Here, I make an olive oil lamp out of a short, wide mouth Mason jar, a coat hanger and some kitchen twine. With it's home made, braided wick this lamp is both attractive and practical, producing a lot more light than a candle. The lid provides leak-proof, water-proof storage that makes this design great for camping or storing in a drawer for power outages or bringing on a picnic.
Olive oil is thicker than lamp oil, and so it doesn't wick as high. This shallow reservoir works perfectly because it only needs 5 ounces of oil to filled. When it burns down to about 2.5 ounces, it will need to be topped off. You'll get about 20 hours of burn-time on a fill-up. It will burn very cleanly if the wick is advanced and trimmed about every 40-60 hours of burning. Trimming the wick larger makes a bigger flame, but if it's too big it will start to smoke a bit. The very mild smell is really more of a fragrance; it smells like good cooking!
Advice:
Experiment with the "spiral" part of the wire. It should be fitted into the jar snugly, to prevent the wire from moving. Try to ensure that the wick won't touch the lid if the sealed lamp is tossed around.
A wick about a foot long will last for years. To advance the wick, pull the spiral out of the jar and use a tooth pick to push a fresh 1/2 inch of wick up from below and trim flat with scissors or wire snips.
The little coil that holds the wick should be just tight enough to hold the wick securely. If it's too tight, it will inhibit wicking. It's easier to snug the coil up with pliers later than loosen it, so it's wise to err on the loose side.
Try it and please comment with your experiences!
