Thread: Candles holders

Bummer, I've just spent the last week turning bits of firewood into candleholders, I guess once a piece of firewood , always a piece of firewood.
There are flammability standards out there, particularly in the US, written by Underwriters Limited , if you look on the back of your computer there will be usually a sticker with "UL" . One of the more common standards is UL94 , (IIRC) you apply a blowtorch for 15 seconds and take it away, if the flame goes out within 10secs it passes.
In Australia we have some standards? regarding timber to be used in bushfire zones, IIRC treted pine is flammable/combustible while most hardwoods are not,
Note that "flammable" generally means a match will ignite it, while "combustible" means it will burn eventually with enough heat,

A common sense approach would allow certain hardwoods , e.g as listed in the top part of the table on page 8 of http://www.5startimbers.com.au/downl...eas_3-9_MB.pdf

In the US, you also have UL listing of most products, whereby insurers can reject claims where a non-UL listed item is involved in a fire.

The legislation itself has a definition embedded within it.
"Particulars of GoodsObjects that are designed to hold or decorate a candle, which when subjected to flame or heat emanating from a candle being so held or decorated, ignite and continue to flame for a period of five seconds or more after ignition."
The ban is not on "combustible" materials per se , just on any "object" with a burn time of > 5secs. However most flammability standards are based on the burn time AFTER the ignition source is removed, this legislation is vague in that it doesn't require the flame to be removed.
The legislation doesn't mention "tea light" either. A search of the legal database doesn't find a definition of "candle" either.

I posted this on FB a few days back,

Some more clarification on materials testing for those interested,

CPN #12 of 2011 makes a broad reference statement “ignite and continue to flame for a period of five seconds or more after ignition” which is for all intents & purposes the definition of a “combustible” material under Australian Standard (AS1503.1) method of test for combustibility (& ISO 1182).

The test - AS 1530.1 is a small-scale material fire test involving immersing a small sample of the material in a furnace held steady at 750°C (for 30 minutes).

Combustible - In summary, the material is combustible if flaming sustained for a period of 5 seconds or longer occurs at any time during the test for any of the five samples tested. The mean duration of sustained flaming, as determined in accordance with AS 1530.1, is other than zero.

Non-combustible – not deemed combustible – i.e. meets the test requirements, the mean duration of sustained flaming is zero.
The definition of non-combustible is absolute, no flame at all in the 30min test.

It is important to note that this is a standard reference test and may not represent the real world fire performance of the material.

Guidance can be found in the Building Code of Australia which sets out a more liberal interpretation of non-combustible “although combustible are deemed non-combustible” i.e. “difficult to ignite and slow to support combustion.” Presumably, that is also the intent of CPN #12, though it is not stated.

Deemed non-combustible – a material referenced in standards such as the Building Code of Australia as “although combustible are deemed non-combustible” in specific applications.