Hardware Question for Lamp project

[ear3]

I had some unused spalted maple and walnut turning blanks lying around, so I knocked off these nightlights that my wife had wanted as a gift for her friend's baby.  Anyway, I had a question about possible methods to fasten the sea urchin to the top.  It has to be removable to get at the bulb, but I'm wondering whether anyone had any ideas as to some sort of fastening mechanism to hold it in place -- even only slightly -- so that it doesn't slide around on the top.  I initially thought of putting small, doweled posts on top that would butt up against the outer rim, maybe three or four.  But I didn't want to risk marring the top if something went wrong.  The problem is that the shell is pretty thin, and so if I were to do something like metal clips around the bulb opening that had a slight bend to them so that the shell could pop on top (but not so bent that it couldn't be popped off), there's a risk the shell could crack.  Worst case scenario I could just leave as is, but would appreciate if any one had an idea to solve this issue.  Thanks.

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[bkharman]

First off... Those look great!!

I love the organic feel of it all. Would love to see how you built the boxes if you don't mind.

Second, I think I would do a temporary connection. I have been a big fan of the micro suction rubber like a lot of phone cases have these days. It would adhere to the wood easily, but not sure how well it would hold on the urchins.

Again, love the build. Awesome lamps!

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[tjbnwi]

Small magnets, make sure you get the polarity correct.

Tom

 

[AlexThePalex]

Velcro?

 

[Cheese]

First off, nice job, they look good. I'm an especially big fan of spalted maple.

You own a lathe, so why not turn a 3/16"-1/4" thick spacer from each specie of wood with the OD of the wood spacer fitting the ID of the urchin and the ID of the wood spacer being large enough to slip over the OD of the light bulb. Glue the walnut and spalted maple spacers in place and it looks like it was a part of the original design plan. Just enough height on the spacers to prevent the urchins from shifting.

 

[Dane]

Having two relatively small kids myself- I can tell you that they are like little chimpanzees.  Anything not anchored down is coming off and getting tossed.  If it were me, I'd go ahead and epoxy those shells to the wood and make the bulb removable from the bottom.  Maybe just a hole bored through with the bulb sitting on top of a piece of pipe-a threaded connection with a nut on the bottom of the lamp.

 

[ear3]

The lamps are really simple -- just solid blocks of wood, and in the case of the spalted maple, two matching blocks dominoed/glued.  Hole drill-pressed through the center for passage of the socket, and a channel routed along the bottom for the wire to nest in.  Only laborious part was the sanding, as I took it up to Platin 2000 and then finished it with Renaissance Wax.

Thanks for all the suggestions -- I think I will try the wood ring option here suggested, as it allows me to minimize the inclusion of non-organic materials.  Incidentally, I had these lamps sitting in my wife's store (the new mother is one of her co-workers), and a customer tried to buy the spalted maple one for $200.  I think I might experiment with making them with some differently shaped bases and see if anything comes of it.   

First off, nice job, they look good. I'm an especially big fan of spalted maple.

You own a lathe, so why not turn a 3/16"-1/4" thick spacer from each specie of wood with the OD of the wood spacer fitting the ID of the urchin and the ID of the wood spacer being large enough to slip over the OD of the light bulb. Glue the walnut and spalted maple spacers in place and it looks like it was a part of the original design plan. Just enough height on the spacers to prevent the urchins from shifting.

 

[bkharman]

I have kids as well and my thought wasn't about the urchins coming off the base but more of a problem if they got smashed and needed to be replaced.

I also really like the maple as others have said. If someone offered me 200 for it, I would have slapped a sold sign on it and made another one!

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[bigjonh]

Why not use a long life LED and not worry about it being accessible?

 

[ear3]

Thanks Cheese.  I went with the wood sleeve option, and posted the results in the member projects thread:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/spalted-maplesea-urchin-lamp/

First off, nice job, they look good. I'm an especially big fan of spalted maple.

You own a lathe, so why not turn a 3/16"-1/4" thick spacer from each specie of wood with the OD of the wood spacer fitting the ID of the urchin and the ID of the wood spacer being large enough to slip over the OD of the light bulb. Glue the walnut and spalted maple spacers in place and it looks like it was a part of the original design plan. Just enough height on the spacers to prevent the urchins from shifting.

 

[Brent Taylor]

I would silicone it to a wood sub base that would interlock with the base. Sorry just saw your other blog, your lamps look great.  I'm trying to inlay seashells into some projects,  living on the coast i've got a good supply.  Nice job, Edward.