Today I have been making...

[Mesquite]

Some trench candles for my UCO lanterns and Swiss Army folding lantern. Very happy with the end results.

Yes, I know two of the lanterns are dirty but that's to sort out later as I'm currently letting them burn out to get an idea of their duration.

 

[SaraR]

Nicely done, they’re looking great!

 

[Robbi]

Cracking job . They look great.

 

[Mesquite]

Well the folding lantern one lasted about 8 hours before going out. That's roughly double the duration of a candle.

The UCO lantern is still going

 

[g4ghb]

Looking great Steve, I can see the bottom is soldered on is the top just push fit to allow filling?

 

[Mesquite]

Looking great Steve, I can see the bottom is soldered on is the top just push fit to allow filling?

That's right Graham.

Gary did a write up about making them a while ago on here but you can see the article on the Steamtent site here

 

[Nice65]

Found a black anodised Convoy S2+ unused in a drawer. Decided to give it a ‘Shake&Bake’ treatment. Took the internals out and shook the rest in a plastic jar with some sharp flints, then scrubbed it around on a patio slab, then baked the whole thing over the gas hob until the anodising turns to this coppery brown colour.

Rubbed it on a big leather strop for a bit to smooth any dings and ended up with this Mad Max apocalyptic torch. Much nicer, I’m going to knock up a lanyard from roughed up waxed cotton bootlaces and put a gnarly wooden bead on.

 

[Mesquite]

Well the folding lantern one lasted about 8 hours before going out. That's roughly double the duration of a candle.

The UCO lantern is still going

The UCO lantern finally went out after 13 hours, very impressed with that

 

[Robbi]

That's a cracking result

How much fuel did it use.?

 

[Kav]

I don’t trust clean gear. Either the owner has never tested or used it
or suffers OCB and wipes down bottles of disinfectant at the store with first aid alcohol pads.
Well done.

 

[Robbi]

Kav, I think you're marvellous and we have to go out drinking one day, the conversations would have to be heard too be believed.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Nicely done Steve, they look great.

 

[Mesquite]

How much fuel did it use.?

Just measured it and it takes approximately 35ml.

The burn time is obviously dependant on how big a flame you have it. I didn't have it particularly high and the light it threw was good enough to see things

 

[Disabled Preppers]

Just measured it and it takes approximately 35ml.

The burn time is obviously dependant on how big a flame you have it. I didn't have it particularly high and the light it threw was good enough to see things

Hi i really like the look of these , now to my question could you lay the wick in some of the wadding i use in my bio fuel stove then roll the wadding round the wick and slide that in the tube i know tight but use thinner wadding to get a good fit , then the wick could still be slid up but it wound mean you can put the fuel in and it soak in to the wadding then also soak in to the wick i just wonder if it would work .
I put wadding in a cheap knock off trangia and filled with over 100ml of fuel and well it roared away and still has fuel in the wadding . the trangia has a wadding built in the wall to make the flame out the little holes so again i wonder if it would work , experiment time lol even if no wick i wonder if a little flame would come off the fumes of the little tube .

 

[Mesquite]

It might work but I don't really see any benefit in doing it.

You'd cut down on the volume of fuel in the candle which would then reduce the burn time

 

[Disabled Preppers]

It might work but I don't really see any benefit in doing it.

You'd cut down on the volume of fuel in the candle which would then reduce the burn time

Ah ok see with the trangia it meant it held far more fuel , see i was thinking that if no wick was used the bio fuel in the chamber would seep up the tube and light like in the trangia stove , just me and my head looking at things lasting longer , see i know paraffin needs a wick but if the tube was filled with the wadding you could seal the other end cap on with the small tube also soldered on so in theory a sealed unit you could fill it down the small spout with a syringe it should hold around 70ml as they say my stove should hold X amount but by putting in the wadding it doubles the hold but bio fuel burns via the fumes so on the top of the little tube you would have to pop a rubber on to stop the fume leaking then pop the top off light and see , god what is it with us tickerers lol , i am the same with my air rifles strip it polish it make it smoother lol so this is just another idea , i really like the UCO candle holders and your little idea is a bonus one tube and just some paraffin but again just me thinking , thanks for the ideas and i really like the idea and will be making a few of your design

 

[dean4442]

I think I may have to make some of these, can I ask what size wick and small pipe you used?
Actually don't worry, I used the search function and found other posts which told me. I'm getting lazy in my (not so) old age

 

[Mesquite]

I set the other UCO trench candle with a little larger flame and it lasted about 10 hours

I think I may have to make some of these, can I ask what size wick and small pipe you used?
Actually don't worry, I used the search function and found other posts which told me. I'm getting lazy in my (not so) old age

The wick tube is 4mm brass tube with a 3mm id and the wick is from a cotton mop head and reduced from four strands down to three

 

[Tony]

Great stuff, I like the look of these a lot!

 

[Decacraft]

Looking great -I need to make some of these!!

Wonder of a tealight sized one can be made for the mini uco lantern too?