Grease Lamp

[Preacher Jeremy]

I'm thinking about obtaining a grease lamp to light my camp, but I'm defiantly on a budget. I would prefer a forged model, but stoneware would be OK too. I saw the stoneware one at JAS, but wasn't overwhelmed. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[necchi]

I think you should save your money and wait till the Trade Fair,
How many Candle Lanterns do you have?

I ask because like many when I started I needed light. I had probably 6 candle lanterns and a couple oil lamps.
Now I have two candle lanterns, one for inside and one for outside.
Candles are PC and in fact listed on Hudson Bay Company trade goods lists.

That's kind of a problem here on the forum, so many focus on the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade, when our Minn/Wisc/Michigan trade history preceeds that era by at least 150yrs.

There ain't no "Mountain Men" here in Minn, we're missing something crucial to that name tag,
Mountains!

 

[Preacher Jeremy]

I have three candle lanterns, use one outside, two inside. the reason I would like a grease lamp, or whale oil lamp for that matter is so I can burn citronella oil to help keep the Minn state bird at bay. I know that the oil isn't PC, but the lamp would be.

 

[RJL]

go to www.backwoodstin.com ,bob makes a betty lamp that looks and works great. i use clearanced cooking oil in mine, throws a good amount of light for not much money. might just fill the bill for you? he also offers 4-5 other models of oil lamps too. i think he may not be taking any new orders right now though, depends on how fast you need it? he gets a bit swamped this time of year.

 

[necchi]

keep the Minn state bird at bay.

Oh Yeah, I understand that one.
take a look at this; http://www.etsy.com/listing/115838...ga_page=1&ga_ref=related&ga_view_type=gallery
A person can make a lamp/punk from just about any necked jug. If you look at where the wick goes it's just a clay ball with a hole in it for the wick. A piece of copper or brass tube (like a 22 shell) has the wick (cotton rope) threaded through it to protect from the heat.
Hobby shops have little blocks of modeling clay that you can "cure" in your oven.

 

[Preacher Jeremy]

Thanks for the link, :grin: I hadn't thought of that. Funny, after seeing those stoneware lamps, I remembered that my auntie gave something much like that to me years ago. The one she gave me was hand thrown on a potters wheel by a local potter who used to be around these parts (Birch Coulee Pottery) I had completely forgotten about it, (it's been in a closet for years) However, it is now heading for the camp box! (wrapped in some rags to protect it of course) :hatsoff:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

If you don't think a citronella candle gives off enough protection, then perhaps you should consider a wine-light. You can convert lots of different containers. The problem with full size wine bottles is they tip over easily, and if you have a short wick, you need lots of extra fuel just to reach that wick. So one could put some gravel in the bottle to reduce volume and add some stability.

Also note that the citronella will only work from the level of the device, upward, so this is why citronella buckets are made to be burned sitting on the ground or on a low table, on the edges of the area where people occupy. Any hanging lamp will protect from say head height upward.

Another solution with an authentic container might be a redware ink jar. Ceramic containers though do not allow you to visually see the fuel level. The same is true for betty lamps.

You could opt for a Jamestown glass vial for the same price as the ceramic, but you can see the fuel, and you need less fuel and short wics are not as much of a problem as with a full sized bottle. The only drawback is that since they are hand blown, a wine-light flame protector might not fit.

The most stable bottle that is also historic would be the hand blown onion bottle, but these again hold a lot of liquid so you might want to take up some of that volume with gravel or glass beads, and also the flame protector might not fit. You will most likely want a flame protector for each wine light.

Alas while I have a Jamestown vial and a wine light converter, I cannot use it at most of the events where I attend as "flammable liquid" is prohibited.

LD