Skateboard Lamp

These are some items I have had for a long time. When I saw this contest, I knew what had to be done... something I LOVE doing... make a lamp... But this lamp would be a wall lamp made from a skateboard. My vision was to have something for light (duh) and something for an extra plug in and USB charger.

Skateboard (new or used)
Vapor Lamp
2 - 2 gang electrical boxes
1 Flat face plate
1 Face plate for single outlet
Wire Nutes
USB / Electrical Outlet
Dial Switch (single pole)
1 Skateboard Wheel (new or used)
Electrical Conduit (I used about 12" total)
3 Electrical Conduit Elbows
1 Electrical Conduit Screw Connector
1 Cable Strap
Screws to hold box to board
Electrical Wire (white, black & green)
Electrical Wire for plug
3 Prong Plug

Find the flattest spot possible before the board curved. Use 2 "L" brackets to connect at a 90 Degree angle. I personally added a little bit of adhesive where the boards met just to add a little more rigidity. That is completely up to you and how you feel about your boards connecting.

I wanted the painting of the lights to resemble the board. The board had a red wood with black on the top. I did a bright red base but not overly solid. Then I lightly painted, keeping the can back with flat black. On top of that, I added black that had a fleck in it. This gave a nice blend to the board.

The electrical boxes need to be secure!!! I drilled through the board and used 4 #10 screws and nuts. Also in the step, add 2 hangers. Two hangers adds strength and disperses the weight. Also, in the case it is slightly off balance, you don't have worry about having it perfectly center. At this point, connect the one piece of conduit.

With the vapor lamp, it comes standard with the three wires coming out of the center hole. It is easy enough to redirect them through another hole. For this design, they need to be redirected through a side hole.

The switch... I wanted a rotating switch on the side of the vapor lamp. To do this, take one of the plugs out of the side. You can now replace the top hole with it. Put a 1/2" metallic combination coupling. This will allow a secure spot to put the switch. Slide the switch, wires first, into the coupling. The wires are short but long enough to reach the center hole. Feed the wires up. Use a butt splice connector to connect one wire for the switch to one of the black wires. Once crimped, put them back inside the lamp. The black wire that was spliced, push back into the vapor lamp and out one side hole. Do the same for the white and the green. Add a 1/2" conduit connector over the wires. Once all three wires are out, put a butt splice connector each. Side note... I cut these shorter because otherwise the wire would be in one of the conduit elbows and you want it in a straight part.

Next, you will need to feed a white, black and green wire up through the box and conduit. Connect these wires to the coordinating colors that are coming from the lamp.

Carefully feed these down to take up the slack. Once the coupling slips onto the conduit, tighten it down.

Run the wiring to the other the outlet. Drill a hole through the other box through the skateboard. Since I used a 120 volt outlet with USB Charger, it required 14 or 12 gauge wire. Install a 3 Prong plug.

Take an old (or new) skateboard wheel. I used a hacksaw to cut of about 1/4 of the wheel and a drill out the middle to fit the switch. Super glue the wheel to the switch.