Tea Candle and Ceramic Flower Pot "heater"

There's been a slight debate on whether this actually works or not. Whether it's convection or radiation, etc. I believe it's radiating the heat which isn't as effective as if it was convecting it. The original designs I found online has a hole at the very top which I guess allowed more convecting. I like mine because it's simply a little cleaner and easy on the eye. It gives off a little heat and is good for your desk. I keep mine directly next to my keyboard and it feels nice while I'm on Instructables!

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Step 1: What You Will Need

• 1 - Medium ceramic flower pot. Mine is 6"
• 1 - Small ceramic flower pot. Mine is 4"
• 1 - Ceramic plate (usually comes with pot, mine is 6")
• Tea candles (100 for $9.10 here: Amazon.com)
• 2 - 1/4" x 5" hex bolts (there's a mistake in the picture, both bolts should be fully threaded.
• 1 - 1/4" coupler bolt
• 2 - 1/2" nuts
• 3 - 1/4" nuts
• 3 - 5/16" x 1-1/2" hex bolts (not shown)
• 5 - small washers
• 5 - big washers
• Drill press/drill
• Needle nose pliers
• Adjustable wrench
• Lighter

Note: If you have big washers with a small 1/4" hole in them, you can use 5 washers total instead of 10. Also, the two large 1/2" nuts are simply spacers. If you want you can use a small 1-1/2" section of a small pipe, or anything that comes to mind. You will see what I'm talking about in step 4.

Step 2: Drilling Base Holes

• You'll need your drill, ceramic plate, and sharpie for this step.
• Drill bit size: 5/16"

1. There should be a little circle in the middle of the base which is the center. Mark this with your sharpie. Mark your three leg holes. You can measure these out or simply eyeball it like I did. It does not need to be perfect!
2. Add a little water to where you'll be drilling. Add more if needed throughout the entire drilling process.
3. Using your new or freshly sharpened drill bit, slowly drill out all four holes. Remember don't push too hard because the opposite side of the ceramic plate will chip off and break underneath. Drill slow, with minimal pressure. This takes some time so be patient.
4. When done your plate should look like this.

Step 3: Assembling Base Bolt

• You'll need one 1/4" x 5" bolt, two 1/4" nuts, two small washers, and two big washers. Note: If you have big washers with 1/4" holes use those. I couldn't find any in my workshop and just used two washers to achieve my goal.

1. From the bottom of the ceramic plate put the bolt through the center hole with your washer(s). If you're using two washers like me make sure the big washer is up against the ceramic and then the small one is on top of the big washer.
2. Here's what it should look like. It's vital to keep the washers and bolt aligned straight.
3. Now the same on the top side of the ceramic plate. Big washer, small washer, 1/4" nut.
4. It should look like this when done. Remember to keep everything lined up nice and straight when you're tightening it up.

Step 4: Assembling the Legs

• You'll need your 3 x 5/16" bolts and nuts

1. Drop the three bolts through all three holes.
2. Flip it upside down and screw the nuts onto all three bolts. Tighten by hand.

Step 5: Assembling Pot Bolt and Spacers

• You'll need the second 5" x 1/4" bolt, 3 small washers, 3 big washers, 2 BIG nuts. Recommended: If you have big washers with 1/4" holes use those. I didn't have any laying around the workshop.

1. Place a large washer, small washer, and the bolt through the top of the bigger flower pot like shown in part 1 of the diagram.
2. On the inside of the pot your going to put a large washer, then a small washer, then a nut. Tighten with screw driver and needle nose pliers. Do not over tighten. Be careful not to break the pot!
3. Put your spacers down the bolt. Remember: You can use anything here. Whether it's a small metal pipe, an over sized coupling, or even a ton of washers, anything works. I used two BIG nuts as my spacers. Note: You only want your spacer to be about 1". Too big of a spacer will make your inside flower pot stick out below your big pot.
4. Now some washers. Small than big. Or 1 washer if you have a big one with a 1/4" hole.

Step 6: Inserting Second Ceramic Pot

1. Place second pot inside the bigger pot.
2. Like always, big washer, small washer, nut. Tighten with needle nose pliers. Do not over tighten.
3. Now you should have something that looks like this.
4. Now screw on your coupler halfway.

Step 7: Connecting Base to Top

• Screw the base bolt into the coupler. You want to try and turn the whole top part together and make sure the coupler tightens down on the base bolt. If you're not careful the top bolt will start screwing further down the coupler, instead of the coupler tightening onto the base bolt, which we don't want.

Thanks for reading my Instructable I hope you liked it! Please visit my new website AnthCraft.com