Joined
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225 Posts
DESK LAMP!
So ok...I got bored again today, bought some extra cigar boxes from a B&M and was talking to my neighbor about how he saw a show on HGTV about a guy who makes stuff out of old cigar boxes, one of the things he made was a lamp. I looked it up and it looked pretty cool, but it was a little too expensive.. People were selling them online for 55- 150 dollars. All I have to say is: "It's a $%*@ing lamp. I can do it too." So I did...and it cost me 3 dollars, and some time. Now I share with you all.
What you need:
1) Some empty cigar boxes
2) The "guts" to a desk lamp.
3) A 3/8" drill bit, some screws (about a 1/2 should do.), a cordless drill, and some regular old screwdrivers.
Note: You can buy the guts to the lamp at any hardware store, not to expensive at all, for mine I just gutted an ugly white lamp in my room. Also..unplug the lamp. DUH.
1) start by selecting what boxes you are going to use. I used all solid ones for the look, you can use the paper covered ones too (Punch, Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, and just about EVERY company uses these. It's your lamp...have fun!) Stack them up, make it look fun. One thing I can reccomend is using a thinner box on top otherwise it makes the lamp look a little awkward unless you use a bigger lamp shade than I used.
2) after you have selected and arranged your boxes, time to start disassembling the lamp. (UNPLUG THE DAMN LAMP!) My lamp was pretty straightforward. A clamshell type screw on cap held the socket to the lamp, i unscrewed that and pulled the socket out and it had the two wires attached to it. I unscrewed the screws that held the wire ends to the gold plated leads that make the lamp work. This frees up the wire, my wire had a knot in it to keep from pulling the wire out of the socket, untied the knot and removed the wire. I then after that was done removed the bottom half of the socket from the lamp. It has a nut and bolt assembly on mine, I had to take off the base of the lamp and hold down a nut as I turned the socket holder. When thats done...you now have your "guts".
3) Time to start cutting holes. I used the 3/8" drill bit as it was roughly the size of the threaded rod for the light socket. I drilled a centered hole in the top and bottom of the "middle box". I drilled a centered hole in the top of the bottom box and one in the back for the chord to come out. The "Top Box" was a skinny box that i used to elevate the lamp, so I put centered holes in the front and the back. (NOTE: Go slow...you dont want to crack the box like I did.)
4) with your holes cut in the boxes it's time to anchor them down to each other. I used some 1/2 inch screws to connect em all together...pretty simple.
5.) now its time to run the wires. Just snake the wires through the holes and all the way up to the top. I used some boxes with sliding lids on them, you have to have the lid on before you try and run the wire through for obvious reasons. Now with the wires at the top but not through, take the bottom half of the socket holder and press it into the hole in the top of the box. My socket holder had the nut and washer I named earlier, so I reused them to hold it in place.
6.) Now run the wires through, wrap the wire ends around the screws that they came off of and have the socket part sit in the bottom part of the holder like the above picture. Screw on the top of the socket holder, install a light bulb, put the shade on. VOILA! LIGHT!
You can use crazy glue to stop the boxes from opening, or just leave em like I did because I don't intend on moving the light too much.
