A Homemade Betty Lamp
These lamps were popular in colonial America where there were fuelled with whatever was available, hence the alternative names of Butter Lamp or Grease Lamp. These days olive oil or another cooking oil can be used. I certainly wouldn’t fancy risking paraffin and petrol would be plain suicidal.
This is by no means meant to be a copy of a particular historical example but inspired by them.
It certainly isn’t perfect but I’m satisfied given that I’ve done very little metal fabrication in my life and this is easily the most complicated such thing I have attempted. I regarded it as a skill-builder as much as anything.
Cutting templates are available below but they should not be treated as a hundred per cent accurate — I may not be much of a metal-worker but am even less a draftsman. Some sizing will also depend on the thickness of the metal used — I used 18 gauge. I would suggest starting with the bottom then fixing the side to it. The side a strip an inch wide and twelve long. This is longer than needed but allows it to be cut to exact length making a tight joint at the back. The parts for the top are then best cut out a bit over-size and filed/ground to exact size after hinging them together.
The pipe for the wick doesn’t need to be a pipe as some period ones simply had a U-shaped channel for the wick to rest in. I happened to have got some ⅜” pipe laying around so used that.
The wick doesn't need to be anything special. In the old days a bit of rolled rag would have been used and mine is a few inches of an old pyjama cord. It needs to be cotton though.
How you join the parts together depends on your skills and equipment. A MIG welder would be ideal but I have neither such a machine, the skill to use it nor a place to use one safely other than outside. I did try silver soldering but couldn’t seem to manage it so mine is soft soldered throughout. Obviously with that there’s a risk of melting the solder on the bottom while fixing the top but the top only has to be soldered well enough to hold not be oil-proof.
Compared to paraffin, olive oil is a bugger to light — you can't just touch a match or lighter flame to it and off it goes; you have to hold it in contact for several seconds. Even then the flame will initially be quite puny but grow as it heats up so don't be in a rush to pull out more wick. If you are really struggling to get it going you can put a drop — literally A drop from a pipette or something — of meths on the wick to start it.
This is by no means meant to be a copy of a particular historical example but inspired by them.
It certainly isn’t perfect but I’m satisfied given that I’ve done very little metal fabrication in my life and this is easily the most complicated such thing I have attempted. I regarded it as a skill-builder as much as anything.
Cutting templates are available below but they should not be treated as a hundred per cent accurate — I may not be much of a metal-worker but am even less a draftsman. Some sizing will also depend on the thickness of the metal used — I used 18 gauge. I would suggest starting with the bottom then fixing the side to it. The side a strip an inch wide and twelve long. This is longer than needed but allows it to be cut to exact length making a tight joint at the back. The parts for the top are then best cut out a bit over-size and filed/ground to exact size after hinging them together.
The pipe for the wick doesn’t need to be a pipe as some period ones simply had a U-shaped channel for the wick to rest in. I happened to have got some ⅜” pipe laying around so used that.
The wick doesn't need to be anything special. In the old days a bit of rolled rag would have been used and mine is a few inches of an old pyjama cord. It needs to be cotton though.
How you join the parts together depends on your skills and equipment. A MIG welder would be ideal but I have neither such a machine, the skill to use it nor a place to use one safely other than outside. I did try silver soldering but couldn’t seem to manage it so mine is soft soldered throughout. Obviously with that there’s a risk of melting the solder on the bottom while fixing the top but the top only has to be soldered well enough to hold not be oil-proof.
Compared to paraffin, olive oil is a bugger to light — you can't just touch a match or lighter flame to it and off it goes; you have to hold it in contact for several seconds. Even then the flame will initially be quite puny but grow as it heats up so don't be in a rush to pull out more wick. If you are really struggling to get it going you can put a drop — literally A drop from a pipette or something — of meths on the wick to start it.