Geometric Pendant Lamp II

Hello! This is the second instructable I have made on geometric pendant lamps. This time around we have used copper pipe and created a new shape. As I stated in my previous instructable my girlfriend and I created these lamps because she did not want to spend a lot of money at a store for one. The cost of this project is higher then my last because of the copper pipe. The last lamp I did was using PVC pipe. This project can also be done with PVC for a much lower cost but copper does have a nice look to it.

Thanks for checking out my project and please vote for it in the lighting contest if you like it!

Materials

1. Pipe cutter
2. measuring tape
3. 15 feet of copper 1/2 inch pipe
4. jewelry wire (We went with 20 gauge)
5. Edison light bulb - Edison bulb (We found one at Lowes for $5)
6. hanging lamp cord - Lamp Cord (We bought a pack of two for $14 at Joan Fabrics)

The first step is to cut 24 pieces of five inch long copper pipe and six pieces of 10 inch pipe with your pipe cutters.

After you have cut these pipes take your five inch copper pipes and string six of them onto a long piece of wire. Take this string of pipes and create the first shape shown, a hexagon. Wrap the wire around twice for stability. Now take more of your five inch pieces of pipe and create the star points on each side of the hexagon as shown. If you run out of wire just twist more wire onto the end that you are running out of.

After you have your star shape, we need to wire more five inch pieces of pipe between the points on the stars in order to create a basket like shape shown in the picture. To do this, lift up two star points and wire on five inch pipe between the two. Do this until every star point is wired together with a pipe between them.

Now its time for the finishing touches.

Your almost done. Its now time to use our six, 10 inch pieces of pipe. take your exes wire and wire on a longer piece if needed. Take one 10 inch pipe and place it at one corner of the hexagon that is the top of your "basket" shape. Place your wire through it and out the top. Now it is important that you then take the wire from the top and place it down through another 10 inch piece leading the the vertex of the hexagon right next to the one you just placed. Twist this wire to the wire at this joint so that the two 10 inch pipes you wired on are now fixed. wire another long wire at this same joint and pull the wire through the pipe you just pushed the previous wire through so that this new wire is now coming out of the top of this wire. Grab another 10 inch pipe and place the wire through this pipe downward and secure the wire at the joint of the next corner of the hexagon. continue to do this until each joint of the hexagon has a 10 inch pipe wired to it connecting at the top.

The reason we wired the top like this is because we need the wire to go from pipe to pipe to form a circle at the top so that we can put our cord through the middle of it and it will hold our light.

All thats left to do is pull the lamp cord through the hole in the top so that the bulb socket catches on the pipes and screw in your bulb! We chose to spray paint the copper to match my girlfriends room but the lamp left copper looks just as good! Enjoy your new lamp and thanks again for looking!