Yoda Lamp

Carved wooden Yoda Lamp. A fun and challenging project. Here is a video of the build : https://youtu.be/vk63pn611d0

Wood, Led reading lamp, polycarbonate tube, wood carving tools.

Either find a large block of wood or glue together boards to make a large block. I chose Basswood because it carves nice. And had to glue two boards together.
Draw the front view of Yoda on the front of the block. Then Draw the side view on on the side of the block making sure it matches up with the front.

If you have access to a bandsaw cut out the front view of the design leaving the sides intact. Once that is done glue the sides back on with spray adhesive (Or you use double sided tape.) Then cut out the side view. This will leave you with a rough Yoda shape to begin carving. If you don't have access to a bandsaw you can always start carving right from the block.

This is the most challenging and time consuming part of the build. The tools I used was a mini grinder, Dremel, various carving gouges and knives. Use what ever carving tools you can get your hands on. Pull up some photos of Yoda for reference. Keep referring to them as you carve. Do some sanding at the end to remove the tool marks.

Time to add some high lights and low lights. I did this with a paint wash. I used some Burnt Umber colored oil paint. Diluted it a bit with paint thinner. Then brushed it into all the folds and low points. Then immediately wiped it with a rag and some paint thinner. Take your time and if it doesn't look right you can always sand it away and try again.

This part might be emotional difficult to do. After hours and hours of carving it is now time to drill holes into Yoda to feed wires through. Drill a hole down the light saber shaft, up though the bottom and in the side that will connect the two previous holes. (You will later have to patch the side hole with a dowel and some wood glue and re-paint that area)
Now for the lamp. What I did was repurpose a reading LED lamp that I got from IKEA. I dismantled the lamp. I carved a wooden housing that would hold the led. And slip into the saber hilt end. I cut the wires so I could feed them through the drilled holes and then re-connected the wires. It now looks like Yoda is weilding a flashlight.

Get a piece of wood (I used a chunk of walnut) drill a hole through the center large enough to fit the plug and switch through . Then carve a groove on the bottom that will hold the wire. After that simply drill some pilot holes and screw the base to yoda

Get a piece of 1/2" polycarbonate tube. Cut it to to an appropriate length for your Yoda's saber. (Mine was 9").
Carve a wooden housing that will hold the tube and slip into the housing you carved for the LED.
Then line the inside of the tube with clear plastic. (Cling wrap would work.)
Now we need cap the tube. Easiest way is to find a 1/2" clear acrylic hemisphere and order it. But what I did was carve a wooden cap. Molded it and then casted it in clear resin. Put it all together and you now have a completed Yoda Lamp!