Lantern Conversion

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 ]

coldwarspacemonkey I think this post belongs in Tiki Crafts… I'll sleep on it and possibly move it in the morning after further consideration.

Thanks - I wasn't sure where it should go.

leevigraham while you are thinking about this how about thinking about bringing back "views". Sometimes weeks of posts go without comment and without views we don't know if we are reaching an audience or not. Thank you all for bringing back Tiki Central. It was missed.

coldwarspacemonkey what a cool project and well done. I'll look forward to seeing what comes next.

Awesome

Who doesn’t love an octopus 🐙

danlovestikis Thank you! I'm not nearly as ambitious as you and the other folks on here but there will be more.

hang10tiki Thanks! Mrs Monkey is not a fan of octopii but I think she's OK with the finished product. Besides, it kept me in the garage and out of her hair for a while.

Unleash The Tiki Lantern! Very nice work CWSM! Way to go.

Or Got Rum? Thanks!

hang10tiki If I had your mad skills I would have carved a tentacle! You've got the whole octopus going there and it's looking great!

[ Edited by coldwarspacemonkey on 2023-11-15 03:39:15 ]