Upcycled Industrial Style Lamp

Here is something you can do with left over junk. Everything I used here except the paint and light bulb was from items I found thrown out on the side of the road in my neighborhood. I ended up with a heavy duty stand made from a drill press, disk brake piece, electric motor parts, and some recycled lamp stand tubes. The lamp itself was made of a Jelly Belly candy dispenser, an old speaker from a free stereo console I dismantled, and some mylar sheets from junked computer flat screens.

This is what you'll need:

recycled lamp parts, including two hollow columns, bendable arm, some flat nuts, and washers.

Mig welder (with gloves and welding mask of course)

drill press column

disk brake piece

drill and bits

sheet metal screws

four nuts and bolts

peanut grinder

super glue, epoxy, and all purpose E6000 industrial glue

stained glass paint ( on clearance at Michael's craft store)

two pieces of black flexible plastic (harvested from old track lighting I think)

a few clamps for glue ups

old light socket with switch

recycled appliance cord and plug

small piece of half inch finish plywood, and two short wood screws

recycled copper wire

electric motor parts

"Jelly Belly" candy dispenser body

old speaker and mylar sheets from computer flat screens.

Simply put the column on the disk brake base piece, center it and mark where to drill holes to bolt them together. I used an automatic punch to give me a dimple for the drill bit to center on.

This steel drilled pretty easy. I used a 3/8" drill bit and only did three holes since one of the existing ones already lined up.

This takes time, but makes a nice shiny industrial finish. I used a grinding pad and meticulously took off the rust until I was left with a shiny surface that I later sanded cleaner and sprayed with clear coat.

Four nuts and bolts about 3 inches long did the trick and made a rather heavy duty base stand.

I used this stack of steel laminate discs for a transitional piece between the base and top metal tubes and had to grind down the aluminum so I could weld it on.

I used an entry level Lincoln 90 amp mig welder on it's highest setting to attach the electric motor part, grinding off any bumpiness in the admittedly crude but effective welds.

I found these lamp parts that fit together for the second level, to be installed into the center of the motor laminations. The top piece is a stainless steel flexible arm from a desk lamp. This fit nicely inside another thicker stainless steel lamp tube that made it look thicker.

Drill a hole into the center base piece and install a light bulb socket holder into the inside of the candy dispenser, and grind off the paint if desired.

This was an old "Golden Voice" speaker cone frame salvaged from a junked stereo console. Cut out the center so it fits around the candy dispenser for screwing on.

Using small self tapping sheet metal screws, attach the speaker cone assembly onto the candy machine body.

Cut out pieces that fit into the empty angled spaces in the cone frame, using recycled sheets harvested from LCD flat screens ( I think it's some kind of mylar). Tape off outside of cone with blue tape before gluing, for cleaner results, since the super glue tends to run onto the mylar surface.

Start coating glued in windows with stained glass paint. You will need to apply several coats to create a fake "art glass look". I actually used mostly transparent orange acquired on clearance from Michael's crafts store.

Simply glue in strips of black flexible plastic into the cone frame edges, using super glue. This is a bit tricky at first and I just held the piece in by hand until it set, to tack it in, and later managed to roughly clamp it , while wicking CA glue into the cracks. I wish I had had some accelerator though.

Quarter inch plywood for the circular switch plate and half inch recycled drawer slides for the cord hole plate, which fit into a slot of sorts on the candy dispenser. Glue both in with super glue and clamp the square one together, after boring holes for the simple lamp switch and cord pass through. Also paint the frames and continue coating windows as desired. Leave the round piece off until after wires are passed through hole in back. Round piece needs to be cut so square one can slide in, as pictured.

Paint the inside and wire up the light to make sure it works.

Remove any aluminum on the electric motor part and weld the upper outer column onto the center. The thinner upper pipe fits inside of this fixed one, enabling swiveling action for the upper arm. Grind welds down as best you can.

Glue in decorative pieces made from painted electric motor laminations and a salvaged bar bell sleeve collar (I think?). Later fold down the laminate edges to make a flush fit. This hides the crude looking weld, and any burn marks on the column bottom edge. I coated this with transparent paint and clear coat.

Tape end of power cord onto an old fishing pole section or similar device to feed cord end through center of column and out the top end, after first threading it through convenient gap in brake discs. This might be done before the last step actually, since it is easier to weld the upper column on with the wire already inside. Sorry about that.

Pull power cord out the top, through bending arm, and connect to lamp top wires, using shrink tube (and/or electrical tape).

Lay the base down and pull the cord through bottom to tighten and screw in arm to lamp.

Since the bending arm on this lamp is not stiff enough to hold up the lamp very well, wrap copper wire around coat hanger wire that's taped onto the arm. This also adds decorative color.

Put any lightbulb in and turn it on. I used an Edison bulb, which gave it a warm glow with the orange paint. Clear coat on the steel with hopefully prevent too much rust.