[Sca-cooks] oil lamps

[Volker Bach]

Stefan li Rous schrieb:
>
> Vara replied to me with:
> > In my period....a LOT earlier than yours, we tended to use fat not oil for
> > lamps. Tallow, and animal fats.
> > fish oils were used as well. Not so much veg oil as they would have been far
> > too expensive to burn.
> > The rich had beeswax candles.
>
> Oops. Sorry folks. That was meant for the SCA-Arts list. I guess my
> fingers are too used to typing "SCA-Cooks".
>
> Will fat work in a lamp though? I thought to work in a lamb the fuel
> needed to liquid.

No. I've done this, though with materials fora
much earlier period (Ahrensburg culture reindeer
hunter gear, late Mesolithic - don't ask).
Goosefat poured into a shallow dish with a
wickholder, then hardened and lit, will burn
nicely enough - though it smells of cooked goose
and sputters a good deal. I've also seen it done
with lard, tallow, and butter, in pottery lamps of
various descriptions.

As a word of caution, BTW - filling modern lamp
oil into Roman- or medieval-design oil lamps will
result in a very dramatic pyrotechnic effect as
the entire outer surface of the lamp catches fire!
Done that, too. (unglazed pottery. If you pour in
vegetable oils or animal fats they will close the
pores, being viscous, and effectively waterproof
the lamp for the duration. Mineral oil distillate
just seeps through, turning the entire lamp into a
wick... *always* glaze your pottery lamps)

Giano