Introduction: Improvised Coconut Oil Mini-Lamp

By My Portfolio
About: Hello. I'm a freelance designer who makes a lot of different things for fun.

This project was a challenge to build a lamp using only objects I found around the house. With the Coconut Challenge in mind, I wanted to see if Coconut Oil was a viable fuel source for a lamp.

Parts list:

  • a glass container from the recycling bin
  • leftover wire
  • a wick (I recommend using a real wick, but you could try making your own)
  • coconut oil (substitute other vegetable oil or lamp oil if you want)

Equipment:

  • wire cutter
  • pot
  • oven mitts for handling the container of hot oil

My first stop was the recycling bin. :)

Step 1: Find a Container

You can make this with nearly any glass container. I found a small perfume bottle in the recycling bin. The tiny, metal atomizer had to be removed and I ended up breaking it off. Fortunately the edge wasn't too jagged so I wet sanded the edges. You could use a small jar, like a jam or olive jar, as long as you have room to fit the wick in. If the jar has a lid you can use a nail to poke a hole large enough for your wick.

Step 2: Heat the Oil and Wet Your Wick

Put a small amount of coconut oil in a pot over low heat and let it melt. In the meantime, prepare your wick by cutting it to length. When the oil is melted, dip the wick in and then squeeze out the excess.

Set the wick aside and carefully pour the liquid coconut oil into your lamp container. Stick your wick in, and wrap some wire around the wick where length of wire big enough to hold the wick in place.

(I had another step to this guide to make a wick out of old t-shirts, but it didn't end wicking the oil very well so I replaced it with a piece of tiki wick, which is fiberglass. You could probably use cotton shoelace or something similar to truly improvise).

Step 3: Set It on Fire!

CAUTION: This is a pretty harmless project but always take care when using flammable things. I had precautions in case of fire, and you should too. Also, do not leave this unattended for long periods of time. Even a small amount of oil will burn for many hours.

You'll find that coconut oil doesn't burn very fast. I get a fairly small flame, but if you want a larger one you could try other vegetable oils or actual lamp oil.