Friday, December 15, 2006

Last Year Soccer Dad Said...

"Simple, you have to remember this post for next Chanukah."

posted by A Simple Jew @ 4:41 AM   4 comments

4 Comments:

At December 17, 2006 at 1:50:00 AM EST, Blogger Akiva said...

So, which kind are you using this year? (of wicks, clippy, floating, or stick up?)

Personally, my wife bought the pre-filled, plastic cover, metal top. Good burn, not to big not to small, good size, last long but not too long.

 
At December 17, 2006 at 8:05:00 AM EST, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

Akiva: This year I am trying the floating wicks. And while they burn for almost 3 hours, they burn out after only using up only half the oil. The flame is also not that large as I remember with the clippy type.

I haven't figured out why this is. Perhaps the shape of the glass holder makes a difference? (cylinder verses bulb)

 
At December 17, 2006 at 4:32:00 PM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As soon as I can get my camera phone up and running I'll take a photo of my effort. If I can't post it here, there may be other options to try.

Anyway, I made a wooden menorah (about 3 ft long) for use outdoors. For the lamps I use yahrzeit candle jars (the tall ones). Last year I put candles in them, but this year I am using olive oil. It doesn't take much to last an hour or more.

The hardest part is making the wick. For the wick support I drill a hole through the centre of a wine bottle cork, and saw off little floats (each about an 8th inch thick). They need to be uniform thickness or they tip over.

I cover the top with aluminum foil, and pull some cotton through the hole I drilled for the wick. But there can't be too much cotton, or it won't lite. And too much cotton on the bottom can also make the float tip over and extinguish the flame, especially if you add too much oil. The next day a little more of the cotton can sometimes be pulled through and it can be re-used.

The flames are at least twice as large as a candle's, and can easily be seen from the street, which was difficult when candles were used.

Happy Channukah.

 
At December 17, 2006 at 4:48:00 PM EST, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

Anonymous: I can't wait to see a picture of that!

 

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