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Hand Grenade Oil Lamp

Hand Grenade Oil Lamp
Want to light up the room and give your guests a little scare, even if just for a moment? Then maybe you'd like to have a hand grenade oil lamp. It won't explode, but if you bump into it you could spill lamp oil everywhere and cause a fire.

That's right, this is a novelty lamp that you probably shouldn't make. But if you're like me, then common sense doesn't stop a good idea from happening. Or even a bad one.
 
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Step 1Get a dummy

Get a dummy
The term for these safe and empty hand grenades is "dummy hand grenade." Do a Google search and plenty should pop up for about $8-$10. These are metal, come with pins, and have a pretty good heft to them. They're also hollow and have holes in the top and bottom.
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103 comments
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Dec 21, 2011. 6:57 PMSIRJAMES09 says:
OH WOW!!

Am I gonna have fun with this!!! ROFLMBO

I love it!!!

TY for sharing Sir. B0)
Dec 21, 2011. 6:54 PMSIRJAMES09 says:
in my younger & very much wilder days(my late teens through my 20's) I used to scare the crap out of people because I carried a dummy grenade around my neck on a cord...only, they did not know it was a dummy grenade, they thought it was real. LOL
Dec 21, 2011. 6:50 PMSIRJAMES09 says:
Q:
Is it possible to make this without having to remove anything but the spoon?

For those who may not know what a spoon is on a grenade, it is that piece of metal/plastic that goes across the top & down the side....the piece that you often see a soldier holding his thumb on in the movies.

I don't know if it's even possible, I'm just curious.
Dec 13, 2011. 3:33 AMT-K says:
Great idea fungus! Also, when I saw the picture, I thought the plug in the top of the grenade was a striker of some sort, igniting the wick.
Jul 10, 2011. 10:02 PMGrKe says:
This is a really clever and unique lamp! Never would have thought of this! Thank you so much for sharing! Would a grenade from an army surplus store be usable?

Also, the comments on this Instructable make me lol.
Apr 16, 2011. 4:51 PMmr.mustache1 says:
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE that is like legitly AWESOME!!!!
Jan 27, 2011. 8:30 PMZachMaker says:
you can get lemon and pineapple dummy grenades which are much more stable
Mar 19, 2011. 3:05 PMilpug says:
or teargas cannisters. Or flashbang grenades. you can buy blanks of both.
Feb 6, 2011. 9:57 PMyoung skipper says:
You could always use two chopsticks that are kept together by rubber bands and then put the wick in the middle. maybe something like this.
Feb 13, 2011. 5:09 PMavatar_i says:
I've been stabbes, shot, bustroked- with a riifle, not a hand, blown up, and bitten by large and small Dogs, and I find this not the ;east offnsive, except wherein some people and their small offensive minds are concerned!
Thae it to your local machinins or sheet meal shop and have hem weld a small steel plate to the bottom and voila, your hole is filled and your lamp is stable!
VERY nifty idea, well done! I've been wondering what to do with several deactivated/practice granades. Thanks!
Feb 6, 2011. 9:59 PMyoung skipper says:
I take that back. Forgot the name of the item is hand grenade "oil" lamp. Silly me.
Jan 16, 2011. 6:48 PMunominame says:
i think some bakelite (or mighy-putty :P) as a base would work well. so its a lot more heat restant, but then you would need some kind of heatsink for it.

Uno.
Dec 23, 2010. 10:14 AMtravisttt says:
I'm wondering if you could rig a lighter in the grenade ignitor assembly so that when the safety handle is released it would light the wick. I'd be pretty cool, I think.
Dec 24, 2010. 1:07 PMchupathingy495 says:
I have a MK 2 "pineapple" grenade I got form a local army surplus store for $10, and an old zippo style lighter i got at a yard sale. In theory, It should be pretty easy to jury rig the 2 together. just fill the hole with something like that steel putty stuff, stuff it with cotton, soak cotton with lighter fluid, and once a hole is drilled into the dummy fuse, add a wick. it should be pretty easy once i figure out how to add the flint wheel.
Jan 1, 2011. 2:58 PMbartpelt says:
I haven't tried it but I am thinking about replacing the ignitor (the rod that sticks out) with a swedish firesteel
You can strike it with the pin and if the handle falls of when you pull out the pin, you just add some epoxy so the handle won't come loose
Dec 25, 2010. 12:13 PMprofessorred says:
You will need to be sure of the type of grenade. In some grenades, once the pin is removed, the handle can drop off. On others, there is something holding the handle to the body of the grenade. Although that might just be on some of the dummy grenades at the local surplus store.
Dec 25, 2010. 3:05 PMchupathingy495 says:
It is the type where the handle can fall off. I'm going to be changing that soon.
Mar 11, 2011. 5:29 PMZ.Backas says:
I recall a friend of mine having a "pen" style lighter, where you pulled out a long pen shaped utensil from it's oil containing block, it clicked, and lit as it exited the hole. Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to attempt that with this lamp either!
Mar 19, 2011. 3:06 PMilpug says:
Just a terminology note. what you call the "handle" is actually called a "spoon"
Dec 31, 2010. 8:03 PMbo fahad says:
its Amazing
Dec 23, 2010. 2:49 PMjkieler says:
Caution not all old deactivated grenades are safe. Collectors run into the issue of residue left behind and even though considered empty they can become volatile from exposure to the slightest amount of moisture...
Dec 28, 2010. 11:51 AMpoetryperson says:
I'm glad someone mentioned the safety issue, which bears repeating. As a kid I lived on an Army post that had lots of nice woodsy areas for us kids to play in. Some of the woods must have been used for training exercises, but there were no "Off Limits" signs. A boy in my fifth grade class was hanging out in those woods one day when he found a cool grenade to play with. It blew off his face.
Dec 25, 2010. 10:00 PMThelemic_Potter says:
Excellent advice, might not be a bad idea to wash them out quite well.

Dec 23, 2010. 6:06 PMsnoopindaweb says:
Just Pull the Pin, throw It, and if nothing happens in Your back yard overnight, assume that only "Certain Groups" get the gOOd ones.
Dec 27, 2010. 9:32 PMabadfart says:
consider it turning a weapon in to something of use like the ak47 guitar besides i no plenty of pepole that have been hurt by grenades and most of them would like this
Dec 23, 2010. 9:30 AMbarbnjos says:
Am I the only one that finds this totally offensive? To those who have lost body parts and lives due to grenades I think this would also be offensive. It's o.k. to those who will want me to CHILL, I'm not going to receive any more e-mails from this site.
Dec 27, 2010. 9:31 PMabadfart says:
consider it turning a weapon in to something of use like the ak47 guitar besides i no plenty of pepole that have been hurt by grenades and most of them would like this
Dec 27, 2010. 7:28 AMpaperclip32 says:
I fell and hit my head on a tree.I propose that we remove the Gardening section,because it is offensive to people like me who have a headache from hitting their heads on trees.
Dec 27, 2010. 2:19 PMcodongolev says:
I once fell while using powerisers and got a concussion. now I have a big scar next to my eye. I propose we remove the sporting section.

for realz, though. if he were making a sculpture out of it of a cartoony guy getting his leg blown off, that might be offensive. however, if he's making a pretty cool oil lamp with it, that's fine.

same goes for things like the mouse mouse (the taxidermied mouse that works as a computer mouse). it's not like the person who made that is making it to poke fun at anyone who's ever been bitten by a mouse. the interest comes from the fact that nobody expects a taxidermied mouse to be plugged into a computer.
Jan 15, 2011. 12:29 PMuberdum05 says:
You're right, its just creating something you don't see everyday
Dec 23, 2010. 8:50 PMjwc1480 says:
Sweet, gentle, innocent soul, you are too good for this cruel, cruel world. Please take me away with you, to your perfect world of thornless roses and warm, gentle breezes, where the birds forever sing, the breezes are forever warm, and no tree is ever felled by an evil, heartless, low-down sorry, shifty eyed, chainsaw weilding, venison eating, whiskey swilling, republician voting logger.
Dec 23, 2010. 8:24 PMthorbike says:
You're the only one who finds this offensive, a knife is a means of killing people too. We all use them safely every day to cut up our food. Remember to retain some perspective as we can't change the fact that grenades exist and really they are just another thing to use in the creative palette of Instructables options. Merry Christmas!
Dec 25, 2010. 12:18 PMprofessorred says:
I agree with both points of view. Grenades and such should not have to exist. But they do. So we might as well make the most of them and make something useful out of them. Spotlight out of a missile or mortar?
Dec 23, 2010. 2:07 PMjack8559 says:
There were sticks and stones used in prior wars that KILLED people and I bet you have something using these materials around you..... And for goodness sake, don't get near a piano (wire) or cotton (rope), you might die! If you live in fear, then your life is not worth living so you might as well end it now. You just need to accept things for what they ARE - crafts and useful ideas using materials that are not necessarily made for the purpose for which they are now serving a life as. I bet you find dogs offensive too.
Dec 23, 2010. 5:57 PMThe Ideanator says:
I give the man in the back, jack8559, 8 points, one for each count of awesome in that statement.
Dec 23, 2010. 12:32 PMmamallama says:
I don't mean to be rude, but I think that that is a little bit ridiculous. You too poetryperson, It's a creative idea, it's not a live explosive, and it's doing no-one any harm. Perhaps you have something against this instructable, but you really don't need to react that way, or hold a grudge against an entire community.
Dec 27, 2010. 2:20 PMcodongolev says:
I think poetryperson is using a bit of sarcasm. that perfect world doesn't exist, so suck it up and deal with the one that does.
Dec 24, 2010. 8:18 AMSwords says:
well if you think about it when it tips over without a proper base it can burn down the house so it can do some harm XD But I was wondering if you can weld or (like me with hardly any welding experience) solder a piece of metal for a base
Dec 23, 2010. 12:21 PMpoetryperson says:
barbnjos, you are certainly not the only one who finds this instructable offensive. The discussion following your post was also quite offensive to me, particularly the post referring to your "arm or prosthesis." Also, the former military person who wrote was not typical of the military people I have known. Finally, I can not imagine why this site sent me a promo today which led off with this particular instructable. All this in the season of "peace on earth."

If anyone else finds any of this inappropriate or demoralizing, please let your voice be heard. barbnjos and I are not freaks or spoilsports. We simply have a different frame of reference and sense of humor from that of the majority who wrote in about the grenade lamp to scare your friends with. I would like to think we have a right to be heard respectfully -- just as you guys obviously have a right to dump on us while talking about the joy and beauty of lamps made to resemble lethal and maiming weapons.
Jan 1, 2011. 10:31 PMToastalicious says:
you got it the wrong way around, man. it's not making a lamp look like a lethal weapon, it's making a lethal weapon into a lamp. This could easily be a way of expressing peace on earth, because all in all, you're turning a dangerous device into something practical, fashionable, or maybe just plain silly. But seriously, lighten up it's a lamp, it's recycling, it's fun, and it can be quite the conversation starter. I'm pretty sure it was made in no offense. You just have to understand that just because many have died from grenades doesn't mean having a deactivated one should be offensive. so, by your guys' logic, people drowned on water therefore we should be offended by people who drink water and we should all stop it.
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Author:fungus amungus(my site)
I like to make things both useful and odd. The odd projects are usually more fun. I'm also the Content Manager here at Instructables. Follow @edabot for more