How To Make An Oil Lamp From A Can Of Tuna by Atomic Shrimp
video How To Make An Oil Lamp From A Can Of Tuna
Here's how to make an oil lamp out of a can of tuna. It will burn brightly for at least a couple of hours and the tuna isn't wasted either!
jbenfield1 says: Aug 2, 2011. 6:48 AM
Awesome emergency light, i've used it myself when we lost power here two winters ago (thank god we had gas heating, I may live in west tennessee but it still gets cold here. That year it wasn't unusual to get a negative 5 degree wind chill at night)
maxman says: Jan 9, 2011. 6:29 PM
This is one of the best Instructables I have ever seen. Can't wait to try it! And you can even eat the tuna.
maudie47 says: Jan 9, 2011. 9:47 AM
We do a similar thing to make a large quantity of table-top citronella "tiki" torches, using regular soup/veg cans. Whenever you open an old-style can, leave an inch or so attatched, then rinse the can and stack it in your workspace until you've got enough. Pierce the lid with an icepick; I think doing it from underneath improves the wicking, a bit, but makes it slightly more "dangerous" (and of course, keep kids and idiots away from the sharp can edges, too). push a bit of cotton clothesline (enough to reach the bottom of the can and leave a couple inches out. When you fill the can with tiki juice on-site, poke the wick in until there's only about a half-inch out to light.) To improve the safety, add a couple chunks of rock in the bottom so it's harder to blow over. Back when cat-food cans used to need can-openers, we used those; we'd tack 'em to the picnic table with J-B weld and a really short roofing nail on the bottom (or duck tape). We even considered making a chandelier for the picnic shelter, but never got around to it; maybe this year...
Blofish says: Dec 2, 2009. 6:23 AM
says video has been removed from metacafe....
daliad100 says: Aug 1, 2008. 11:36 AM
I wonder: Is there any way of cooking the tuna on the oil from the can?
lasermaster3531 says: Jan 10, 2009. 4:51 PM
the video won't work!
fishhead455 says: Feb 26, 2008. 7:13 AM
FLATULATIONS--Let there be light.
Atomic Shrimp (author) says: Feb 26, 2008. 7:23 AM
Parp!
Notbob says: Mar 17, 2008. 12:54 PM
parp?
Atomic Shrimp (author) says: Mar 18, 2008. 3:44 AM
'flatulations' = 'parp'

Never mind.
GorillazMiko says: Feb 25, 2008. 3:30 PM
Awesome video once again! I like how you made the items just fade into the video, it looks really cool, I will have to try that when I'm making a video. Thanks for an awesome video, and an awesome video tip!
Atomic Shrimp (author) says: Feb 26, 2008. 4:39 AM
Thanks. I actually stumbled on the fading effect by accident - I was just trying to trim the running time down by removing as much redundant footage as possible, but it turned out to work quite well - I might make a feature of it in future videos.
SWV1787 says: Feb 25, 2008. 3:17 PM
you should make a remark concening the fact that it has to be tuna packed in oil not water or you will have som idiot struggling for hours tring to light a wet peice of rope while his dinner spoils. but hey it is a neat idea for cooking fish and lighting your way at the same time.
Atomic Shrimp (author) says: Feb 26, 2008. 4:22 AM
It does say in the video that it needs to be tuna in oil. (at about 3 seconds in).
bkblue13 says: Feb 25, 2008. 6:06 PM
Does this fill the room with a tuna smell?
Atomic Shrimp (author) says: Feb 26, 2008. 12:11 AM
Admittedly, yes.
tech-king says: Feb 25, 2008. 5:17 PM
nice
why do i hear a voice saying Greek fire bomb?
Lftndbt says: Feb 25, 2008. 4:12 PM
Simplicity at its best... Well done... ;)
Nesagwa says: Feb 25, 2008. 2:32 PM
Wheres the oil? Im assuming regular canned tuna fish isnt flammable.
Karel Jansens says: Feb 25, 2008. 3:32 PM
Yes, it is. (@ Mangetout:) Very kewl instructable BTW!
LinuxH4x0r says: Feb 25, 2008. 3:23 PM
Its tuna in oil
Atomic Shrimp (author) says: Feb 25, 2008. 3:43 PM
That's correct - to make an Emergency Light, you need tuna in oil. If you use tuna in brine, it still works, but you end up with an Emergency Dark instead
Nesagwa says: Feb 25, 2008. 8:00 PM
Thats important information in an emergency!
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