Duct-taped banana candle mold

A banana duct-taped to a small block of gallery wall, 104 mm tall: the conceptual art piece that sold at auction for millions, now as a candle. The banana bows across the wall, and a strip of tape holds it on at an angle, exactly like the original.

The mold is exactly what our two-part candle mold generator builds for it: two rigid halves with rubber-band grooves, pry pockets and a pour funnel on top. The face of the wall is the seam, so the banana and the tape are the front half and the wall is the back, and the tool's own seam check finds nothing stuck. The pour funnel and the wick sit in the middle of the wall's top.

Pour it plain white and paint the banana yellow and the tape silver, or pour the whole thing yellow. It is the art-world joke that fits on a shelf. The zip carries both halves, the master as its own STL, the tool's own print-settings sheet and a recipe file for the generator.

Shown as a 3D render of the printed mold halves pulled apart around the candle they cast, not a photo.

What you need

• About 178 g of pillar wax: the cavity holds 197 ml
• A tabbed, primed wick for a 45 mm candle, about 120 mm long
• Rubber bands or clamps, and a clip or wick bar across the funnel

How to cast it

1. Print both halves as exported. Clamp-strength settings: 4 walls, 40% gyroid infill, no supports.
2. Drop a tabbed wick into one half so the tab sits on the cavity floor, close the halves and band them along the whole seam.
3. Clip the wick centred across the pour funnel and pour at 65 to 75 C.
4. Once the first pour is firm but still warm, top up the funnel. Wax shrinks, and the second pour fills the dip.
5. Cool fully, open the halves at the pry pockets and trim the wick. Paint the banana yellow and the tape silver.