Betty Lamp

[rifleshooter2]

A little free time :hmm:

Find some plans, tin can and snips

And Volia

Andy

 

[Claude Mathis]

Excellent job! :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I realize these are period correct for 18th century re-enactors, but open flames just bother me. My wife's family had one of the finest examples of both Betty lamps, and simple oil lamps, from the 17th century, but only once did I see her mother put oil in the lamp and then a wick to hang over the lip, so it could be lit. She hung the betty lamp from a hook on the fireplace and lit it too. I believe they both ran out of oil at about the same time, although the oil lamp( a spoon-shaped dish with a lip on the front end, placed in a bracket mounted to the wall) held less than half the amount of oil that the Betty lamp did. Using these out doors is one thing. Indoors is quite a different smell! :shake: :shocked2: :hatsoff:

 

[PitchyPine]

Cool, now i gotta make one of those, can ya explain a bit more about it. :thumbsup:

 

[rifleshooter2]

I realize these are period correct for 18th century re-enactors, but open flames just bother me.

I agree with you. I mainly made it as a demonstration piece to show the different types of lighting used in the 18th century. Will I use it? Yes but outside not in the tent. Do I think its safe yes but I'm clumsy and would probably knock it over.

Andy

 

[rifleshooter2]

From Wikipeda:
The Betty lamp is thought to be of German, Austrian, or Hungarian origin. The Betty Lamp first came into use in the 18th Century. They were commonly made of iron or brass and were most often used in the home or workshop. These lamps burned fish oil or fat trimmings and had wicks of twisted cloth.

The Betty evolved from the simple crusie lamp which was similar but did not give off as much light or work as well. A wickholder in the base was added to the crusie lamp design which channeled the drippings from the wick back into the bowl of the lamp where it could eventually be consumed. A cover was added to confine heat, decrease smoke, and make the oil burn efficiently. These changes also reduced the chance of dangerous house fires. Unlike the crusie, a second pan to catch grease was not needed on a Betty lamp. A handle attached to the opposite end from the flame that curved up to a short chain was attached to most Betty lamps as well. The chains were fitted with a hook on one end for hanging the lamp and a pick for adjusting the wick.

This better lamp design, named the Betty, from the German word, "besser" or "bete," meaning "to make better," produced a very good light for its time. The Betty lamp was used widely by the American colonists and by Europeans. In rural areas it was in use until the end of the 19th Century.

Sometimes the Betty lamp was hung from a lamp stand that was on a table or a tall iron or wooden stand that rested on the floor. Another method of elevating the Betty lamp was placing it on a turned wood or tin pedestal that sat on the table. Positioned there the lamp then illuminated the work surface or reading material of the person sitting there. Betty lamps are being made today but now most people burn olive oil or vegetable oil. They are popular with living history buffs.

 

[Many Klatch]

I had one of those and used it at rendezvous for a few years. To be strictly accurate I was burning bacon grease and the wick was tow that I pulled into a loose rope. It burned OK, smelled like breakfast though and you had to keep picking at the wick to keep a good light going. The big drawback to the Betty Lamp using fat instead of lamp oil is that you can't get it to burn when it turns cold. The fat congeals and you can't get it to light to save your soul. I was fiddling with my Betty lamp, made the same way yours is made, on a cold day and to get the fat warmed up I held it over the fire. The solder melted along with the fat and the next thing I knew I had a greasy betty lamp kit instead of a betty lamp.

My personal opinion is that they were used at the fireside in a cabin and not outside very often. They probably didn't go camping much.

Many Klatch

 

[ameling]

I realize these are period correct for 18th century re-enactors, but open flames just bother me.

I agree with you. I mainly made it as a demonstration piece to show the different types of lighting used in the 18th century. Will I use it? Yes but outside not in the tent. Do I think its safe yes but I'm clumsy and would probably knock it over.

Andy

ANY open flame can be dangerous - whether from grease lamp, betty lamp, candle, oil lamp. That is just the nature of using Flame for light. And, those open flame lights are also very susceptible to any breeze/wind.

Lanterns are a way to ... protect ... that flame form the breezes, and to help confine it for better safety. But lanterns also can be dangerous - when tipped over, the glass breaks, or the candle falls over. I've seen a half dozen different WOOODEN candle lanterns that burned! 3 took some or all of a tent and its contents with it. And I've heard of most of a dozen more. Even a few tents that burned from sparks/embers from a nearby campfire. So ANY open flame is dangerous. It's just the "nature of the beast".

Nice betty lamp. Makes me want to tinker around with some "tin". But then I'd have to work on my soldering skills. Hmmm ... I'd first have to Learn how to solder before I could work on those skills. Must be time to go beat up some more iron.

I have made a replica of an original "tavern/inn" square grease lamp - with each corner made to be used. And with a small "tube" added in near each corner - to hold a wick - like the Betty lamp. It was an interesting piece. I got talked out of it before I tried it out. So I never saw how much better that tube to hold the wick worked. I should tinker with some more of them.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. Here's a drawing from the book Iron and Brass Implements of the English and American House by J. Seymour Lindsay (my copy is too old for an isbn). It shows an early 1800's triangular lantern (pretty unique), but it is also designed to hold a betty lamp slipped into a bracket inside it (another unique option). The original is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

[ameling]

Grease lamps were something of a ... compromise ... lighting option. They burned that old grease from cooking AS IS, without any additional work. Yes, they were tempermental, susceptible to any breeze, smelled and smoked. But they burnt that grease AS IS.

The next step up was to take that grease and dip TALLOW candles out of it. This took a lot of time to do - when compared to dipping wax candles. And those tallow candles were also susceptible to HEAT. In warm to hot weather, they ... melted. And you could easily end up with a puddle of grease with a wick laying in it. In addition, tallow candles still smoke, smell, and give off somewhat sputtering light.

So a grease lamp was a very cost/time effective alternative to turning that spare grease into tallow candles. It gave you a little light without much work.

And this was all before those European honeybees got established and spread across North America - making bee's wax more available and affordable. And also an alternative to the wax candles made from the natural wax coating on those berries up in New England.

Whale Oil for lighting was also an expensive option, but also was only coming into the marketplace in the late 1700's, but mostly into the early 1800's.

Nowdays, candles are cheap and convenient, so most people use them - far more people use them than would have had access to candles, or been able to afford them. An ... accepted ... adaptation at most historical events (re-enactorism). Taking that extra step in historical lighting is a path only some choose.

Mikey that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[PitchyPine]

From Wikipeda:
The Betty lamp is thought to be of German, Austrian, or Hungarian origin. The Betty Lamp first came into use in the 18th Century. They were commonly made of iron or brass and were most often used in the home or workshop. These lamps burned fish oil or fat trimmings and had wicks of twisted cloth.

The Betty evolved from the simple crusie lamp which was similar but did not give off as much light or work as well. A wickholder in the base was added to the crusie lamp design which channeled the drippings from the wick back into the bowl of the lamp where it could eventually be consumed. A cover was added to confine heat, decrease smoke, and make the oil burn efficiently. These changes also reduced the chance of dangerous house fires. Unlike the crusie, a second pan to catch grease was not needed on a Betty lamp. A handle attached to the opposite end from the flame that curved up to a short chain was attached to most Betty lamps as well. The chains were fitted with a hook on one end for hanging the lamp and a pick for adjusting the wick.

This better lamp design, named the Betty, from the German word, "besser" or "bete," meaning "to make better," produced a very good light for its time. The Betty lamp was used widely by the American colonists and by Europeans. In rural areas it was in use until the end of the 19th Century.

Sometimes the Betty lamp was hung from a lamp stand that was on a table or a tall iron or wooden stand that rested on the floor. Another method of elevating the Betty lamp was placing it on a turned wood or tin pedestal that sat on the table. Positioned there the lamp then illuminated the work surface or reading material of the person sitting there. Betty lamps are being made today but now most people burn olive oil or vegetable oil. They are popular with living history buffs.

Thanks for the explanation, are there some good plans for making one.

 

[PitchyPine]

Was the wick in a tube or did it just lay in the oil?
Here`s a neat looking one.
betty lamp

 

[mazo kid]

Now if Many Klatch had used that #318 triangular lamp with the betty lamp hanging inside it he wouldn't have had to worry about heating the lard to melt it!

 

[ameling]

The main innovation of the Betty Lamp over the older Grease Lamp was that TUBE for the wick to go up through - instead of just running up that angled spout. That "tube" helps confine the wick --- and the flame! ANd it helps keep the grease/oil warmer and flowing up the wick. When using oil, it becomes more important to confine your wick in a tube - so that the flame only burns at the end instead of all the way down to the level of the oil.

Plus, that tube/wick is back a bit from the end of the spout. So any "drips" from the end of it drop down into the spout instead of down on everything below.

Little details.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[PitchyPine]

Ok, thanks and rifleshooter2 sent me the plans for the one he built. :thumbsup:
I`m going to make one from steel and put a long spout on it, I seen a picture of one like that. The wick shouldn`t drip should it if in a long tube, long meaning about four inches long. :hmm:

 

[ameling]

The length of the tube/spout does not much matter when it comes to dripping. The mere fact that the wick extends above the end of the tube/spout means that liquid grease/oil is being drawn above it, and that means it can run over a little and ... drip. That's why a Betty Lamp has the necked out part of the pan out beyond the end of the tube. Any dripping falls into it, and then back into the main pan.

And the flame only is above the tube/spout. But the longer that tube is, the harder it is to drawn the grease/oil up the wick. And the harder it is for the heat from the flame to travel down to liquify the grease/oil so that it more easily travels up the wick.

A number of grease lamps were made that were TWO pans/spoons - one above the other. You put a wick in the top one and used it. Any drips fell into the bottom one, and collected there to be re-used above. Some table stand versions had a bottom square pan to set on, and that spoon-shaped grease lamp suspended above it - on a rod riveted in place. So any drips fell into that bottom pan. And that bottom pan was large enough to provide a stable base for it all to rest on your table. But that bottom pan often had each corner grooved out to form a spout that could also be used. So if you had enough grease and needed more light, you could put a wick up each corner and light them. "Tavern" versions were a small square with each corner forged up to use with a wick for lighting - and an umside down U shaped hanger riveted to that small square pan to hang it up high to light the room.

There are some modern made cast iron cruise lamps or grease lamps out there on the "decorator" market. They are generally two-part, with a thick/heavy molded cast iron "spoon" type base and an iron strap riveted on the back sticking up to mount it on a wall. The second one is suspended off of a hook on the wall-mount bracket coming up from the bottom one.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[PitchyPine]

Ok Mike, thanks for the info and rifleshooter2 sorry for all the questions on your thread.
I was thinking about a tube inside of a tube, the outer one being big enough to leave plenty of room for the oil to run back down it. Can a person use lamp oil in one of these?

 

[rifleshooter2]

I'm using lamp oil in mine. Only used it one night, so far no problems.

Andy

 

[PitchyPine]

I'm using lamp oil in mine. Only used it one night, so far no problems.

Andy

Thanks, i`m heading to the shop to make something that looks like one. :haha:

 

[pichou]

The one original I looked at was a lot heavier than modern tin. Maybe 16 or 20 gage iron. The back of the body had a lapped seam, too. Welded, or soldered? Don't remember.

 

[bingo1952]

I once set my tent on fire in the middle of winter at a reenactment by sticking a candle in a bayonet and placing same in the ground. It was outside but not far enough. When the candle flame got inside the socket it heated the metal and let it fall through onto some wheat straw that promptly began to burn. We saved the tent but it did burn an "authentic" hole in one corner. Scared the manure out of me and I never did that again. :haha: :surrender: