Ceiling Wooden Lamp

Hello all

My dining room lamp shade is kind of doll , and simple looking ( Bought it in Ikea )

So, as i know my self , it was only a matter of time i would find an excuse to replace it.

Sooooo , since i had some free time ( Saturday afternoon ) , i found a a few wood boards leftovers from some other project i finished a few weeks ago , i decided to use it and build myself a new Ceiling Wooden Lamp.

Hope you enjoy this Instructable

:)

Start by measuring the dimensions of the light fixture you desire to build.

Mine are :

120cm length X 25cm height X 25cm width

You will need the next tools:

Electric screwdriver

bolts to connect the wooden rods

Glue for wood ( Elmer`s Glue the best )

Drill bit set

Clamps

Dremel tool

Pencil

Saw ( Electric or regular - what ever more convenient to you )

My wooden rods were not the same length - so i grabbed them all on the table , made sure that one side is aligned , and then i cut the leftovers

Now we need to connect all the structure together using the rods that i cut

I measured " according to the eye " the size of the structure.

So first we mark using a pencil the desired size , and the we cut -- a total of 8 pieces

Now , one thing that i have learned from past mistakes is that if we try to screw a bolt inside a wood without drilling it before , the board will crack open and the wood plank will be week and can break easily.

So the best thing to do, is to take some small drill bit ( a bit smaller than the bolt itself ) and drill in the middle of the connection rods

Start by marking the middle with a pencil , than drill !

The same "rule" here, we need to drill also

First mark the middle and than drill

Now we need to make sure that the bolts we screw inside the wood , won`t be seen , so for that we need make some carving using the Dremel tool.

Take the Dremel and carve a bit where we drilled the holes , that way the bolt will go " inside the wood "

** Warning , please use goggles , and take into consideration that it can be " smokey " :)

Now we need to connect all.

Easy part

Now , since we cannot bolt the upper frame to the bottom using the rods ( since the location of the bolts is in the middle of the rod )

I have to glue it using the Elmers Wood Glue

Apply a thin layer of glue , and put the rods on it , than apply glue to to upper part and carefully place the upper frame.

Now , the annoying part.

We need to wait for at least 24 hours for the glue to dry completely - only after that it will bond strong enough to the wood and it will become " one part "

Looks good and feels strong

Now we need to apply a layer of wood filler on all places where the poles are attached.

that way you get a clean look and the overall result would be much better

Make sure all the gaps and cracks are filled with the filler glue

Once finished, let it dry over night , and than we will probably need to apply a second layer for maximum results

A must !

:)

Now , once all the job of filling the gaps with the filler has finished , we need to sand the boards and glue to be smooth .

You can use the knife above for the glue that wont remove , and the sanding paper ( Grit 100 and 250 ) for the rest of the process

Sand the wood filler laeft overs and make sure the layer is nice ans smooth

I used two types of sanding paper ( grit 200 first and 100 )

I wanted the lampshade to be Carbon Black.

Sooo i went a haead and painted it using a spray , the best and fastest way ( i messed up all my room ! make sure you put something big on the floor - the spray get`s everywhere! )

Came out awesome!

I want to hang the lampshade with hinges ( and for the wires use a fishing wire )

So i took a Dremel with a small grinding bit , drilled, and put inside the hinge

Now , i want to create an upper pole, that will connect all lamp houses together , and it will also be hang using the fishing wire

So you need to start by cutting the upper board ( the same size or so as the lampshade housing )

Mark with a pencil the holes needed to be drilled ( i have 5 lamps , so i divided the length of the pole by 6 - that way you get the same length between each lamp )

Than drill using drill and electric screw driver - start with a small drill bit ( 5mm and move up till 6.5mm )

the wires will be connected to each other and than to the mains

I glued them all using a strong glue

Let the wiring begin

Start by measuring the length between each connector and cut the cable and attach it to the connector

For you no to see then beneath the lampshade

I decided to paint the lamps houses , that`s much cooler

So you will need to temporarily staple them to some pole , paint them and let it dry for a few hours , than do a second layer for it to stick , and look good

Looks good , came out grainy

Attached it to upper rod, and create hinges to hang it

Moreover , i painted it in black also !

Just a quick sanding to the edges of the lampshade

Removed the old ugly Ikea lampshade ;)

It was kind of tricky to hang it by myself , but i managed to do it

First step it to mark the location of the lampshade with a pencil ,make sure you take the correct measurements since after you cannot relocate it

Drill the ceiling , put a masonry anchor and put the screw ( in order for the screw to go inside the wall you need to increase the size of the outer hole - that way the screw will be " inside " the wall and all you will see are the strings of the fishing wire

Connect the fishing wire , tie it strong! and than screw a bit more the bolt - you don`t want it to be seen

Attache the fishing wires to the center pole anchors - use a leveler to make sure it`s leveled

Looks better this way

It is tricky, if someone can help you hold it while you tie the fishing wire that would be great , it`s much easier this way.

I did it by myself , it was hard but i made it

Make sure you use a leveler all the time!

I thought that the bulbs will come up better if they were painted also

So , here you go

Just apply a small layer of gypsum , let it dry , sand it a bit , and apply white paint

And your done!

It was two weeks of perfect fun , i love creating new Instructables

Hope you enjoyed

:)