THR Resin Discovery — Copal & Pine Runs

“If you have to eat a frog, do it first thing in the morning. If you have to eat two frogs, eat the biggest one first.”   — Mark Twain

Pine from the begining.

Early Resin Exploration at Timber‑Hill River

Over the last several days, Timber‑Hill River has been working through our first real attempts at integrating natural aromatic resins into our candles. We started with copal, pine, and cedar — three resins we believed would dissolve directly into paraffin at candle‑safe temperatures.

Our early assumption was simple: if paraffin melts at 180–200°F, and resins soften in that range, they should blend.

Real testing showed us something different.

Copal mix that didn't mix

What We Discovered

These first resin trials taught us that our temperature assumptions were incomplete and our workflow needed to evolve. Natural resins have true melt ranges far above what candle melters can safely reach.

Taking paraffin to resin temperatures would risk damaging the wax — causing yellowing, oxidation, thickening, and off‑smells.

So, the resins didn’t fully integrate. Not because the idea was wrong, but because the equipment was too cold.

This is where THR shifted from dissolve‑attempts to a proper resin‑first workflow.

The Pine Test — The Turning Point

Our pine run gave us the clearest data:

• 0.54 oz pine resin added

• Heated at 230°F for one hour

• 0.40 oz remained undissolved

• Only ~26% integrated into the paraffin

This confirmed that resin tries to dissolve at candle‑safe temperatures, but does not fully melt unless taken to its true melt zone — well above paraffin’s safe range.

This single test changes our entire workflow.

The Correct Melt Logic Going Forward

THR’s new resin workflow is:

1. Melt resin alone on a hot plate at its true melt temperature.

2. Hold paraffin at 180–200°F — fully liquid and stable.

3. Pour melted resin into paraffin, never the other way around.

4. Add beeswax last, in its safe zone.

5. Blend.

6. Pour.

This keeps paraffin safe, keeps beeswax clean, and gives resin the temperature it actually needs.

The Resin Discovery Runs

During this learning phase, THR produced two limited candle runs:

— Copal Run (Code RDC‑01)

• 2.0 oz paraffin

• 1.45 oz rescue wax

• remainder store‑bought beeswax

• copal did not dissolve due to equipment temperature limits

• clean burn, tested and confirmed

— Pine Run (Code RDP‑01)

• 2.0 oz paraffin

• larger rescue‑wax portion

• smaller store‑bought beeswax portion

• ~26% pine resin dissolved

• clean burn, tested and confirmed

These candles are part of THR’s Resin Discovery Series — the point where our resin work shifted from assumption to real melt science. We think, lol.

Why There Are Only Seven of Each

Every THR batch produces eight candles.

Because these are new batch sizes for us, we pull one candle from every batch for testing. This confirms the burn curve, wick behavior, melt pool, resin distribution, and overall performance.

We will continue testing one candle from every batch until our resin workflow is fully proven and repeatable.

That’s why only seven candles from each run are available.

Closing

These two runs mark the beginning of THR’s resin work — not the end. They represent the moment we learned what resins actually require, and the point where our workflow shifted from dissolve‑attempts to true melt science.

They’re limited.

They’re tested.

They’re honest.

They’re part of the story.

Candle use

And they won’t be repeated. If you use the codes above at check-out, they will take the price down to $8.