Thread: WIP Lamp or Two

I have had a change to spend some time on this little project. I was able to shape the pole for one of the lamps. The bottom part is square and as it raises up it develops a slope on all sides.

The front is a little steeper slope as this will be seen most of the time and I thought that when the light it on, might get some more reflextion from the wood.

Attachment 116988

I did this on the bandsaw after marking the cut lines and trying to stay clear of the line as much as possible. The final shaping was done with a smoothing plane and card scraper. Then the hour or two with the sandpaper.

I also worked on the base of the lamps as I am making two of them. I started with the card scraper removing the dried glue and then one pass on the jointer. Got this nice and flat with only one pass.

Next turned this on edge and trued up one edge square to the flat surface. Moved to the thicknesser and got the require thickness that I wanted.

Did the final dimensions for both pieces and thought what would best be done on the base. I moved to the router and made a little step with a round over bit. You can just make this out on the photo.

Did the center hole on the drill press and also under cut the channel for the power cable.

I did one more thing before calling it a day and that was to drill the holes for the dowels on the base and corresponding vertical pole.

Currenlty not too sure on what I am going to do with the second lamp.

Hope you people are enjoying this as much as I am.

Looking forward to seeing the finished project with the light switched on of course. Should realy make the grain stand out. Looks good so far Thanks

Looks good Christos.

Definitely a good idea to increase the size of the base over your last one, it did look a little unstable.

Will these two be a matching pair?

Originally Posted by stevemc32

Will these two be a matching pair?

I was thinking that I might just make a pair. This is really just a mucking around / what ever comes to mine build. I little better then the original one that I was playing with.

I was able to get some more done this morning, and last evening.

As I mention about the last one being a little different design so I came up with this.

Attachment 117507

Just a simple idea with a simple router patten.

The next thing was to drill the dowel holes on the base and match these up to the upright.

Attachment 117506

I did this for both lamps that I am making.

I got the parts for the guts of the lamps.

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It is the base that will be epoxy to the upright. Using this part I traced around the square hole to mark out what needed to be cleaned out.

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Using a rasp and file this was quick work for both lamp bases.

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I now sanded all of the parts to get as best finish as possible as it will be hard to get into the corners

I managed to glue up one lamp and I was called away. Always seems to be the case.

Attachment 117508

looking good christos, looking good
regards chowcini

The next step was to sand and finish one of the lamps. No pictures of the sanding as you would expect justt a lot of dust. I put two coats of Danish Oil on the lamp and now according to the instruction on the back of the can I need to wait at least 14 days before I can put a wax on. I am not too concern about the wait. Only time will tell.

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While waiting for this to dry I glued up the second lamp and put on a moulding around the base. I forgot to take a picture but will put one up shortly.

The mitre joints took a long time as the only way of me cutting mitre joints was with a table saw. I have a Triton and this sometimes takes a long time. For the moulding I used a piece of sand paper around the base so that I could allow for wood movement. Might be a little too tight.

I was thinking that I might try something that is in the current issue of the AWR and that would be to ebonizing the wood. Why not give it a try annd see how this turns out. The article did mention to put steel wool in a jar of vinegar. I setup two jars with two types of steel wool. One is disolving and the other is still solid. Hoping by the weekend I can give this a try and see how it looks.

I've never used any oil finishes. It looks quite good.

What is the purpose of waxing over the oil, does this lock it in?

Here is the picture of the molding that I placed on the bottom of the second lamp.

Attachment 117911

Originally Posted by stevemc32

What is the purpose of waxing over the oil, does this lock it in?

That's ok this is also my first time of waxing after oiling. My understanding is that this is to give it a little more shine.

I guess I will also have to wait and see. I have another 9 days at least before I can even think about a waxing.

Now according to the lastest copy of AWR number 64.

If I wanted a richer jet black ebony colour I need to make my self a cup of tea.


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So I made one.


I had some spare hot water and a couple of tea bags so I made a cuppta for the lamp as well.

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Waited for the tea to cool down and gave the lamp a soaking.

Well after the cup of tea for the lamp, I had to wait for this to dry. I gave it 24 hours at lease.

It was time to use the Vinegar and Steel Wool soluation. I grabbed one of the disposable brushes and away we go. It darken the wood and after a little while it gave a nice blackish tint.

That's what I was after. I stood in the garage and look out at the darking sky the rains have come.


I was scheduled to work on the Monday and knew that I was not going to do anything on this lamp until the Tuesday.

Today being Tuesday I looked at what had become with this lamp. It came up with a very light coat of a sort of rusty grey. I took out the steel wool and gave it a rub down. Got rid of all the rusty grey and the next step was to setup to give it one coat of clear Estapol. Not the water based one but the one that requires you to clear the brushes out with turps.

Took out my not so disposable brush and completed one coat. Since my garage has a knack of gathering dust I put this inside the house to dry. I have taken two pictures with different effects to give some indication that as to what it looks like.

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I just like to add and the rain has come.

Wow, that vinegar and steel wool certainly makes a strong tint!