100 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
HANDICRAF TSMAN 
Conducted by A. Russell Bond, 
N odd and picturesque garden ornament is 
the Japanese stone lantern. No garden 
in Japan is considered complete unless it 
has one or more of these lanterns in it. 
They are placed singly in shady nooks to 
break the monotony of the scene, or, 
sometimes in this country, are used in 
pairs at the entrance to the garden walk. Granite or other 
durable stone is the material of which they are generally 
made, and their cost is from twenty-five dollars to one hun- 
dred and fifty dollars, according to their size and design. 
If one is apt with tools a very creditable effective and 
durable Japanese lantern can be made of concrete. This 
will require but a small outlay of cash, a little ingenuity, 
and more or less time, which one will find is well spent as 
the work will prove most fascinating. The lantern shown 
in Fig. 3 is of concrete and is the product of a promi- 
nent studio in New York, as is also the lantern shown 
in Fig. 5. There appear to be untold numbers of designs 
of Japanese lanterns, but the design shown in Fig. 5 is 
one of the most popular. 
The author has taken the liberty to slightly modify this 
design, as shown in Fig. 4, in order to simplify the making 
of the molds, which are required in order to produce the 
lantern in concrete. Fig. 2 is an outline sketch of the 
lantern in which are given its general dimensions, and Figs. 
6, 7, and 8 show details of the molds in which the various 
pieces which go to make up the lantern are cast. 
The molds should all be made of 1-inch lumber, dressed 
on one side, and the dimensions given should be followed 
closely. The main portion of the pedestal base mold, 
shown in Fig. 5, consists of nothing more than a box 18 
inches square, with sides 5 inches high. In the center of 
the bottom of this box is placed a tapered wooden plug, or 
cone, so as to produce a hole in the cast through which a half- 
inch iron rod may pass. This plug should be made 5 inches 
long by 34 inch at the small end and 1 inch at the large end. 
It should be secured to the bottom of the box by a nail driven 
in from below as shown. 
The pieces a, b, c and d, which form the bevelled part of 
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How to Make a Japanese Lantern 
of Concrete 
By Ralph C. Davison 
March, 1911 
the cast should be fitted into the bottom of the box as indi- 
cated and may be made of wood %-inch thick. All of the 
joints should be neatly brought together and the edges 
should be tapered off so as to fit closely to the sides and 
bottom of the box. 
The lantern has been so designed that the base of the lan- 
tern part proper is a duplicate of ithe pedestal base, only that 
it is turned up side down when setting it in place as shown. 
Therefore the same mold may be used for both pieces. 
The pedestal proper consists of a shaft 8 inches square by 
23 inches long. It has an iron rod running through its 
center its entire length and projecting for a distance of 5 
inches at each end. 
The mold for this should be made as shown in Fig. 6. 
It consists of a box 8 inches square by 23 inches long, with 
a bottom and top piece each having a half-inch round hole 
in their centers. 
The lantern proper is a hollow square with walls 2 inches 
thick. In these are cast windows through which the light 
may radiate. The mold for this may appear somewhat 
complicated, but will be easy to make if the directions are 
closely followed. 
The first thing to do is to make the core. This is shown 
in perspective in Fig. 1 at “A.” It consists of a box made 
of 1%4-inch wood, 7 inches square by Io inchés high. On 
each side of this box are secured, in the position shown, 
by long thin wire nails, four pieces of soft clay each meas- 
uring 2% inches by 234 inches by 2 inches thick. The 
14-inch wood box will form the hollow in the center of the 
lantern and the clay pieces will form the window holes. 
The next step is to make a box, the inside dimensions of 
which will be just big enough to fit closely against the clay 
squares. If these have been made 2 inches thick, the box 
should be 11 inches square on its inside. It must have a 
bottom, as shown, and should be put together around the 
core. Looking down on the mold, when it is assembled, it 
should appear as shown in Fig. 1 at “B.” The eight 14-inch 
rods connected with wire as shown in the perspective sketch 
in Fig. 1 at ‘‘C,” should be placed around the inner core 
before placing the blocks of clay in position. This metal 
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