PVC Pipe Light

by TimPardoe in Workshop > Lighting

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PVC Pipe Light

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I have always wanted to build an epic lamp using a large pvp pipe of over 4 inches in diameter and standing 3 feet tall, as this contest came up I sorted through my various junk and no pvc pipe! So the only pipe I had was part of tool storage on my workbench. So I took it apart and was left with 6 inches of pvc pipe. So here goes a very simple and easy light to make.

Materials and Tools

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English elm table scrap

PVC pipe

Battery charger mains 240v to 12 volt and 9 watts power supply using 0.8amp (Bought 27 of them in a joblot)

2 x 3 watt LED's

1 270 ohm resistor

Tools

soldering iron

Pliers

Dremel type tool and bits

Build

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The idea was to make a small night light I guess you'd call it, I went with using the dremel to carve four stylised leaf patterns into the pipe using the multi tool and thin pointed diamond burr, it cut it very easily, be careful as hot plastic does tend to fly up off the piece, safety glasses are needed.

I carved out the elm piece of wood into a rough circular shape, I definitely did not want it perfectly round nor perfectly centred, so it's set at the back of the piece of wood.

I soldered the two LEDs and the resistor in line with the power pack (Youtube has great video's explaining all the soldering and how to reach the correct ohm resistor for the power supply)

Conclusion

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I would have liked to use a bigger pipe, more LED's too, Then I could have done something much better with a more intricately carved pattern, but I will say it doesn't look bad for such a simple project

After Thought

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Decided to add a picture taken with no flash in the dark, I'm very happy for what is basically an hour or two's work

Thank you reading this