Embark on incense making

[Oud Learner]

Since I had gathered a decent amount of raw material, I decided to try my hands on incense making just for the fun of it!

Royal Green Hojari resin and powdered (from ApothecarysGarden)

Left to right: Myrrh powdered, Boswellia Carterii powdered (both from ApothecarysGarden), charcoal (Shoyeido)

Left to right: Cloves, sandalwood, borneol (cloves and borneol from Shoyeido)

Will continue to procure ingredients as I go along! [emoji16]

 

[Oudamberlove]

What extruder will you use?

 

[Rasoul S]

Since I had gathered a decent amount of raw material, I decided to try my hands on incense making just for the fun of it!

Royal Green Hojari resin and powdered (from ApothecarysGarden)

Left to right: Myrrh powdered, Boswellia Carterii powdered (both from ApothecarysGarden), charcoal (Shoyeido)

Left to right: Cloves, sandalwood, borneol (cloves and borneol from Shoyeido)

Will continue to procure ingredients as I go along! [emoji16]

keep us updated on technique, success and failure stories. i too would like to try my hand at it, again just for fun

 

[5MeO]

I tried making some agarwood and palo santo stick incense awhile back but it didn't work out well - the material that binds it together and incinerates it (forget what it's called) - I couldn't get the right ratio.. Either burned too fast or smelled like that stuff..

I have though had some really good success making loose incense blends - and some resin balls - I have some fantastic pine resin from Mermade that I use to glue together other ingredients into little discs of amazingness

 

[Thomas S.]

The stuff that is used as binder is called makko. It´s the pulverized bark of a tree that grows in SouthEast Asia (Machillus Thunbergii is the botanical name of the tree). The ration of makko to incense should be somewhere between as low as 7- 10 percent, and can go up to 25 or 30 percent if you use resins such as frankincense of myrrh - which will not burn on their own - in your sticks. Add water, in small amounts, and knead thoroughly, or mix the incense dough with a spoon. Once the mix sticks together (forming like a ball) and doesn´t cling to the walls of the vessel, the dough is ready to be made into sticks or cones.

 

[Ahmed Megahed]

Since I had gathered a decent amount of raw material, I decided to try my hands on incense making just for the fun of it!

Royal Green Hojari resin and powdered (from ApothecarysGarden)

Left to right: Myrrh powdered, Boswellia Carterii powdered (both from ApothecarysGarden), charcoal (Shoyeido)

Left to right: Cloves, sandalwood, borneol (cloves and borneol from Shoyeido)

Will continue to procure ingredients as I go along! [emoji16]

Nice work- You can make this incense go Japanese if you add an ample amount of fenugreek and traces of cinnamon
Maybe some agarwood powder too

 

[Thomas S.]

@Oud Learner, Ahmed Megahed:
Agarwood, Borneol, Clove, Turmeric and Sandalwood are the five main ingredients you will find in most Japanese incenses. These five ingredients relate directly to the Five Buddha families; and to the Five Poisons (of the Mind) which are Jealousy, Hate / Anger, Desire, Pride, and Ignorance. Using these five ingredients can help to overcome these negative traits in yourself. That is why we find the five ingredients in all buddhist- style incenses (in Tibetan incenses as well, but more in form of a base for the Tibetan herbs and spices). Now all you need to do is find the right
ratio ...
@Oud Learner, be very careful when working with powdered resins. they can cause your stick to go out or make it not burn evenly since the molten resin can extinguish the burning ember.
Just add a little resin to the dough, form a stick, let it dry, then burn it.
See if it has the scent you were aiming for. Since you are using makko, you can simply grind your previous experiments and then add this or that ingredient, to modify the scent and try again.
This way you are not losing precious raw materials.