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DW Christmas lamp

plumbbill | Posted in Photo Gallery on December 25, 2006 09:26am

OK I got it done, PHEW

Base is oak with honey onyx

100 watt flurescent behind onyx.

2 switches , one for base , one for overhead

Rods are 3/8″ ss

Bending them was some work

View Image

“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.†—Benjamin Franklin

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Replies

  1. Sasquatch | Dec 25, 2006 09:44pm | #1

    Very nice!

    1. plantlust | Dec 25, 2006 10:17pm | #2

      Beautiful.Why oh why does direct deposit decide to go wrong RIGHT before the holidays?

    2. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 03:26am | #4

      Thanks

      The only thing I had to buy was the glass around the 4 lamps, & the push button switches.“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

      1. User avater
        IMERC | Dec 26, 2006 04:45am | #7

        listen to yur sister...

        but one in the pic...

        gaurd it... 

        Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->

        WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->

        Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

  2. User avater
    IMERC | Dec 26, 2006 12:13am | #3

    I like it...

    somebody will be by to pick it up latter..

     

    Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming

    WOW!!! What a Ride!

    Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

    1. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 03:27am | #5

      My sister says I should make more & sell em.

      I'm like ---- are you friggin kiddin me I'd have to sell em fore so much money to make a decent hourly wage it would be riduculous,“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

  3. nikkiwood | Dec 26, 2006 04:15am | #6

    That is a really great lamp --- elegant design and very nicely crafted.

    How did you thread the end of your SS rods?

    And how did you bend the rods? --- I'm guessing you used a padded conduit bender.

    Kudos........

    ********************************************************
    "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

    John Wooden 1910-

    1. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 05:17am | #9

      I have two 5 gallon buckets full of those rods 6" , 12", & 25". They came with the pendilum light fixture for the 145 condo unit building I'm working on, they were the left over rods the electrician was throwing away.

      They are internal threaded 1/8 IP from the factory.

      I have a good size trophy pile of practice bends, I did break one of my tubing benders trying to bend the first one.

      Torch turned them black, & could not get an even bend.

      I ended up using a 4" hole saw that I drilled a piec of 3/4" plywood to backup the hole saw from the pressure.

      I drilled a hole in the plywood so the jaw of a vise grip could lock the rod to the side of the hole saw. Then proceded to apply a crap load of even pressure on the rod until I was able to bend it 175 degrees.“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

      1. nikkiwood | Dec 26, 2006 05:33am | #11

        I've built a flock of lamps over the years, and that's why I was wondering how you managed to thread the pipe. That was a very clever idea for the bending jig.********************************************************
        "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

        John Wooden 1910-

  4. User avater
    maddog3 | Dec 26, 2006 04:55am | #8

    cool....are the 4 heads all turned on at the same time?

    .

    .

    .

    .Wer ist jetzt der Idiot

    ?

    1. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 05:24am | #10

      Yeah, I have two button switches on the base on the back side.

      One operates the light behind the onyx, & the other operates the 4 heads.

      I pretty much had it assembled before I knew how I was going to switch the power on & off.

      I pretty much had zero plan, & what I had in my mind changed several times.

      I had two 12x12x3/4 honey onyx tiles the stone foreman gave me on the job.

      My first thought in my head was some sort of triangle base with a stone to stone beveled front where they meet.

      After 2 cuts with a nice blow-out, I asked the tile pros on the job to cut it---- same result. Stone was way too soft for the 45 degree bevel cut so the 5x12 was a lot easier to cover the cut edges with the wood stiles.“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

      1. User avater
        maddog3 | Dec 26, 2006 05:54am | #12

        nicely done....

        .

        .

        .Wer ist jetzt der Idiot

        ?

  5. User avater
    intrepidcat | Dec 26, 2006 06:02am | #13

    Bet she's one happy lady!

     

     

    "Being a cowboy aint all ridin and shootin" - Tim Mooney 

    1. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 06:24am | #16

      Yeah, but now she has to go buy an end table that's nice enough to put it on, & re-arrange the furniture to compliment it, & maybe a rug to capture the effect, oh & maybe new paint to accent the........ uh...... nevermind“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

      1. User avater
        intrepidcat | Dec 26, 2006 10:54pm | #28

        Yeah, well, you know how one thing does lead to another sometimes....

         

         

         "Being a cowboy aint all ridin and shootin" - Tim Mooney 

  6. davidmeiland | Dec 26, 2006 06:07am | #14

    Hey man, that's union carpenters supposed to be doing the woodwork, and qualified licensed electricians on the wiring. Probably oughta be ironworkers busting the rods, and glaziers handling the glass. Git out yer wallet and show all 4 cards or we got a problem.

    Seriously, nice work and how does a guy have so much motivation at home to do more?? If I change a light bulb around here my wife calls an ambulance for fear I might have a coronary from the effort. If I actually built a lamp she'd sell tickets to a miraculous sighting.

    Did you keep the whole thing secret from your wife while working on it?

    1. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 06:22am | #15

      It was a secret until she kept askin what I was doing in the garage, my answer of "stuff" didn't cut it after a while.

      I finally broke & said I'm buildin somethin for ya------ laid on the whole guilt trip along with it.

      She kinda laughed, after all she's know me for the last 19 yrs.

      She did walk in on me the other day, I barked pretty loud, she did a 180 real quick.

      BTW I don't change light bulbs except in the lamp post at the bottom of our driveway------ & then if she hands me somethin other than fluorescent she knows I won't do it.

      Somthin about this house & incandescent don't last.

      Motivation---- not that big of a deal for me if I don't occupy my time around here with projects I end up at friends garages drinkin beer talkin about projects.“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

      1. davidmeiland | Dec 26, 2006 06:30am | #17

        Well, no point in drinking beer! Hey, you know anyone from the Wall? They're putting together a Seattle git-together sometime in January, I think. Not sure if they'd let a guy like me in but you'd make it.

        1. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 06:45am | #19

          Wall?“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

          1. davidmeiland | Dec 26, 2006 07:04am | #21

            The Wall is a forum for radiant heating guys. You might dig it:

            http://forums.invision.net/index.cfm?CFApp=2&reset=Y

          2. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 07:24am | #22

            LOL

            I've sent enough people to heatinghelp.com I forgot they had a discussion forum.“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

  7. User avater
    Bluegillman | Dec 26, 2006 06:33am | #18

    Wow on the rods and lamps. Did u have to lamps to be able to screw on the rods? How did u get the rods "chromed"? Stainless steel tubes at that diameter are hard to bend unless it is thin walled.

    Very nice! I had something in mind about that too but not a bunch of them but was thinking of bended wooden post with a rod like what u had at the end of it and use it reaching over the sofa for reading....

    1. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 07:02am | #20

      I have about 20 or so of the ss lamp base set ups that came with all the rods.

      I did have to buy the frosted glass

      Their not chromed, fairly bright brushed finish from the factory. Here's a pic of one of the buckets I have of the rods.View Image

      The ss rods are rigid as he!! I'm guessin about 040 wall. I broke a plumbing tubing bender & a steel hole saw before I got one to bend the way I wanted it to.

      A 1/2 emt bender worked quite well , but was too big of a radius.

      I had an idea like yours, but instead of using ss I have some 1/2" od chromed brass that are 7' long. & my wife doesn't really like floor lamps.

      I might build a wall sconce that has several arcs of the chrome ending in those blown glass Christmas orniments with a small halogen in each one, kinda like a big curved fan.“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

      1. User avater
        maddog3 | Dec 27, 2006 02:00pm | #33

        whoa...see if you can score a short radius EMT bender, hard to use, but makes very tight bends..... even a hickey might work
        .
        .
        .Wer ist jetzt der Idiot
        ?

        Edited 12/27/2006 6:03 am by maddog3

  8. User avater
    McDesign | Dec 26, 2006 06:44pm | #23

    Beautiful!  DW also admires the stocking - who did it?

    Here's the lamp for DW I scored from great-aunt

    View Image

    Forrest - makin' for the kids; obtainin' for the wife



    Edited 12/26/2006 10:44 am by McDesign

    1. plumbbill | Dec 26, 2006 06:51pm | #24

      That's cool lookin.

      The MIL made all our stockings.

      Boy did I get in trouble the first year we were married, for not fillin the dw stocking------- typical man ----- I have no clue ;-)“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

    2. plantlust | Dec 26, 2006 10:03pm | #26

      Oooo that is old. Art Nouveau would be my guess? That shell is a beautiful touch.1 out of 2 meeces dead. YAH! Dogs still useless. I'm really tempted to check out fingerprint powder for mice prints.

      1. User avater
        McDesign | Dec 26, 2006 10:15pm | #27

        Trying to learn about it.  Can't find a thing on the net yet.  Tiffany made a mermaid one, but this is not that one (too bad; $10-15K!).  Family lore is that it was a Tiffany, but I don't think so.

        Maybe Austrian or German - still looking.

        Forrest

  9. User avater
    Gunner | Dec 26, 2006 07:22pm | #25

      Very nice. Ever build one out of Unistrut?

     

     

     

    Expert since 10 a.m.

     

     http://www.hay98.com/

     

    1. plumbbill | Dec 27, 2006 03:54am | #29

      Did an outdoor tripod for a clamp on halogen out of Unistrut.“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

      1. User avater
        Gunner | Dec 27, 2006 04:52am | #30

          I still get a kick out of your unistrut bunk bed. I've got enough saved up now for a good workbench with shelves.

         

         

         

        Expert since 10 a.m.

         

         http://www.hay98.com/

         

  10. splintergroupie | Dec 27, 2006 10:28am | #31

    Hip and hooray for recycling!

    I saw a neat idea at the Christmas dinner i attended: glass block with a hole sawn in the edge, through which a string of little lights was fed into the interior. The block lay on its side, wrapped with a sheer ribbon and bow so that it looked like an elegant gift box...not a bad varation on the candlelight supper.

    1. plumbbill | Dec 27, 2006 12:29pm | #32

      Oh I'm a huge pack rat, the only thing that keeps me from grabbin more is space---- or lack there of.“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin

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