LED Torch/wall Sconce. Mood Lighting, Halloween, D&D

construction of a 'fiery' torch wall sconce from readily available items using minimal tools and skills. we start with some common metal strapping, normally used to hang pipe. start with cutting pieces to make frame. i used three pieces to make into circles and four pieces to be the vertical sides. measure to make sure it will be the size you want [ie if you are putting in a bulb/insert make sure it will fit]. i used heavy duty scissors [the kind that can cut a penny] i actually used my old army medic scissors that saw use in the panama conflict, still going strong after a few decades

metal strapping

bend over one side of each piece to avoid sharp edges and make it look nicer

you can leave the metal as is or paint it. i sprayed my pieces with 'hammered metal' paint or you can use copper strapping. bend the circle pieces overlapping so you can put a fastener through and then into the side piece. i used some leather rivets but there are lots of options [eg pop rivets, bolts]. for help with rivets check out my leather dice bag build or search for help, my search gave me another instructable as the first option. if you use leather rivets and you want to hammer them put a log into the unit. other less pretty options then hammering is a large set of pliers or a vise.

i used an old broken tension shower rod for my shaft. since the rod was smaller than the light socket i cut the rod and expanded. i cut it into four 'legs' since i was using four side pieces. i bent the 'legs' back to fit over the light socket. i used these light sockets but use what every you want. if you do use these exact light sockets note that they are not polarized and you will need us a multi-meter to determine how to plug them into a wall outlet

if the rod is smaller than the plug you will need to cut/splice power cable or rewire the light socket. the sockets i used where somewhat easy to dismantle. the back could be popped off and the wires could be pulled out. i pushed the retaining clip back with a very small flat head to extract wires but this bent the clip making it useless. thankfully there were double slots so i rewired using the second set of slots. DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN ATTEMPT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

i found some screws and locations on the light socket that would hold the unit together without creating a short circuit. i drilled holes in the metal rod about the same size as the screws but made smaller holes in the plastic light socket. if you don't have a drill you might be able to just use an awl and hammer to punch holes in the metal rod and something small and sharp to make little holes in the plastic socket housing. make sure everything is lined up [2nd image].

i threaded wire through the rod, my light socket had a screw on wire cover on the bottom part of the socket. i threaded the wire through that and then i threaded wire through the bottom of socket, rewire socket slide rejoined socket into place.

bend vertical straps to fit socket, then hand tighten screws. note this not super strong build so the wall sconce is only for decoration and not throwing into the closet for storage.

where the unit attaches to the rod/socket is a bit ugly so cover with something. i ended up using some leather but you could use tennis racket wrapping? you could also use fabric, wire, rope, twine...

i had some extra 'lava' material for mine, but you could also use some red plastic or something else.

there are lots of options for lights, i just bought what was on sale at the time. cover/paint the non-light parts of the bulb

you don't need to but you can remove the cover on the light. this cover does two things, protects the fragile insides and diffuses the light. if you are using an opaque insert then you don't need the diffuser and you will have a little brighter bulb. NOTE: REMOVING THE COVER IS NOT RECOMMEND AND DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF BULB IT COULD LEAD TO DAMAGE.