Coke Bottle Oil Lamp

This is my first instructable. I bought a pack of the 1899 style coke bottles from the store and decided to recycle the 6 bottles into better things instead of just putting them in the bin down the road.

My first bottle has become a lantern. This is how to make one too!

Step 1: Drink

The fist step is to buy and drink some cokes. I suggest soda bottles because they are thicker than beer bottles. Mason jars would work as well if you have some around. When you remove the top try not to warp the cap too much.

Comments

[l_skywalker]

this looks cool and i plan to make it but what are you supposed to do when that end of the wick is done. the wick will eventually burn off the knot.are you supposed to pull up more parts of the wick by hand and tie another knot? pleas explain in detail what you do when that small end of the wick is burned off.

[artlover1884]

would just a string work for a wick?

[Kelticpaddler]

I'm afraid not...well, not very successfully.

You need wick string (which has been treated with Boric acid).

I hope that this helps.

[mattbomb]

ya, stay away from the plastic stuff, an old cloth will work cut at the side were they sew the many layers of fabrics together cut that off and it will work, try your near by home hard wear there you might beable to find proper wich, a foot for like 99 cents or something, well good luck with the building

[gkong]

I'm having trouble, I filled the whole thing with canola oil and it seems as if my wick is fully soaked. I light it nice flame, but after 5 mins it dies?

[16centerfield]

mine barely burns for half a minute. why? i let the wick soak for like 15 minutes and its about 3ft long wick. i used tiki torch oil.

[xak7]

you should try taking the wick out and soaking the whole thing, then put it back in.  Make sure the wick is soaking up the oil very well.  You should never have to pull the wick up because only the oil should burn.

[sharlston]

would vegetable oil work?

[xak7]

yes vegatable oil, or any cooking oil will work fine. I use canola oil in all of my oil lamps and it works fine.  It's cheaper too, lol.

[Corvidae]

mmm probably not, doesnt burn. well im sure it burns but not if you put a flame to it.

[sharlston]

what about extra virgin olive oil its the only stuff i got?

[xak7]

Yes that will work fine.

[lilpepsikraker]

Cool. I made one from a 2008 holiday edition Coke bottle, I've never seen an 1899 style. Oh well, I have a cool retro graphic to look at. I used soybean oil (it reeks, next time I'm at the store I'll get a bottle of lamp oil) and an unraveled cotton ball. Also, I used filtered water, dunno if that made a difference. I cheaped out and filled it with only 2" of oil, didn't want to waste too much. When it burns, it makes a cool crackling noise because the oil is boiling (again, it's cooking oil). I light it with a butane lighter, as my Zippo will make me spill it; Zippo's have an "always-up" flame.

[sharlston]

just thought i would tell you the upwards flame of a zippo is becuase of the chimney to make it go up simply pull the wick out more!!

[jdtwelve12]

Really nice Instructable. I wonder though about the stability of the lamp. Many oil lamps have broad bases to help avoid tipping over. Obviously a spilled oil lamp is a bit more of a concern than a spilled coke. Have you had any problems with your lamp's stability, and have you considered weighting the base in some way?

[pyro13]

Very nice. My favorite use for an old glass bottle is this.

[ItsTheHobbs]

Where did you get the bottles?

[HIGHVOLTAGE-Z]

walmart or gas station is where i found mine

[Corvidae]

I bought the six pack of glass bottle cokes from a local independent grocery store. If you live in Pensacola, FL check Apple Market, thats where I got mine. If not I would look in your local stores before big supermarkets. You can use any bottle though, but like I said soda bottles tend to be thicker than beer. Sprite and Dr Pepper come in glass bottles too.

[Corvidae]

Looks like I am going to wind up with a second one after all. I had made the one in the pictures before I thought to make it for the site. I will take pics of the second being made and add them in.

[imonsei]

I made one some years ago. I didn't have that long a wick, so i filled some of the bottle with water in which i put some food colouring. The oil floats on top so it's available to the short wick. :)

[GorillazMiko]

Wow, great job! It looks very nice, I wish I could make one of these in my room, amazingly done Instructable.

[GorillazMiko]

A few more pictures would be better though.

[meddler]

Brenn10 summed up my thoughts perfectly on this post.

[killerjackalope]

Not a bad use of an old bottle, there's plenty of lamps here, more uses for the idea are good... More pictures would be nice, not bad first time...

[Brennn10]

Just a suggestion. This Instructable would be really awesome if it included more pictures of the steps. It looks like an awesome project none the less, but users like the visual learning feel as well.