Kerosene Torch 2.0

Hello Everyone! After creating my first instructable, the Cardboard Kerosene Torch, I decided that I could make one better than that, and after a while of experimenting I designed the Kerosene Torch 2.0!

This torch has a slightly different design than the last one, and contains some major improvements.

Improvements:

1. It burns over four times as long! Instead of thirteen minutes, this one burned for an hour, and could burn longer!
2. It has a steadier, more consistent flame. This flame can withstand a strong wind without being extinguished.
3. It is much nicer to look at. Though it takes a bit longer to create, it has a much more natural appearance.

If you like it, please vote for it in the Cardboard Speed Challenge!

Yonder sparks a beam of light,
From flint and stone, a flame arises,
Gleaming, glaring, burning bright,
A torch to show the way.

• A fresh branch, cut from a tree. It should be about two or three feet long, and about two inches in diameter on one end.
• A small, narrow can. I used a 6oz tomato paste can.
• Wire. Baling wire came in handy for me, as it was laying around, but any rather thick sturdy wire should work.
• Cardboard. A strip 1-2 feet long, and 2-3 inches wide.
• Kerosene

Tools:

• A saw.
• A hatchet, or
• A hammer.
• A pair of pliers.
• A knife: a thick pocketknife or other sturdy blade.

Cut a handle 2 - 3 feet long from a tree, making sure that one end is about two inches in diameter. It is important to use a fresh branch, so that it will be sufficiently bendy and soft.

Before we split the handle, we must take a length of wire and twist it tightly around the handle a foot below the torch end. This is to make sure that your handle does not split all the way down.

Using your hatchet/wedge and your hammer, split the torch end of your handle into four relatively equal sections. As my handle is made from juniper, I had to wrestle with it for a while to separate the splits and bend them slightly apart.

To make the can fit firmly in between the four splits, we will cut from the inside of each split, leaving the bark and a reasonable amount of wood left.

Now we put the can in its place and wire the splits tightly together around it.

I found it far easier to put the can in place to find the size I needed, and then remove it before wiring the splits together. After that, I used the hammer to pry and beat the can back into place. (Juniper is very stiff and resistant to bending.)

Now take a strip of cardboard about three inches wide, and two feet long, and roll it up until you have the right diameter to fit tightly into the top of the can. Cut off the excess, and push the coil into your can until there is about there is a little less than an inch sticking out of the top.

Make sure not to squash or flatten the cardboard too much while rolling it, or the kerosene fumes will not be able to dissipate through the cardboard, and your torch will not be able to sustain a continuous flame.

If you don't like the shiny reflective look of the can, now is the time to get rid of it. As juniper trees have thick shaggy bark, I stripped some of the outer layer off of a tree, and wedged it in behind the wires that hold the can tight.

Now, slowly pour some kerosene into your can. Do not more fill it more than one third of the way full, or it may spill and set fire to whatever burnables are nearby.

You have completed the Kerosene Torch! Light it and watch it burn.

This can burn for more than an hour, depending on how much kerosene you add, and even a strong wind cannot put it out!

Thanks everyone for reading my second instructable, the Kerosene Torch 2.0.

Please vote for it in the Cardboard Speed Challenge if you like it,

Rebecca