oil lamp from beer or other glass bottle

[Zarah]

I've recently discovered that I can make an attractive and functional oil lamp from any glass bottle with a metal screw-top lid. Just punch a nail hole in the lid & use some rayon/cotton cording as a wick. (Mine came from the fabric store at 36c/yard). I use smokeless, odorless lamp oil.

The only tricky thing I've discovered is that the oil level is pretty important in these homemade lamps. It needs to be about 3 or 4 inches below the cap -- higher and it will burn dangerously high, lower and the lamp may go out. But so long as the oil level is about right, these little lamps will provide a warm and steady light evening after evening.

I'm planning to make some of these as Christmas presents, but would like to make them a little fancier/more special than just plain old beer bottles. I've thought of hand-painting labels for them, or etching the glass with some sort of pattern. Any other brilliant ideas?

[Rama_das]

i have some little jars that would be perfect for that, i saved them from work, and haven't found anything to use them for.

i don't have any oil lamps, and having a really hard time finding some good ones. what do you use to cover the flame with?

[Zarah]

I just punched a nail hole through the metal lid, inserted the wick through that, and screwed it back on. Works like a charm.

[longshot]

just one observation with this set up is that you have a naked flame. the glass chimny, on the regular oil lamps protects the flame from any arrant drafts and keeps the wick from burning out to fast as well, the glass chimney magnifies the available light comming from the flame.

i'm not sure what you would use to correct this situation but such a lamp could be usefull in a pinch in a SHTF situation where you have nothing else. jsut be extra vigilant with that open flame as all should be using such appliances.


ls

[Morning_Owl]

Zarah,
You could beed them for decoration. Use wire instead of string so it will hold to the bottle. Or use string and make the beading just big enough to go over the top & drop down and hang just were the bottle starts to get big. A chimney wouldn't be that hard to make either. Just cut the end off an old wine glass or dime store glass. The trick would be getting the glass the right size around to just sit on the bottle were the start to get big. You know what would be cute is use those little tiny wine bottles they have now that come in the 4 packs.

[Zarah]

Morning owl, I LOVE the idea of doing some kind of draping beadwork that would hang down over them. I may pass that along to my husband, who has more patience for beadwork than I do.

I've never had good luck cutting the bottoms off of bottles. How would you go about doing that?

[Morning_Owl]

Zarah,
You can cut a bottle with string. My friend used to do this when she lived in Paraguay. They would cut the top of the bottle off and use them for glasses. I will see if I can get her to post a picture of her doing it and explain how it is done. In the mean time I found this site that has some ideas. You could also just ask a glass shop how much they would charge. I bet it would only be a buck or two. ;)

http://homepages.waymark.net/mikefirth/bottle.htm

[RNKaren]

I got a similar bottle as a gift once - it was a large wine bottle, corked. The cork was drilled and wick came through. The oil in the bottle had dried flowers/potpourri in it. Was very pretty! I have also seen them with silk flowers in them. I liked this one a lot, so I managed to uncork, replace with new wick and oil and recork. I use it about like you would a decorative candle on special occasions.

[CarolAnn]

Zarah -
A glass cutter only costs a buck or two. Keep some light oil in a container so you can leave the cutter sitting in oil between times you're not using it. Other things you may need are: wet sponge, emery cloth (wet or dry sandpaper) and BANDAIDS!

I've cut a LOT of glass (used to do stained glass) and the most common mistake people make is thinking they're actually cutting the glass with the cutter - press way too hard and go over the cut too much. All it needs is a scratch. Do this with slow, even pressure around where you want the break to be.

Breaking the end off is trickier - and be prepared to bust up a lot of bottles before you get the hang of it. Get in an area where you won't be collecting glass bits to cut yourself with later (like your living room carpet) - protect your eyes by wearing safety glasses. You might even want to work in an area tented with fabric or trash bags, or in a big cardboard box because you'll be whacking the bottle with the round tip on the cutter - along the line to cause the break.

Some people tie a string around the scored place, light it on fire, then plunge the bottle into cold water - the stress breaks it. I haven't tried this, but I've read about it.

The cut edges are VERY sharp, but you can sand them down with emery cloth (That black sandpaper) Just be careful with the glass dust - that stuff causes black lung disease (silicosis) - it's not something you want in your breathers! When doing stained glass, I used water on a sponge in my grinding area tocollect the glass dust. The emery cloth works wet, so this would work for you too.