Updates for the little lantern from Williamsburg.

The new “Jack Lantern” is ready to go.

Back in February, I played around with the design of a lantern in Colonial Williamsburg's collections. Click here to see the earlier post. The lantern is an excellent little pierced tin design with an unusual way of hanging.

I carved out some shop time in the past week and made another pass at the lantern. That first attempt came out OK, but the proportions were a bit off. I shortened the top cone an inch and made two more lantern versions.

The original lantern has an exciting design: the half-round tabs are folded out after being produced with a metal punch. This little feature increases the amount of light coming out of the lantern.

Also interesting is the large gap between the open cone top and the heat deflector between the lantern body and the carrying/hanging ring. Small lanterns like this one tend to get hot quickly when the candle is lit. The extra space will allow the heat to escape faster and not heat the hanger wire so much. I cheated a little and made the candle cup to hold a low-profile tea light candle so the flame would not be very high.

We decided to call this “Jack’s Lantern” because there are just not enough ways to say “round tin lantern”.

This lantern is available in the store.