Mention was made in a thread discussing the cheap chinese ebay mantles about using regular mantles to make an Aladdin mantle. I thought I'd show the results of my failed experiments. I tried one of the cheapo "Butterfly" mantles first. Too small at the bottom, only lights up well for 3/4 inch or so.
Next try was the green sock type. Here it is wired to the mantle frame after having turned it inside out to gain some length and to cut some of the stitching to open a hole in the closed end. And here after burning without any pre burn & cool, just fired the lantern right up. Notice the split at the bottom.
I forgot to take any pics of the way I wired the frame upside down on the burner of a Coleman 236 to burn these. That was the problem on this next one, too much handling to get it off the burner. This one I pre burned by soaking it with isopropyl alcohol then burning and allowing to cool. See the bottom of the frame showing through the mantle where I touched it by mistake. Before removing it from the lantern it was not nearly so lopsided. You can't see it very well, but this one ain't gonna work. Kinda sad, Charlie Brown Christmas tree looking thing, isn't it?
They are fairly strong tho, these are after I tore them off the frame. I'm trying to figure how to make some kind of frame to bell them out at the bottom. I think the key seems to be having the heat flow up the cone shape of the mantle and out the hole in the top. Thoughts, opinions, advice, or dire warnings of imminent painful flaming death are all welcomed.
@aephilli I think there is some good information on making Aladdin style mantles in this post. Lux Autolux
I was surprised when I saw this). It turns out I'm not the only one backed up to make a homemade "lox-on"). I also didn’t succeed, the lamp shone very poorly, and upon repeated ignition the mantle collapsed.
