Post #811200 by coldwarspacemonkey on Fri, Nov 10, 2023 1:20 PM

I came across this lantern at one of the local thrift stores. It’s a Vector VEC1379 Cantina, rechargeable but with no charger, and a small lead-acid battery inside.

The price was right ($1.99) so I thought I’d try to convert it to something more appropriate. First thing that needed to go was the plastic globe. As luck would have it another thrift store (this one in Colorado) had a vase with a profile that looked like it would make a decent chimney – once I cut the bottom off and inverted it. It too was priced right (40% off $1.49), and I had room in my luggage, so I took the chance:

Now to do something with 1 ¼ “ of ugly black plastic on the bottom and figure out how to replace it with something more suited to the oil lantern impression I was trying for. I wanted to lengthen the profile as well. Another trip to the thrift store, this time to the pots and pans aisle. After a little drilling and clean-up:

The original lantern body had a large hole for the dimmer switch. Since it was a low-voltage switch and I wasn’t planning on using the original electronics but to keep it simple with 110V power I couldn’t use the switch. Which left the question of how to fill the hole?

Turns out you can find just about anything on Amazon!

Some internal hardware and a little paint…

Then paint, assembly and a little light weathering and it’s done.

[ Edited by leevigraham on 2023-11-12 11:52:50 ]