My-"Because I Can"-Oil Candle & Alcohol Stove's

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:13 am

After a 5 hour power outage last week I got to thinking the “what if”
What if I didn’t have my mister Coleman lanterns, candles, oil lamps or flash lights???
What if all I had was olive oil or vegetable oil…
Well hear is the answer to that question. “Let there be light”

Materials used: brass compression fittings, cotton strings from a string mop, olive oil.

The trick to the olive oil lamp is to keep the flame holder as close to the fuel source as possible. Just that small amount of oil gave me about two hours worth of light.

Olive oil is awesome, smokeless and almost odorless. I haven’t tried vegetable oil yet.

pokey · Post by **pokey** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:40 am

nice.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:46 am

Super awesome , great job and very useful

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 11:53 am

I'd forgot about that...thanks!

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:21 pm

That is cool! Our power went out the other night and my old faithful oil lamp let me down. I didn't realize leaving them unused for too long caused problems. Searching the net for ideas as to what my problem was I saw references to olive oil lamps. Yours look simpler and just as good as the ones I saw.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 5:14 am

Dave wrote:That is cool! Our power went out the other night and my old faithful oil lamp let me down. I didn't realize leaving them unused for too long caused problems. Searching the net for ideas as to what my problem was I saw references to olive oil lamps. Yours look simpler and just as good as the ones I saw.

Dave,
Kerosene indeed goes bad overtime.
Give the lamp a good cleaning out, it will also need a new wick.
You will notice the old wick upon removal will be a gummy sticky mess.
I just went through this not long ago with my two oil lamps.
I have since after much research started using a fuel other than Kero.
It is a somewhat controversial fuel for use in Kero oil lamps, so
I won’t mention it here. I sure don’t want to be remotely responsible
for burning anyone’s house down. Many others and myself have found it to
work fantastic with long term storage ability with no gum-up of the
wick and lamp with better light production and virtually no soot or odor.

My favorite lamp & candle supply site...
http://www.wickstore.com/Default.aspx

This will get you started in your lamp fuel research...
http://www.lampguild.org/QandApage/arch ... 003675.htm

mklwhite · Post by **mklwhite** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:30 am

Nice kit.
Now I have to add a brass compression fitting to my list of things I want to pick up.
The ones I use when the opportunity afforded itself to make were nowhere near as well thought out and professional looking.

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:03 am

What's the big container with all the goodies in it?

Washita · Post by **Washita** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:15 am

Looks like a kit for starting a fire w/o matches; flint & steel, tinder, magnifying glass (solar fire starter?)

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:50 am

lamp-grade olive oil exists. does anyone have a source for that? supposed to be much cheaper than cooking oil.

whale, seal, sea-lion blubber is another handy source of fuel..... because we can

can you float a wick on a pool of oil?

thanks for posting this

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:51 am

Washita wrote:Looks like a kit for starting a fire w/o matches; flint & steel, tinder, magnifying glass (solar fire starter?)

Yep!! that about covers it...

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 9:43 am

awp101 wrote:What's the big container with all the goodies in it?

From one of my all time favorite on line stores.

Track Of The Wolf, Inc.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categorie ... =10&Page=2

piller · Post by **piller** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 9:59 am

I think that I will take a brass compression fitting I happen to have in my "coffee can of items to save" and screw it into a hole drilled into an empty aluminum container which held .177 pellets. The empty container screws apart and is about 1&3/4 inches across and about 5/16 inch tall. Should hold about 1 to 1&1/2 ounces of oil, screws together to limit spillage, easily available from any store which sells pellet gun ammo, costs very little, and, very imortant to me, should not tip over.

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:01 am

Ok, so what if I don't have a compression fitting or much of nothin, but I do have my olive oil (the perfect field expedient lamp oil, as even uncovered, it will never dry. You can leave the blown out candle and come back to it....). What could I use? String is good, or even the frayed cuff off old blue jeans if they are 100% cotton. As to the lamp? Pop can?

Now with the rest of the can, how about a reflector/windscreen?

Thanks for a good thread. It go me thinking, and now I have another tool in the toolbox

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:05 am

casastahle wrote:From one of my all time favorite on line stores.

Track Of The Wolf, Inc.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categorie ... =10&Page=2

Thanks!

piller wrote:I think that I will take a brass compression fitting I happen to have in my "coffee can of items to save" and screw it into a hole drilled into an empty aluminum container which held .177 pellets. The empty container screws apart and is about 1&3/4 inches across and about 5/16 inch tall. Should hold about 1 to 1&1/2 ounces of oil, screws together to limit spillage, easily available from any store which sells pellet gun ammo, costs very little, and, very imortant to me, should not tip over.

Now that is a stellar idea! I happen to have one of those somewhere in the garage...

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:33 pm

Awesome Adirondack.

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:52 pm

casa, another question: what is that holding the oil? Does it have a lid? Do you keep it in that firestarter box?

OK, that's three questions...

piller, have you looked at any way to seal the pellet tin with thin rubber or anything?

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:42 pm

awp101 wrote:casa, another question: what is that holding the oil? Does it have a lid? Do you keep it in that firestarter box?

OK, that's three questions...

piller, have you looked at any way to seal the pellet tin with thin rubber or anything?

Inverted cover for the magnifying glass.

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:36 pm

casastahle wrote:Inverted cover for the magnifying glass.

Ahhhhhh! Thanks!

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:57 pm

I'm thinkin ya could use about any screw top bottle of say a couple or three ounces, maybe one like hand lotion comes in. Shove some cotton mop string or other fairly thick cotton string in the bottle, fill it with oil, cap it and stash it in the "what if" bag. That way yer wick string is immune from water and stays with the oil.... Of course we know ya can make almost anything into a lamp.....

KirkD · Post by **KirkD** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 9:43 pm

Great thread!

Jeff H · Post by **Jeff H** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:36 pm

Very cool!

I like the idea that it can fit in your tinder box. I have a brass one just like it and may have to add one of those to it.

Been playing with pop-can alcohol stoves and appreciate the respourceful (cheap) projects.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:06 am

I keep one or two 1" long candle butts [the part left over when burning candles] in my fire starting sack. They burn for quite a while and don't spill and they burn hot and long enough to start damp material. Cheep too.
Gobbler

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:16 am

adirondakjack wrote:I'm thinkin ya could use about any screw top bottle of say a couple or three ounces, maybe one like hand lotion comes in. Shove some cotton mop string or other fairly thick cotton string in the bottle, fill it with oil, cap it and stash it in the "what if" bag. That way yer wick string is immune from water and stays with the oil.... Of course we know ya can make almost anything into a lamp.....

The trick is it has to be a low profile oil container for it to work.
This is do to the heaviness of the oil and its wicking ability against gravity.
If using say a mason jar then the wick holder would have to be able to float and
ride with the surface of the oil as the oil depletes. A soda or beer bottle
cap will work by floating on the surface of the oil.

M. M. Wright · Post by **M. M. Wright** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:41 am

I thought the oil reservoir was a freeze plug for an engine block. Guess I have to build one now.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:48 am

Jeff H wrote:Very cool!

I like the idea that it can fit in your tinder box. I have a brass one just like it and may have to add one of those to it.

Been playing with pop-can alcohol stoves and appreciate the respourceful (cheap) projects.

I wish the tinder box was just a little bigger to be able to fit a small bottle of the olive
oil in it as well. I my have to go to a smaller flint and work on finding an appropriate oil
container that will fit.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:51 am

Jeff H wrote:Very cool!

I like the idea that it can fit in your tinder box. I have a brass one just like it and may have to add one of those to it.

Been playing with pop-can alcohol stoves and appreciate the respourceful (cheap) projects.

I posted these pictures of the two alcohol stoves I made a couple of years ago.
Great fun project and they work like nobodies business.

Hungarian · Post by **Hungarian** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:59 am

How about a can of tuna fish? This video shows how to make a two hour candle from a can of tuna, which may help if thats all you have.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-an ... n-of-tuna/

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:32 am

casastahle wrote:
adirondakjack wrote:I'm thinkin ya could use about any screw top bottle of say a couple or three ounces, maybe one like hand lotion comes in. Shove some cotton mop string or other fairly thick cotton string in the bottle, fill it with oil, cap it and stash it in the "what if" bag. That way yer wick string is immune from water and stays with the oil.... Of course we know ya can make almost anything into a lamp.....
The trick is it has to be a low profile oil container for it to work.
This is do to the heaviness of the oil and its wicking ability against gravity.
If using say a mason jar then the wick holder would have to be able to float and
ride with the surface of the oil as the oil depletes. A soda or beer bottle
cap will work by floating on the surface of the oil.

Yep. I saw your initial post and that's how the pop can lamp came to mind. The flap of aluminum with the notch to hold the wick is in the oil some. I didn't think to, but I probably could have allowed the wick holder to float. OK, come to think of it, a folded piece of aluminum foil, perhaps tripled could be fasioned into an oil dish, and a smaller bit of foil folded in half coulf be a wick holder floating on the oil. NOW we have a "lamp" that is simply aluminum foil that could even be wrapped around the bottle of oil (wick stored in the oil) Add a fire stick and dryer fuzz to your kit, and shazaam, let there be heat and light,

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:59 am

adirondakjack wrote:
casastahle wrote:
adirondakjack wrote:I'm thinkin ya could use about any screw top bottle of say a couple or three ounces, maybe one like hand lotion comes in. Shove some cotton mop string or other fairly thick cotton string in the bottle, fill it with oil, cap it and stash it in the "what if" bag. That way yer wick string is immune from water and stays with the oil.... Of course we know ya can make almost anything into a lamp.....
The trick is it has to be a low profile oil container for it to work.
This is do to the heaviness of the oil and its wicking ability against gravity.
If using say a mason jar then the wick holder would have to be able to float and
ride with the surface of the oil as the oil depletes. A soda or beer bottle
cap will work by floating on the surface of the oil.
Yep. I saw your initial post and that's how the pop can lamp came to mind. The flap of aluminum with the notch to hold the wick is in the oil some. I didn't think to, but I probably could have allowed the wick holder to float. OK, come to think of it, a folded piece of aluminum foil, perhaps tripled could be fasioned into an oil dish, and a smaller bit of foil folded in half coulf be a wick holder floating on the oil. NOW we have a "lamp" that is simply aluminum foil that could even be wrapped around the bottle of oil (wick stored in the oil) Add a fire stick and dryer fuzz to your kit, and shazaam, let there be heat and light,

Playing with fire is so much fun

stickfred · Post by **stickfred** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:19 am

Cool idea casastahle. Thanks for sharing it.

On Track of the Wolf they have a Tinder Box/Candle Holder that is about an inch thick. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categorie ... ANDLE&as=1 I wonder about drilling a hole through the holder for a wick and having the oil in the box. If it worked, you might be able to have light for a longer time.

Thanks again and all the best to ya.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:52 am

stickfred wrote:Cool idea casastahle. Thanks for sharing it.

On Track of the Wolf they have a Tinder Box/Candle Holder that is about an inch thick. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categorie ... ANDLE&as=1 I wonder about drilling a hole through the holder for a wick and having the oil in the box. If it worked, you might be able to have light for a longer time.

Thanks again and all the best to ya.

Awsome idea, you might want to run that idea by Mr. Ted D. Cash.

WWW.tdcmfg.com

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:14 pm

This oil candle thing is fun.

So I began to think minimum kit.

Scrounging around my shop, an empty percussion cap tin came into view.
Now for a proper wick holder..... The domed bottom of an aluminum soda can works. I just cut a rough circle with scissors and drilled a hole in the middle.

Wick is simply old fashioned package-tying string my MIL used to save (child of the depression, she had softball-sized balls of string she'd wound up over the years. And packrat that I am, HD cotton string didn't get tossed when her "stuff" got sorted after she passed.)
To enable the top to be used as a fair reflector/wind screen, a paper clip becomes a stand that will stow inside the lamp when not in use.

all ready to go

A 2 oz pump type squirt (not spray) bottle can be had from the "travel" section of the health and beauty aids at Walmart for fifty cents. I have one in my gun cart already filled with Olive oil I use to clean and lube guns when shooting BP. Filled halfway, the little cap can lamp will burn 2 hours, and scavenges the oil well, leaving almost none behind. A 1 oz. bottle with a screw cap might be all ya'd need in yer trekking kit, (probably run the thing 2 or 3 evenings on an ounce of oil). Some sort of novelty miniature flask would be cool too....

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:56 pm

Very cool Jack, well thought out and executed.
Now I see why the Marlin forum has problems, we have all
the brain's in this forum.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:03 pm

Good stuff here.

How about instructions on the alcohol burner

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:05 pm

casastahle wrote:Very cool Jack, well thought out and executed.
Now I see why the Marlin forum has problems, we have all
the brain's in this forum.

I'll tell ya what else, if I HAD TO use one of these lamps inside, OO is perfect fuel. I get an almost alergic reaction from scented candles or Kero in tight spaces, my sinuses go bonkers. But the OO is almost totally orderless and doesn't bother me a bit. I suspect canola or soybean oil would work nicely too.

I just tried an experiment. Using my fire steel and a small shred of cotton ball soaked in paste wax, I was able to start the oil candle with the flame from the firestarter. Simply place the shred of cotton ball in the lamp, touching the wick, and get a spark to it from the firesteel..... Hitting the target with the spark took a bit of patience, but it lit the lamp easily when the cotton ball shred went up, and it did NOT catch the oil in the can on fire.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:44 pm

Pitchy wrote:Good stuff here.
How about instructions on the alcohol burner

Pitchy,
I will post the link tomorrow to the best alcohol stove
making web sight on the planet. I'm at work now,
it's on my computer at home.

Jeff H · Post by **Jeff H** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:22 pm

casastahle wrote:
Pitchy wrote:Good stuff here.
How about instructions on the alcohol burner

Pitchy,
I will post the link tomorrow to the best alcohol stove
making web sight on the planet. I'm at work now,
it's on my computer at home.

I will watch for it!
There's a hundred different alcohol stove variations and instructions to go with them out there.
I decided to try the "Penny Stove" but have not had all that much luck getting the amount of water to boil in near the time claimed.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 5:13 am

Here you go all, everything you want and need to know about
alcohol stoves, and the making of, including patterns.

http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm

The first one I built: “Basic Top burner Open Jet Stove”
http://zenstoves.net/BasicTopBurner.htm

The second one I built: “Pressurized Jet Alcohol Stove” (my personal favorite of the two)
http://zenstoves.net/BasicPressureBurner.htm

I modified the two I made (heavy duty’ized them

) with an extra aluminum band
Around the mid-section where the two halves slide together and riveted.
You can see what I’m talking about in the pictures of mine.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:38 am

Thanks bro i`ll check into that

i`m building a full size bear trap today

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:59 pm

What do you get when you combine

AND

An alcohol burner!

The flames from the side ports don't show in the photos but they were there going strong. It fits perfectly in my folding Sterno stove.

I was inspired by this website though not exactly the same;
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-featu ... /6227.html

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:04 pm

That's what I'm talkin about...
Sweet

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:11 pm

How about Candlenut (kukui) or Candlefish (eulachon)?

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:12 pm

Very nice, gotta make one myself.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:21 pm

okay Ji you win

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 3:37 pm

Now this alcohol stove thing is some fun.

Sorely needing a diversion last evening, I made one of the pressurized alcohol stoves. Even with JB Weld, I didin't think much of the interference fit between the top and bottom, so like Casastahle, I wrapped it with a strip of flashing at the joint (I just used a full coating of JB and taped it while it set up in lieu of a rivet).

The filler is a T nut JB Welded to the inside of the top, the neck passing through a close fit hole in the top of the stove, and a trim washer JB-ed on the outside. The plug is a brass screw. All the bits are from junk box(es).. I also used an inner wall in the build, to give the stove more structure, done per the plans. Nothing was purchased for this project. I even had Denatured alcohol on hand

For a priming pan, the bottom 1/2" of a heavy steel Chili can works.

The pot stand started life as a 1 lb steel coffee can, cut into two pieces (about an inch or so of the middle discarded, an eyeball engineering guess of the height needed for the pot) and interference fit (wood block and small hammer). A peepot load of 3/8 holes, reamed with closed needlenose pliers to make em less lethal....

It took but a few minutes for the pot stand to lose it's paint. The old camp coffee pot was blackened already from many wood fires.

Yup, it's boiling.

impossible to see the flames in full sun, but a twig held close to a jet proves it's still lit.

I'm gonna cut a windscreen of flashing that will fit inside the pot stand, along with the stove and a small bottle of fuel. Then I need to scrounge up two plastic coffee can lids to close up the "kit". Somewhere I have a smaller coffee pot with a cup that fits inside. The whole works will go in a small stuff sack..... I wouldn't call it world class backpacking small, but the "kit" would make coffee in a jiffy, and could easily stow in the aft hatch of my kayak to take with me fishing..... No morre HOUR of fooling around to make coffee with a twig fire, balance the pot on rocks, go without if it's wet out, etc.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:33 am

Yeah done real good Jack

I really like how your pot stand came out,
heavy duty enough to support a frying pan
to make fish, pancakes or bacon & eggs

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:24 am

Ok guys here`s what not to do

you know me i have to weld everything so i tried to make one from a propane tank. It worked but not very good, took a while to get hot then the flames were too yellow. The first holes were to big so i made another row up higher with the smallest bit i had which was 1/16th.
I tried.

but afraid i`m gonna burn down the shop

Not a total loss, i can always fill it with black powder put a fuse in it and toss it somewhere.

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:36 am

Pitchy, uh, ya proved my old dad's saying, "some men were meant to be blacksmiths, and some were mean to be watchmakers." LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIN aluminum helps the stove heat up. And as you found, jet size is very important. I used the a .0262 carbide drill, which was the smallest I had unless I went to a .0157 or smaller (I have em down to .009"). The .0262 is a hair big, .0157 woulda been too small.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:38 am

adirondakjack wrote:Pitchy, uh, ya proved my old dad's saying, "some men were meant to be blacksmiths, and some were mean to be watchmakers." LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIN aluminum helps the stove heat up. And as you found, jet size is very important. I used the a .0262 carbide drill, which was the smallest I had unless I went to a .0157 or smaller (I have em down to .009"). The .0262 is a hair big, .0157 woulda been too small.

Sir you are exactly right.