Making an oil lamp

Two DIY Oil Lamps - Soot is from blowing out the wick instead of dowsing it in oil
Hurricane Sandy is hovering over us at the moment. Since we expect power to go out today (and stay off for several days), I thought Id share how to make a simple oil lamp from materials most people have at home.

Youll need:

• pliers (needle nose pliers are best)
• a thick glass jar or glass (works with goblets as well)
• oil (olive oil is ideal if you have it)
• wick (can make from cotton cloth if you dont have wicks)

1. Twist a coil in the end of your wire. This will hold the wick and prevent the flame from burning down the wick.
2. Bend the wire so the wick is held in the center of your jar. It helps to bend a small loop in the wire where it will be outside the jar to help you lift the wire out of the jar for lighting your wick.
3. Push the wick up through the coil. Pull the wick so it is only an 1/8th of an inch over the wire coil. The end of the wick should be long enough to reach the bottom of your jar.
4. Place the wire and wick in your jar.
5. Add oil to your jar so it comes just below your wire coil. You can pour the oil over the wick if you want.
6. Pull the wire/wick up and light it. Oil doesnt like to burn, so it wont catch very quickly.
7. When the wick has caught, lower the wire/wick down into the jar.
8. If the flame is too high, life the wire/wick out and tug gently on the bottom of the wick to reduce the amount of wick sticking out above the coil.
9. When you want to extinguish the flame, dip the flaming end of the wick in the oil. The oil will not catch on fire, but will immediately cool the hot end of the wick. This will prevent the wick from smoking, which it will do if you just blow it out.

If you dont have wicks in your utility drawer, you can cut strips of cloth from either a cotton t-shirt or a used tea towel. These home-made wicks will last longer if you lay them in a shallow dish of water, then sprinkle liberally with salt. Let them soak for an hour, then let them dry. For more information, read Ruth deJaureguis article on How to Make a Wick for an Oil Lamp Using Recycled Materials.

Here are some more pictures.

Materials you can use to make your oil lamp

A closer view of the wire/wick assembly

Lighting a second wick from a lamp that is already burning

PS - As always, be careful with fire. The top of the jar will get hot.

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Automatic Fish Feeders

I go on travel a lot. I have people who can feed my fish when Im away, but sometimes they forget. Sometimes I forget, when its busy.

Ive had my eye out for some good way to feed my fish their pellets. Most automatic fish feeders Id been seeing were either too large or too small. We never even got to the "too expensive" category.

Then I found a "Programmable Automatic Pond Fish Food Feeder With LCD display" on Amazon for less than $50. It looks like it should work, and its free standing.

Purchased the commercial unit online and have been looking forward to playing with it. Then my buddy, Rob Torcellini, posted a youtube video about the automatic fish feeder he has created. So cool! I dont have a tack welder or a sand blaster, but the video gives me an idea how I could create an automatic fish feeder using the tools available to me.

Luckily for my fish, theres a commercial feeder en route. But for fun, I look forward to seeing if I can rig up a DIY something to work in case the feeder Ive bought were to fail. Should be fun!

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