Mason Jar and Pallet Wall Lamp

What inspired me?

If you have read any of my other Instructables, you will know that I love using weird materials and products and incorporating them into my projects such as concrete and pallets. I was looking at some pallet projects on google and then realised the only real use was furniture. So I thought about a few projects and of course I thought about a lamp. I didn't just want to make a normal wooden lamp and the after a few hours of looking, I realised I had a few Mason jars. Of course this inspired me to make this, my Mason jar and pallet wall lamp.

What will you need?

- One mason jar

- one length of pallet wood (at least 40cm)

- two 1.5inch screws

- 10cm of threaded bar

- Four nuts and four washers

- LED Lights

- A jig saw or wood working saw

- Sand paper and files

- A drill

- 3mm drill bit and 10mm drill bit

- Ruler or measuring tape

- Pen or pencil

- tri-square

Step one - Marking out the pine

You will need to use the ruler/measuring tape, pen/pencil and the tri-square for this step. Place the length of pine on a flat, even surface. Place it such that it goes from the left to the right. Using the ruler, measure the height of the mason jar. When this is done, add 100mm onto the result and mark this onto the pine. Using the ruler, measure the width of the pallet wood and then on the wood itself Mark it above the first piece. Use the tri-square to get a very straight line.

Step 2 - Cutting out the pieces

Once you have marked out the measurements for the pieces, its time to cut them to the right size.

I did this by using a jig saw with a wood working blade. Feel free to use any type of wood working saw. Its probably best to stick with a simple tenon saw or panel saw as these two types are amazing for cutting straight lines fast.

Place the blade facing the line you wish to cut, but make sure its about 15mm away from the wood as if you press the trigger while the blade is on the wood, the jig saw can jump and ruin your work. On top of this make sure your hands are at a safe position and make sure the piece of wood is secured to the table.

When the cutting is done, use a flat wood working file to eliminate any burs you might have around the wood, make sure to use some sand paper on the over all surface just to get a better, smoother finished product.

Step3 - Marking on the holes

This step will require you to use a tri-square, pencil and a ruler. Make sure the pencil is sharp enough to use, but blunt enough to leave a line about 0.75mm. This will allow you to see the lines and markings much easily then a simple thin line.

On the largest piece of wood (mine was 320mm if I remember correctly) mark off 40mm defending from the top. Then mark on your pallet wood thickness defending once again. You should get a neat little rectangle (mine was 100mm by 20mm). When this is done, half the rectangles height and then draw a line using the pencil and tri-square. Mark on 20mm from the left onto the line and 20mm from the right on to the line. This is where you will drill your holes. They need to be 3mm in diameter (I guess it just depends on screw thickness).

On the small piece of pine, hold it such that it is standing with its maximum height standing up. On the rectangle (should be the same size as the one in the previous step) mark out the centre line. This can be done by decreasing the width by half on both sides then using a ruler to find the line. Mark out 20mm from the left and 20mm from the right. Mark these as an X as these are where you will drill the 3mm holes.

On top of this, on the small piece, you need to drill the hole that will hold the screw thread in place. This needs to be 10mm. Place the piece such that the holes you just marked are facing the same way as you. Mark on 40mm from the bottom on both the right and left then join them up using the ruler. Find the centre of this line by dividing the total length of the line by two. Mark this as an X. Make sure you drill this with the 10mm drill bit.

Feel free to add a hole at the top centre. This will be where the fixings are inserted. I put mine 15mm away from the top to make sure if the wood split, it wouldn't affect my product.

Step 4 - Drilling the holes

Place the 3mm drill bit inside if the drill and make sure its very tight. We are drilling these 3mm holes first as there are many of them. But feel free to start with the 10mm hole. Its completely up to you.

Place the tip of the drill bit onto the hole you wish to drill, then gently squeeze the trigger. As the hole increases to about a depth of 2-4mm, begun to press hard and apply a little more pressure. This will allow a better hole to form. But saying this, dont apply too much as the drill but could break. If you are using a pillar drill, make sure you use safety goggles to prevent injuries to the eyes. You might not need them, but if something goes wrong you will really wish you wore them.

When drilling the larger hole (10mm) I used the 3mm to drill a much small hole so the larger hole was easier to drill. I did this as my drill bits are getting blunt and old as I've had them for over 5 years now. But your drill bits might not be as old.

When these are drilled, use some rounded files to just eliminate any burs. On top of this you can use more sand paper to neaten the holes up a little bit more.

Step 5 - Drilling the mason jar lid

Drilling the hole for the threaded bar is probably the easiest part of the project. It's up to you if you take the lid off the mason jar or leave it in. I left it in as Im lazy and it allowed me to drill all the way through.

Using a pen, mark on the centre of the lid. Don't worry about using any type of maths here, I just guessed as using the eye is quite an accurate method of finding the centre if any circle. Plus it doesn't really matter if its centred. It just helped I guess. Use some small screw driver ir centre punch to dent a little hole in the metal to make it easier to drill.

Use a 10mm drill bit for this. Drill the hole you just marker by placing the tip of the drill bit in the dent. Gently squeeze the trigger and after a few seconds, apply pressure and squeeze harder. When the hoke is drilled, use a rounded fine to get rid of any burs but be careful as the metal gets hot when drilled. This is because the drill bit is applying kinetic energy in the form of friction onto the metal, and masses of friction occurs when drilling, you can probably hear the screeching noise.

Step 6 - Assembly

First, you need to attach the threaded bar to the lid. You need you use a washer and nut then Insert the lid. Place the washer on top then tighten on a nut.

Place both screws inside of the back piece then use the drill driver to fasten them as much as possible. This is all that needs to be done.

Place a nut in the threaded bar, then add a washer on the top. Place the tip of the bar into top piece. Then place a washer on the top followed by a nut. This is all that needs to be done.

After the entire product was built, i used fine sand paper to smoothen the surface of the wood, giving it a much better look. Feel free to add some type of finish such as paint, oil or wax.

Finished!

Well done! You have done! Feel free to add more to the project. You can add anything into the jar. I added 300 ultra-bright LEDs to give it an amazing finish!