An unusual way to design a floor lamp - COMPLETED

[Frank Pellow]

Earlier this year, I made a cactus coat rack for my granddaughters Brooke and Jamie.  It is now in their bedroom.  See the thread: http://festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/cactus-coat-rack/

I’m planning to make a floor lamp for Jamie and Brooke’s room that sort of looks like a cactus.  I want to have it made in time for Christmas and have been trying to think of a plan for quite a while.

This week, I was inspired by the hanging lamp in Home Depot that is shown below:

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I think that I can design what will sort of look like a flowering cactus around it.  A rough design appears below.  The lamp shade will be secured in an opening in the cactus and will be removable.

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I'm going to be driving to Ottawa Saturday morning so only have four days to make the lamp.  Wish me luck.

 

[tjbnwi]

Good luck.

Tom

 

[tiralie]

Good luck.

Tom

Yes Frank, good luck!
It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.
Tim

 

[Frank Pellow]

Today I made a frame for the lamp out of two thicknesses of (nominal) 3/4 inch plywood. 

First, I drew and approximate outline of half the cactus with chalk then cut it out with a jigsaw:

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I want the frame to be as light as possible so I cut out most of the interior.  The frame will be covered with some very thin plywood.

Here I am using half the frame as a template for the mirror image:

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And here both halves are being used to mark a piece of plywood to be used for the second layer of the frame:

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Lots of clamps were employed in the glue-up:

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A few screws were used as well.

I think that it is going to look OK once the frame is clad and a heavy (MDF) base is added:

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[Frank Pellow]

I now have a thin (6 mm thick) sheet of plywood attached to the frame and have started to make a base out of MDF:

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To reach this stage:

I first cut out the plywood sheet with a jigsaw then cut a few ovals into the plywood:

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After gluing the sheet to the frame, I sculpted the edge off the "cactus" using 60 grit paper on my Festool Rotex 90 sander.  I love this small sander and am constantly finding new uses for it!

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There were a few hard to reach places where I used my Festool Deltex sander equipped with an extension pad:

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I plan to glue pieces of glass behind the ovals.  I conducted this test:

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and am happy with the result.

A very long bit was used to drill a hole for the cord:

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I then sanded all the exterior surfaces down to 120 grit and applied a primer/sealer coat of paint.

 

[Frank Pellow]

I didn't get much time to work on the lamp today -and I now have only one day to complete it.  [eek]

I did get the base completed (but not yet painted), attach the (removable) back, attach the piece that the lamp shade screws onto, and get one coat of paint on all sides of the upright.

There is only one picture today and it shows the base (on the floor) with the  back side of the upright leaning up behind it.

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[Frank Pellow]

The lamp has been completed on timer and is now standing beside our tree.  Before Christmas, I need to take it to Ottawa.

Carrying on from yesterday's report, the first thing that I did was to select the glass that is to be glued behind the openings.  One of my hobbies is stained glass work so I have lots of small glass fragments to choose among.

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Next, I wired the lamp:

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Here are two photos of the lamp in front of our tree, one with the lamp turned on and one with it turned off:

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It is hard to capture the lighting in a photo, but I can say that the effect is dramatic.  The lamp will definitely be noticed.

I'm now thinking that the effect could be even better if I were to put a strip of LED lights within the cactus.  I may or may not get that done in time for Christmas.

 

[Frank Pellow]

Because of the freezing rain that we have had in Southern Ontario for the last couple of days, I delayed my trip to Ottawa until Monday.

This gave me the chance to purchase the cheapest LED ribbon kit that Lee Valley sells and to install it inside the "cactus".  It is really really easy to install.

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Again, I can't seem to take a photo that properly captures the effect of the light shining through the glass inserts, but I am very happy with it.

 

[nclemmons]

Did you try taking a photo with the flash turned off on your camera but the camera held steady on a foot-stool or table?

I'm sure the LED's add a nice touch to showing the glass inserts.

neil