Beer Pump Lamp

I needed a lamp for my living room, but didn’t want any of the usual stuff available on-line. I wanted something different and a bit of a talking point, I started browsing the internet to see what I might be able to re-purpose as a lamp.

I came across the idea of an old beer pump handle. The one I found on ebay has a brass base a ceramic ‘handle’ and brasswork at the top. It was slightly more difficult to convert than I originally imagined, but I’m really pleased with the end result.

An old beer pump assembly

A lamp fitting, connections and cable

Threaded hollow tubing to hold the whole thing together and allow the wire to run up the middle

Something to make a base from (I used some old scraps wood I had).

Beer pump clip on badge (optional)

Some basic diy tools and diy knowledge.

There were a number of different beer pumps available on-line. I got this one off ebay for about £25. Before I brought it I couldn’t see how it was put together, so it was a bit of a gamble, that it would come apart!

The pump is made up of: a hinge section; a brass base; a ceramic handle; a top round brass finial; solid metal rod holding it all together.

You can see all the component when I’ve disassembled it. I figured I could replace the solid rod with a threaded metal tube for the cable to run through and to fix to the lamp holder. If the pump had not been hollow, I could have simply had a cable running outside of the lamp, but I think running the cable through the middle to keep it hidden is a neater solution.

I ordered the brass lamp holder kit and the M10 threaded hollow tube. The lamp holder fits the 10mm threaded tube.

Whilst waiting for my supplies to arrive I began work on the base.

For the base I wanted something that looked like a traditional bar top. One piece of the timber I had would not be thick enough, so I glued two together, sanded them down and routered a detail around the top surface.

At a later stage I may stain this darker.

I tried everything together and it looked good. Metal base, ceramic handle, finial at the top followed by the lamp holder. The finial was going to need a hole drilling through it for the cable, but the base of the lamp holder will hide the hole and cable.

The metal tube is 10mm diameter, the rod that ran through the handle and metal components is either 9mm or some odd imperial size…! Either way, the metal tube wasn’t going to fit through the holes in the brass work, so I needed to enlarge these holes. I did this with an 11mm drill. This was probably the most difficult part of the build, as I only have a handheld drill.

The 11mm hole caused the top finial to come apart, but I still had the base and the 'ball' detail, so it’s not noticeable when it’s all back together.

I also needed to cut down the brass hinged element, which was achieved with a hacksaw and some elbow grease!

Once the holes were drilled, everything could be put together – all looked a good fit. The base needed a hole for the cable and a larger hole cutting in the base to secure the tubing tight. I secured the tubing with a nut, washer and an old cabinet wall plate – which seems to do the job fine.

Finally I cut a channel for the cable to come through.

The cable supplied with the lamp holder fitted nicely through the tubing.

Wiring the live, neutral and earth to lamp holder and plug was an easy job.

The addition of a bulb and a lamp shade make the whole thing work.

I also have a beer pump badge which can be simply added.

I can’t decide if I like it better with a beer pump badge applied or without.