Tensegrity Candle Holder

Here's how a candle holder can be made by suspending a candle on 3 pencils above a plate.

Step 1: Suspending the Candle

The candle was suspended above 3 lead pencils on top of a plate. The erasers on the end of the pencils helped them grip the plate. They were cut to about 12 cms long and had a screw eye attached to the cut end. A hole was drilled in the bottom of the candle and a 4 cm long thin dowel with a screw eye on the bottom end inserted to allows string to be attahed to the bottom of the candle. To attach string to the center part of the candle, drill 3 small holes which meet in the middle of the candle. A 25 cm piece of sting was tied to the middle of a 50 cm length. One end was poked through a hole and out one of the other holes, a piece of bent wire helped with this. The same was done with another end, coming out the other hole. This got 3 lengths of string joined in the centre of the candel and coming out at 120 degrees apart and supported the candle to the pencels.

The stings were attached to the plate and screw eyes as shown in the photos.

It was tightened by moving the bottom of the pencils further out.(you will notice they are deliberately on an angle to allow this.) This tightened the candle holder strings and is similar to how the 250 foot (75m) tall Skylon was tighten in the Festival of Britian in 1951 (althought that used hydraulic rams)

Step 2: The Aftermath

As with any lite candle, you need to keep an eye on it. Here's what it looks like after been used up.