Re-purposing Scrap to Make a Lamp

by Badger4700 in Workshop > Lighting

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Re-purposing Scrap to Make a Lamp

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This is a lamp I made out of scraps laying around my shop and the colader (strainer) I paid $0.25 for a yard sale.

Prepping the Colander

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I always seem to see colanders at yard sales so i decided to pick one up (paid .25 for it). All I had to do here was drill at 3/8" hole to allow for the wire to go through and two holes for the outlet to bolt to the colander.

Wire It Up

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I had a pull string light socket laying around from a previous project, but you can get one for $2 at the box stores. I used a butter tub lid that I cut out as an extra insulator to prevent accidental grounding. I cannot emphasize enough make sure that the wires are covered and not exposed. Wire it per the socket instructions.

Try It Out

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Once I had it wired up I just used some twine I had lying around to act as the down cords. I will replace these with chains once I find some scrap I like. With a low draw bulb it still puts out a lot of light and a nice pattern on the ceiling.

Add a Diffuser

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I noticed that with the light hanging the bulb was a little bright and rather than lower the output of the bulbs I decided I would add a diffuser. I was kind of at a loss as to what to use, but luckily my dog has given me an idea. When she's done with the cone I will cut it down to size and repurpose it as well. :)