, sorry to hear about your brother's near self incineration.

You're right, these aren't tea lights per se. They are glass candles, but what you say makes sense, I need a small tea light holder (glass) to then go between the tea lights and the driftwood holder... I think, right? Lol.

Mike

You've got it Mike I guess it provides more insulation but crucially a space for molten wax to land if it spills out of the tea light (or in your case enormous glass bucket candle). Funnily enough, my brother clearly hasn't learned the lesson because he's just given me a Yew candlestick to repair where a turned piece on the top had been charred down about an inch due to a candle having been placed directly in the wood. Mind you he also had the fire brigade out a couple of years back when his BBQ set light to the trees it was directly beneath!! I think there may be a pattern emerging here

 

[Tset Tsyung]

Dear Random Orbital Rob.

LMAO!!! Yeah, we all know someone like that. I have a friend who decided I could use his BBQ to anneal some steel files (knife making hobby). To do so requires extra O2... He melted the wife's hairdryer trying to pump extra air into it...

Friends, always there to lift us up with their crazy shenanigans.