An FDM 3D-printed casting box for a silicone candle mold — LAWA Candles Los Angeles

How a Custom Candle Is Made: From Sketch to Pour | LAWA

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Most people meet a candle when the hard part is already over.

It’s sitting on a shelf, perfectly formed and ready to light. But before a sculptural candle ever reaches that point, it has already existed in several completely different forms: first as an idea, then a drawing, a digital model, a resin master, a silicone mold—and only then, finally, as wax.

At LAWA, this is how we create our sculptural candles and develop custom pieces for brands. It’s a surprisingly hands-on process where each step leaves its mark on the next.

Here’s what actually happens between “What if we made this into a candle?” and the first pour.

The short version: eight steps

Creating a custom sculptural candle isn’t quite as simple as pouring wax into a mold.

First, the mold itself has to be created.

We start with a design, turn it into a precise 3D model, print a physical master, perfect that master by hand, build a casting box around it, pour a silicone mold, remove the original—and only then can we begin pouring candles.

The process looks something like this:

Sketch → 3D Model → Resin Master → Hand Finishing → Casting Box → Silicone Mold → Unmolding → Wax Pour

And there’s a reason we spend so much time on everything that happens before the wax.

Silicone captures almost everything. A tiny line, bump, or imperfection on the master can appear in the mold—and eventually in every candle poured from it.

So, in many ways, the quality of the finished candle is decided long before we ever melt the wax.

1. Design

Every candle begins as an idea.

Sometimes it starts with a sketch we’ve made ourselves. Sometimes a custom client comes to us with a reference, an object, a logo, or even just a feeling they want the piece to have.

This is where we work out the silhouette, proportions, curves, and details that will ultimately give the candle its personality.

But we’re not only thinking about how it looks.

A candle is an object that has to exist in the real world. It needs to stand properly, release from a mold, hold its details in wax, accommodate a wick, and ultimately burn.

That means the most beautiful idea still has to work as an actual candle.

It’s one of the things we love most about designing sculptural pieces: finding the point where art, function, and manufacturing all meet.

2. 3D modeling

Once we’re happy with the direction, we recreate the design digitally as a 3D model.

This is where an idea becomes precise.

Curves are refined. Proportions are adjusted. The base is checked to make sure the candle will sit properly. Tiny details are evaluated to see whether they’ll actually survive molding and casting.

It’s also where we can catch problems before they become expensive physical ones.

A detail that looks beautiful in a sketch might be too delicate in wax. An aggressive overhang could make the candle difficult to remove from its mold. A base might look visually balanced but be too narrow to support the finished piece.

On screen, we can solve those problems before anything is printed.

3. Printing the master

Once the 3D model is finalized, it’s time to turn it into a physical object.

We print the design in resin to create what’s called the master.

The master isn’t a candle. It’s essentially the original sculpture from which our silicone mold will be made.

And that makes it incredibly important.

Resin allows us to capture the fine details we care about—crisp edges, subtle curves, ridges, and texture. Whatever appears on this piece can eventually appear on every candle poured from its mold.

You can think of the master as the bridge between the digital design and everything that comes after it.

4. Cleaning, sanding, and priming

A freshly printed master may look finished from a distance.

Up close? Not quite.

3D printing can leave faint layer lines, support marks, and tiny surface imperfections. And silicone is extremely good at capturing detail—which means it will happily capture those imperfections too.

So we clean the print, remove its supports, fully cure it, and then begin sanding.

By hand.

And sanding.

And sanding some more.

We gradually work through finer grits until the surface feels smooth and even. After that, the master is primed to seal the surface and help fill the tiny imperfections sanding alone can’t remove.

It isn’t the most photogenic part of candle making, but it’s one of the most important.

Because if a scratch makes it into the master, it can make it into the mold. And if it makes it into the mold, it can show up on every candle that comes after.


5. Modeling and printing the casting box

Now that the master is ready, we need something to hold the silicone around it while the mold cures.

So yes—we design another 3D model.

This time, it’s a casting box, or mold box, built specifically around the master.

We print this piece using an FDM printer rather than the resin printer used for the master. The casting box doesn’t need the same beautiful surface detail; its job is much more practical.

It needs to be strong enough to contain liquid silicone, fit the master correctly, and come apart cleanly once the silicone has cured.

It’s essentially temporary architecture for the mold.

6. Pouring the silicone

This is the moment when the master starts becoming something we can actually reproduce.

We secure it inside the casting box and carefully pour liquid silicone around it.

The silicone flows around every curve, edge, ridge, and detail of the master before curing into a flexible solid.

When that happens, something interesting has been created: a perfect negative of the original shape.

Every detail that protrudes from the master becomes an indentation in the mold. Every indentation becomes a raised detail.

Later, when we fill that negative space with wax, the original shape appears again.

7. Unmolding

Once the silicone has fully cured, we open the casting box and carefully remove the master.

This is one of the most satisfying moments in the process.

The solid object we spent so much time designing, printing, sanding, and finishing comes out—and what remains is a flexible hollow cavity carrying its exact shape.

At this point, the master has done its job.

The mold is now the tool we’ll use to create the actual candles.

And if everything upstream was done correctly, the inside of that mold should be smooth, detailed, and ready for its first pour.

8. Pouring the wax

After all of that…

now we can melt the wax.

The wick is positioned, our plant-based soy wax is melted and brought to the right temperature, and the mold is carefully filled.

Then we wait.

The wax needs time to cool and set properly before the candle can be removed. Once it’s ready, the flexible silicone is carefully pulled away and the piece is released.

And suddenly, the shape that started as a sketch on a screen is sitting in front of us as an actual candle.

That transformation never really gets old.

Sketch → model → master → mold → wax.

There are a lot of invisible steps behind an object that can look incredibly simple once it’s finished. But that’s part of what makes sculptural candle making so interesting to us.

The final pour may be the moment the candle appears—but most of the work happened long before it.

If you have an idea you’d like to turn into a candle, you can start a custom or corporate project with LAWA here, or explore the sculptural forms we’ve already created in our full candle collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is a custom candle made?

At LAWA, a custom candle starts with a design or sketch. We turn that design into a precise 3D model and print it in resin to create a master. The master is cleaned, sanded, and primed before we build a casting box around it and pour silicone to create the mold. Once the silicone cures and the master is removed, the mold can finally be wicked and filled with wax.

How long does it take to create a custom candle?

The timeline depends on the complexity of the design, number of revisions, size of the piece, and production quantity. The development stage happens before production can begin because the design, master, and mold all need to be completed and approved first.

Why do you 3D print the candle master in resin?

Resin printing allows us to reproduce fine details, smooth curves, and crisp edges with a high level of precision. Because the silicone mold copies the master so closely, creating a high-quality master is essential to creating a high-quality finished candle.

Why does the master need to be sanded?

Even a detailed 3D print can have subtle printing lines and surface imperfections. Silicone can reproduce those tiny details, so we sand and finish the master by hand before making the mold. The smoother the master, the cleaner the final candle.

What is the blue-green material used to make the mold?

It’s silicone. Liquid silicone is poured around the finished master and allowed to cure. Once solid, it creates a flexible negative mold of the design that can then be used to cast the candle in wax.

Why use a silicone mold for sculptural candles?

Silicone is flexible enough to release detailed shapes without damaging them while still capturing very fine surface details. This makes it especially useful for sculptural candles with curves, ridges, and other design features.

Can LAWA create a candle from a custom design?

Yes. We develop custom candles for brands, events, gifting, and other special projects. Depending on the project, we can work from an existing concept, visual reference, or develop a new sculptural direction specifically for the collaboration.

How long does the custom process take?

It varies with the design, but the chain from an approved model to a first poured candle runs a few weeks, since each stage — master, mold, and pour — has to finish before the next begins. Share your timeline on the custom and corporate page and we will confirm.

Kseniya Tsiatseryna is the founder of LAWA Candles, handmaking sculptural soy wax candles in Los Angeles since 2022.

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