There is no real difference between an oil lamp, and an oil candle. Usually, if it has a shade over the flame, it is called an oil lamp, if the flame is exposed, it's an oil candle.

Most oil candles are a form of "bead" lamp. That means the wick is held in place simply by forcing it through a small hole. Friction holds it in place. Some lamps actually use just a small round bead to hold the wick. Bead lamps ussually use round cotton wicks.  Lamps with thin glass tubes to hold the wick are almost always fiberglass.

Oil Lamps provide decorative lighting touches. Regardless of what Abe Lincoln did, you really don't want to do your homework by one. Abe didn't care that his ceiling turned black from the high flame needed to produce useful light, you probably do.  

Lamp oil

That brings us to a word about lamp oil. The word really is three words "buy the best". Lamp Oil isn't just kerosene. Maybe it used to be, but the smell and soot would be a little hard to live with today.

Quality lamp oil, or liquid paraffin, is highly refined and virtually  odorless and smokeless. (Remember to keep the flame small to prevent smoking).

We recommend against both colored and fragranced lamp oil. Both shorten wick life by clogging the wick with foreign matter.

Lamp oil is really only in contact with room air at the wick. When the lamp is lit, what little perfume may be at the wick, is destroyed by the flame.

Buy colored lamp oil for color if you are going to put it in a clear lamp and want a certain look. 

Wicks

A properly adjusted wick produces a flame approximately the size and intensity of a candle. The flame size is adjusted by raising or lowering the wick ion its holder. Be careful not to let any part of the wick, including threads of frays, protrude to far from the top of the lamp or it may produce smoke.

There are two materials commonly used for wicks today, cotton, and fiberglass. In theory both should last a long time. Remember, it isn't the wick that is burning, it's the oil.

In reality, wicks don't last forever. You can improve wick life in several ways.

• Don't let the lamp burn dry. If a lamp runs out of oil to burn, you start burning the wick.

• Use the highest quality oil.

• If you have a choice, use fiberglass replacements wicks. They do last longer than cotton in normal use.