Zommers talked Latvian Television through the process: "When it starts working, you'll see. We're preparing the cardboard. We need to put 34 millimeters on it. That's the optimum for these cans, then let's go."
His wife, Mudīte, has been roped into the production process. Her main job is to cut cardboard strips to the right size with scissors.
When the materials are prepared, Egīls starts wrapping the cardboard. This is the most complicated part of candle making, he says, but repetition has made him very fast at the task.
"This one is cut, my wife cut it. Take it, now you need to put the needle in... That's it," he pointed out.
The rolled cardboard is then placed in the can. Egils made the winding device with his own hands from things he found in the garage.
"Any eighth-grader can make such a device in a school workshop," he said, demonstrating an ingenious portable rig he has devised which incorporates a common drill to speed up the candle-making process.
During a week, Egils and his wife make about 500 candles in this way, which are then sent to the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line so that they can both warm themselves and prepare meals.
"I have nothing much to do in the long winter evenings and even during the days. I need to help," he said.
