Summer is the season to spend more time outside on the deck; and while mild temperatures and good company may remain throughout the night, daylight surely won’t. When the sun goes down, turning on harsh outdoor lighting will only ruin the atmosphere. To maintain the ambience, soft lighting is the key. Combine the glow of a candle with a classy wooden housing and you have a lantern that looks great, day and night.
Materials
First you need to choose the candle you will build your project around. From my local department store, I selected a votive candle in a 27⁄16"-diameter x 23⁄8"-tall ceramic cup, which retains molten wax. If your candle has a diameter greater than mine, you’ll need to increase the lantern dimensions accordingly.
I chose black walnut veener for the housing and holly for the cap and base. To reflect candlelight better, I used bright-coloured maple veener to line the inside of the housing and copper for the underside of the cap. The copper also shields the wooden cap from heat. Glass panes line the decorated housing surrounding the candle to prevent the wind from extinguishing the flame.
Download the illustrated lantern project plans here!
Materials
| Part | Material | Size (T x W x L*) | Qty. |
| Cap accent | walnut | 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" | 1 |
| Cap | holly | 1 5/8" x 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" | 1 |
| Housing sides (outer) | walnut veener | 4 3/4" x 8 1/2" | 8 |
| Housing sides (inner) | maple veener | 4 3/4" x 8 1/2" | 4 |
| Base | holly | 1 1/4" x 5" x 5" | 1 |
| Candle holder | holly | 1 7/8" x 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" | 1 |
| Glass panes | glass | 1/16" x 4 3/8" x 6 7/16" | 4 |
| Cap liner | copper | 6 mm x 5" x 5" | 1 |
*Length indicates grain direction
Shelter from the wind
I wanted the housing sides to appear almost transparent, without sacrificing strength. To achieve this effect, I created my own plywood by stacking two plies of walnut veneer on top of one layer of maple. As always with plywood, the grain direction of each ply needs to run perpendicularly to neighbouring plies. Stack the assembly between two flat sheets of MDF, then apply weatherproof glue, cauls and a lot of clamps. Place waxed paper around the veneer to stop glue squeeze-out from sticking to the MDF.
0 Comment