Stella+Olive: | D I Y | Industrial Oil Burner . . . in under an hour.

Cheap or thrifty, One has negative connotations and the other positive . They are kind of one and the same in my mind though.

If I go to a shop or stumble across something that I admire, it has to pass the DIY test. If I think that I can make it or recreate something like it at home, I cannot part with cash for it. Especially if I can calculate that what I am looking at would cost under $20 in materials and yet was retailing for over $100. I understand manufacturing and retail costs, but still, I cannot do it. I try not to appropriate or steal someones intellectual property or idea but I do not see anything wrong with using it as inspiration to make something of my own.

So, mid last year I saw an industrial style oil burner that really caught my eye. I had been thinking about getting an old retort stand and making it from that, but then the thought of cutting hardened steel turned me off.

I am comfortable with timber so decided to make something from scraps I had at home.

I hunted down a round bottom flask, boss head and retort clamp from www.haines.com.au. I felt a bit Walter White and started imagining all the other things that could be cooked up!

I had some scrap laminated plywood from a previous project and bought some 10mm Tasmanian Oak dowel.

So the process is pretty easy.

What you will need-

Tools:

Jigsaw

Drill / drill bits

Hand sander

Material:

Scrap timber big enough for your base

Dowel

Round bottom flask

Boss head

Retort clamp

*paint / woodburning tool for however you wish to finish your piece.

1. Cut out the base shapes with a jigsaw to the size / shape that you want. For the round one I used a plate to draw an accurate circle with a diameter of 22cm. The rectangle measures 16cm by 24cm.

2. Measure where you wish the dowel to go. Drill a pilot hole, then use a drill bit slightly smaller than your dowel and drill right the way through. Try and make sure that you are drilling straight down at 90 degrees, if not, your dowel might be slightly lopsided when complete. Not a huge deal, but will look better the more straight it is.

3. Cut your dowel to the height you wish (mine was around 25cm).

4. Check that the dowel fits securely in the drilled hole. Place some wood glue in hole and place dowel in, making sure that it is straight.

5. Decorate how you wish!

*I taped off the black one and painted half with black spraypaint, the rectangle I used a wood burning tool to burn a kind of geo pattern.

I really didn't like this one.

6. Paint with clear varnish.

7. Attach boss head and retort clamp to dowel and then attach flask. Fill with water and a few drops of your favourite fragrant oil and place a tea light underneath and doneskies.