Scissor Lamp Ikea Hack

I really love scissor lamps, because they give a room an aura of quirkiness, a bit like it was the workshop/lair of a mad scientist. Also they are very functional, because they make it easy to direct light to the spot where you need it, without lighting up the whole room. This is especially helpful if you like reading at night.

Although I live in germany, where the designers of the Bauhaus came up with a lot of classic scissor lamps in the 1920s and 1930s, I could never afford one, because they are quite expensive.

Then I stumbled upon a really cheap pantograph mirror called "fräck" (no relation to the oil-drilling-procedure) in an ikea store. I imedeatly had the idea to turn it into a lamp. There are already two very nice instructables using the scissor arm from the "fräck" ikea mirror (1 / 2).

I hope you will like my Instructables and I´m looking forward to your feedback or questions!

Materials needed:

- scissor arm from an Ikea "Fräck" Mirror (costs $4.99 / €2,59)

- classic clamp-on lamp with a ball joint

- metal ball with a blind hole thread size M6 (available in online lampsupply stores. If you´re not sure about the thread-size, take the scissorarm to a hardwarestore and try out different standard nuts to find ot the right size)

- two 6 mm wall plugs ( ≈ 1/4 inch)

- two small screws (fitting the wall plugs)

Tools needed:

- drill

- 6 mm drill bit

- screwdriver

- one piece of paper

- adhesive tape

- pencil

As soon as you have all the tools and materials at hand, you won´t need longer than one hour for this project.

Unscrew the clamp-on lamp from its ball joint and screw the metal ball onto the thread of the scissor arm.

Mark the positions of the drillholes for the scissor arm. To prevent a mess, use the paper and adhesive tape to fold a little pouch for catching the bore dust. Stick this pouch right under the spot where you want to drill.

Drill the holes, insert the wall plugs and screw the scissor arm to the wall.

Attach the lamp to the scissor arm, lead the cable through the end of the scissor arm that is closest to the wall and plug it in. In addition, you can fix the cables to the scissorarm with zip ties if you like.

I added a second identical lamp on the other side of my desk. The lamps can be adjusted precisely to the position and and angle needed. Because of this, I don´t need any big lamps that consume a lot of energy (save the planet y´all!).

Most important: The shadow-free desktop is helping me to keep focused for longer during nightlong reading sessions, especially in winter :)

I´m happy two answer any questions you might have.

If you like my Instructable, you can vote for it in the Make It Glow Contest!