Hello everyone! I want to tell you about how I developed my own version of an oil lamp, and what I ended up with.
The first, the simplest option, I used in the 90s as home lighting during regular power outages. Sometimes I took such a lamp on trips to check it in field conditions. The design is extremely simple.
From a strip of tin about a centimeter wide, a tube with a diameter of about 7 mm is rolled up, a copper wire is attached to it. A wick from a piece of bandage twisted into a flagellum is placed in the tube. All this is placed in a glass jar with a screw cap so that the wick, suspended on wire hooks over the edges of the jar, is located approximately in the middle in height. Poured into the bank sunflower oil to the middle of the tube. It is desirable to take purified, light oil. Dark unrefined oil, burning on the wick, clogs it with products of incomplete combustion and combustion worsens. 
The oil-soaked wick burns inside the jar with an even flame, about as bright as paraffin candle. The jar protects the flame well from the wind, so the lamp also works outdoors. It is important to adjust the length of the wick so that the flame does not smoke. A high and bright flame can quickly smoke the glass, so the length of the wick must be reduced. As the oil burns, its level decreases, and the lamp has to be topped up. It is not necessary to top up with oil, you can also ... with WATER! 
Water is heavier than oil, it will settle under it and just lift the oil up to the wick. Even when there is no oil left thin layer, it will burn on the wick, and the water will not wet the wick because it is saturated with oil. In the "stowed" position, the wick with wires is lowered to the bottom of the jar, and the jar is tightly closed.
I recently learned from the Internet that Leonardo da Vinci, while perfecting an oil lamp, placed it over its flame tin pipe to enhance draft and combustion. I tried this too. He placed a tube with a diameter of 1.5 cm and a length of about 10 cm above the flame. The effect is zero. I took a larger tube: diameter about 2 cm, length about 20 cm. The effect is the same. I didn’t experiment further with the “chimney”, I decided that we would go the other way.
I decided to increase the brightness of the lamp with a reflector. From an aluminum beer can I cut out a rectangle with a length slightly less than the height glass jar. In the lower part, making an incision on the right and left, he twisted the tube for the wick. She, so that the flame would not be smoked by the reflector, was moved away from it by about a centimeter. The photo shows how it's done. 
The rest of the rectangle, while retaining the cylindrical shape of the beer can, was a reflector. Positioning the reflector in the glass jar so that the wick is on optimal height, on the protruding part of the reflector from the sides, I made two cuts and straightened the resulting “wings” so that they lay on the edges of the can. 
Inserted the wick, poured oil. Ready!
The brightness of the lamp has increased markedly. The picture shows that the light is given not only by the flame itself, but also by the reflector. 
The next step to improve the lamp was: to increase the brightness due to one more wick. This time, in front of the reflector, I twisted two tubes for the wicks. The reflector itself made a little wider, slightly changed it upper part so that the narrowing of the neck of the can does not compress the reflector. 
A little more fiddling with adjusting the length of the wicks - and here it is: on fire! It got brighter. Compare the brightness in the photo. Which lamp with two wicks - figure it out! 
At this point, I stopped my experiments for the time being. But there are more ideas!
Kerosene and oil lamps were widely used at a time when there was no electricity. But even today, in the event of an emergency power outage, as well as during a hike or stay in the country, you can use an oil lamp. A rarity that was popular in ancient times will be difficult to find and purchase today, but you can learn how to make an oil lamp with your own hands.
In order for oil lamp lighting to be effective, certain conditions must be met:
- Far from any oil will do so that the wick burns evenly and for a long time, and, moreover, brightly. In this case, you need to choose an oil intended for aromatic lamps and candles, or sewing machines It is also good to use lamp oil. V field conditions, for lack of other things, you can use vegetable.
- The wick must have large diameter. You can even use twisted cotton wool.
- A container that is too wide, such as a saucer, is more flammable than a small one, especially when lighting an oil lamp inside a tent.
DIY oil lamp
A do-it-yourself oil lamp can be very useful when camping to light up the place inside the tent. However, you need to know how to properly make it.
The basis of such a lamp is oil and a wick. To make a miniature oil lamp, you will need materials:
- Match
- copper wire
- Woolen thread, preferably thick
- Butter
- Cork from tin
A thick woolen thread will act as a wick, and the thicker it is, the better. It absorbs any substance well, whether liquid or oil, lifting this substance up. The basis for the thread should be a support, which is used as a match, on which copper wire is wound in dense rings. When the match is completely wrapped in wire, it is removed from the loop. Should work copper spiral, the end of which needs to be bent slightly to ensure stability. After that, it is necessary to wind the thread with a dense layer on the resulting spiral from the bottom up, threading it between the rings. The end of the thread should remain free on top, it needs to be fluffed a little.
Next, you need to take a tin cork, pour a small amount of oil, enough to soak the wick from the thread to the top. In addition to cork, you can use any metal container, in which you want to place the manufactured wick.
Another option for making an oil lamp is to use an ordinary light bulb. For this you will need:
- Old or new light bulb
- Cotton wick
- Syringe
- Steel or copper wire
- Butter
- Set of tools
The light bulb will serve as a container for oil with a wick. To prepare it, you need to make a hole in the base: hook the protruding contact of the lamp with pliers, pull it. After that, you need to remove the black polymer around the contact and everything else that was there from the glass bulb of the light bulb.
Next, you need to check the wick for suitability: set it on fire, and look at the result. If it gives loose ashes, then the wick will burn well. If the fibers begin to turn into something resembling plastic, such a wick is not suitable for an oil lamp. It is necessary to measure the required length of the wick so that it is completely immersed in the flask from the lamp, looking out of it by about 1 cm.
To fill a glass flask with oil, a 10 ml syringe can be used. When the oil in the flask runs out, you can always add it.
From the wire you need to make a holder for the wick. To do this, with the help of pliers, the wire is bent in the form of a spiral with a wide base. On top of the wire, you need to make a slight rounding so that it holds on to the top of the bulb from the light bulb.
After making the base, the wick is soaked in oil, and lowered into the flask, fixed with a wire. If the cotton wick on the wire does not peek out of the light bulb by about 1 cm, it will create a lot of soot. The oil lamp is ready, you just need to light the wick and make sure to change the oil in time and tighten the wick as it burns. By the way, such a lamp will become great decoration interior. But for this it is necessary that it be located on a stand. To do this, you can use a metal hanger or a piece of copper wire, twisting it in the form of a wide spiral, and fixing the light bulb on top with electrical tape or double-sided tape.
Another option for making an oil lamp is using a glass container and the bottom of an aluminum can. The concave part of the bottom is cut off from the jar, in which two holes are made - for the wick and the air outlet, in order to slightly reduce the buoyancy of the wick. A wick is passed through one of the holes, for example, from a bandage. It is wetted with oil, set on fire and lowered into a glass container filled with oil. Instead of one wick, you can make three or four, but in this case you will have to make the float from the aluminum bottom more convex so that it is not flooded with oil inside the glass jar.
The advantages of a lamp inside a glass jar: the flame is not blown out by the wind and is protected from accidental tipping over, convenient during transportation, does not require constant supervision. And the use of several wicks allows you to adjust the brightness of the glow and the duration of the lamp burning.
The problem of lighting has been a concern of people since antiquity. To bring light into the home primitive took a burning stick from the fire and fixed it in the gap between the stones of the cave. So, probably, the prototype of the lamp appeared - a torch.
Torch
For the base of the torch, people used a wooden stick, on which they wound tow or a rag and dipped it in flammable liquid. Torches were used not only to illuminate the premises. With their help, the element of fire became a participant in rituals and religious ceremonies.
In the Middle Ages, the torch was the main means of lighting the knight's castles. At this time, people created a special forged clip, which was mounted on the wall. Often such a holder was made in the shape of a hand. This mount served as a prototype for the sconce lamp, because “sconce” in French means “hand”.
Lucina
The torch, which for hundreds of years illuminated the dwellings of the peasants of northern Europe and Russia, also belongs to the first lighting fixtures. The splint was fixed in the light - a special metal device, which was driven into a block of wood or another wooden stand. Luchins were used in peasant life until the beginning of the 20th century.
oil lamp
Along with a torch and a torch, an oil lamp was a common source of light in a person’s dwelling. The materials for the manufacture of such lamps were clay and bronze. This lighting fixture from a vessel and a wick. Animal fat and oil were used as fuel. Many of these lamps have been preserved since ancient Greece and Rome. Depending on the thickness of the wick, the oil lamp burned from half an hour to 2-3 hours. The light from it was dim, but with two lit lamps it was quite possible to read.
The Romans lit their houses with alfalfa oil lamps. Such lamps were made of terracotta. There were lamps with one, two and even twelve burners.
Oil lamps were painted with images of gladiator fights, deeds of gods and heroes. Like the drawings on antique vases, the images on the lamps read like an encyclopedia of ancient life.
V large rooms lamps were placed on a stand or hung on chains from the ceiling. Such suspended lamps became the prototype of the chandelier.
Today modern chandeliers and lamps are presented on the site
The oil lamp or candle is one of mankind's oldest forms of light sources. According to Wikipedia, there are stone oil lamps that were used from 10,000 to 15,000 years ago! Today we're going to talk about how oil lamps work, what type of oil and wick to use, and how to make a beautiful canned oil lamp in just a few minutes!
Three reasons to fall in love with oil lamps:
- The lamp in the jar is easy to make but so attractive. It only takes two minutes and a little vegetable oil and water!
- Such a lamp is safer than candles. If the oil lamp is turned over, the flame is immediately extinguished by the oil and water. However, do not leave the lamp unattended!
- Bright long burning. One tablespoon of oil can burn for two hours!
These oil lamps can be an inexpensive source of light, but they are also great for decorating a dinner party or party!
How do oil lamps work?
The earliest oil lamps used vegetable oil as fuel, while later versions used kerosene or lamp oil to impregnate the capillary wick. This version is made with vegetable oil.
What type of oil and wick should I use?
Lamps that use kerosene or lamp oil have specially made wicks. Long cotton wicks are not suitable for vegetable oil lamps because vegetable oils are highly viscous.
Long wicks simply don't pick up enough oil and go out. Floating wicks work great with all vegetable oils!
Materials:
- large floating wicks
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- jar or glass bottle
- decorative elements (flowers, pine cones, pebbles, etc.)
- herbs, spices or essential oils
Step-by-step instruction:
Step 1: Gather glass bottles and jars, fill them with flowers or other decorative elements. Fill with water.
Step 2: Pour a little vegetable oil on top until the oil forms a layer about half a centimeter thick.
Large floating wicks are supplied with discs and small waxed wicks. Insert a piece of wick through the center hole in the disc and lay it over the oil layer.
Now light your oil candle and enjoy the beautiful light!
Flowers and fruits will last a whole week in water.
Pine cones, pebbles, beads are also great additions! Red viburnum berries, cranberries and paws conifers great for decoration.
To extinguish the flame, simply cover the candle with the lid of the jar. Floating wicks can be left inside.
After repeated use, the waxed wick will burn out, just replace it with a small piece of pre-waxed wick that can be cut into small pieces. A floating disk can run for a very long time.
Some flowers will pop up, but you can keep them down with other decorative pieces.
Add food coloring to water for a special effect!
Olive and sunflower oils burn cleanly, without smoke.
Artificial plants can also be used for decoration, just keep them safe from flames.
The article was prepared based on www.apieceofrainbow.com.
The oil lamp was created from a photo I saw on the Internet.
What you need to make such an oil lamp:
Step 1: Tools, Parts and Protective Equipment
Cause this product is not commercially available or any variations there are light bulbs are very fragile. If you were to put this into production it would be made from scratch, the glass beads would need to be thicker.
I found a light bulb to work with, but safety comes first. Eye protection and thick gloves Or wrap the bulb in an old towel. Use boxes, cardboard, or plastic to catch glass shards.
What do you need: 2 burned out incandescent bulbs, 2 magnets, 1 steel plate, black spray paint, adhesive backed rubber feet, and aluminum wick holders.
Fuel: liquid paraffin oil for smokeless lamp. At worst, sunflower oil, but it can smoke when burned.
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