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 Post subject: Oil Wick lamp wicking
PostPosted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:41 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:41 pm
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Location: Hard coal region, PA
To anyone interested in Mine Illumination, I posted photos of my oil wick collection on the forum. I have recently had to fabricate 2 wicks for the STAR lamp and the CROWN driver's lamp. Although a small project, I thought they were worthy of being displayed under the projects page. I am happy to report my wicks work wonderfully, using cotton rope and different techniques for different size spouts. Coleman lamp oil is used for fuel in all three, although the STAR lamp was designed for Sunshine fuel. Sunshine fuel was a more modern Oil Wick lamp fuel which had the consistency of wax and melted inside the spout from the heat of the flame before traveling up the spout to be burned.

NOTE: Oil wick lamps containing wicks should not be stored without being oiled. Wicks can capture moisture in the air and rust the lamp. Always keep these valuable treasures oiled!

If anyone has questions about oil wick or carbide lamps, I can do my best to answer them here on the forum.

UGMiner Banks

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:00 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pm
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
nice job banksy ol boy. i got some good oil to burn in them instead of using coleman oil. ill make u a bottle.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:42 am 
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Location: Above the Sterling Hill Mine
Very good. Definitely worthy of the projects page! It really doesn't matter what the lamp was originally designed for, but you want to use an oil that the wick is designed for. Different oils flow through different wicks differently, you want to make sure that the wick will flow the oil at a rate fast enough to allow for a steady burn. If the oil isn't flowing fast enough, you will end up burning your wick. The wick isn't suppose to burn, it is only suppose to allow for the oil in the base of the lamp to flow and burn.

The other thing I want to warn anyone attempting to restore a wick lamp, NEVER use a vaporizing fuel. The coleman fuel which they sell for camping vaporizes like gasoline or naphtha. If you put that in an oil wick lamp and try to light it, the lamp will probably explode! You don't want that on your head in a mine...


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:20 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
good point, im sure you remember when my oilwick wouldnt pick up the fuel and burned the wick. also good point on the fuel. yea banks i have some good fuel that will burn nice.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:08 pm 
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Location: Above the Sterling Hill Mine
Banks,

What did you use to construct your wick for your oil wick lamps?

Miner Greg


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 6:16 pm 
Great display Banks! You had me drooling when I first saw it! :shock: Thanks for the good advice too. I didn't know that you needed to oil them. I will definitely follow that advice. What kind of oil do you use?


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:49 pm 
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Location: Hard coal region, PA
hey guys,

Sorry I said something wrong.... the oil isn't coleman... i kindof guessed that it was without really looking at it (dumb). and of course.... i forget the name of it. I don't have it right here but i'l get it up. Some type of lamp oil. I think just lamp oil would be good for oiling if theres a wick inside the lamp. Let it soak right up the wick and leave enough in the base of the pot to continue to soak up the wick as it evaporates off the top of the wick. I imagine gun oil would work good too if you wanted to oil one without a wick in it.

It terms of cunstructing the wicks, i did it pretty simply... I know you could get pretty technical with it, but i simply went to the hardware store and picked out the biggest pure cotton rope i could find. in the STAR it happened to fit perfectly in the spout. However with the Driver's lamp i had to put 3 strands down through the spout. once the were in i frayed the ends sticking out of the spouts and they've been working beautifuly as long as there's sufficent oil in the pot to soak up the wick.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:25 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
banksy ol boy i didnt you were so ed-ja-ma-cated in oil wicks. im slightly impressed.... slightly. anyways yea if mine wasnt original i would rewick it like banksy says. but it seems to work fine now that the wick soaked up the oil. all of you on the pa tunnel trip remember that, burning for a bit then burning the wick. oh well.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:09 am 
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yeah, i'd just leave the original wick in yours..... my screw-on top lamp has the origional wick... i just left it. that lamp oil i have is made for "mechanical wick lamps" .... it says theres an ultra refined oil made for lamps like oil wicks to reduce smoke......... but i kindof like the smoke... makes it more authentic.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:58 am 
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You could also pull out the original wick to save it. Then rethread your own wick for it. This way you won't destroy your original, and have another wick to play around with. For example, I usually light my Flame Safety lamp our on the patio at night when we are eating dinner. I know your lamp probably doesn't get much use, but who knows if you plan on using it more. We also had some fun with it at 'Eddy Tunnell' under the air bridge.

Miner Greg


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:53 pm 
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Location: Hard coal region, PA
Very good point... saving the origional wick... I wanted to use one of them for some photos and just for the "1890s experience" sometime soon.... I would probably take 2, and actually the 2 i would take are the 2 i put wicks in. The big Crown drivers lamp and the small STAR lamp.

I like the safety lamp on the table idea! Really sets the mood, eh? :wink: :wink: "you know you're an AMRer when........"

sweet.

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:41 am 
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Yes it really does set the mood! I tend to use the MSA Passport in coal mines, so the Flame Safety lamp doesn't get as much mine use anymore. Unless we are hitting a bad water mine where I don't want to risk ruining the passport or my O2 sensor goes again. But that Koehler Flame Safety lamp is perfect for that patio night!


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