Bespoke Steampunk Bedside Pipe Lamps
Close to the heart, these bedside lamps hold a special place.
The have been created as a Christmas gift to my partner, and love, Linda Fury.
An idea to create a set of lamps arose when Linda had decided to undertake some improvements to the house.
The project commenced in early November 2020 with the target to have the lamps ready for Christmas.
The main aspect of the design was to determine a style of lamp that would be most suitable.
some cleaver thinking was needed on my part to pick up on some subtle clues, one of these clues being the colour scheme with simple monochromes and subtle hints of warmer tones.
This was taking me in the direction of an industrial feel.
Design Brief
Inspired by the design of my steampunk dimming lamp, the main body of the lamps would comprise of pipework.
Linda had shown me a lamp that she liked that had a shade, keeping on the quiet, I took this into the design brief.
Edison Light Globes Pty Ltd have an excellent range of lampshades, in passing I was showing Linda some shades "which I liked", prompting some clues in the choice of shades.
E27 Lamp Holders - By Little Anvil
Earlier in the year, A small bespoke creative company, Little Anvil had released a range of the E27 Lamp Holders with an American Oak detailed ring.
I had ordered two of these in early November, at the time not realising they would form part of the design for the bedside lamps.
Final Design
With the main components known, the next step was coming up with a final design.
A wood base is envisaged for each lamp.
Several hours was spent working out the pipe design which included angles and positions. Initially, a straight vertical rise was tested and an elbow on the lower section of the rise to bring the electrical wire through.
Sitting on the design, I felt it needed more character, this was accomplished by offsetting the vertical rise from the centre line, vertical axis from the flange.
Finally, the angles established for the top section of the lamps.
With the pipework design completed, the pipes disassembled, an internal fibreglass sheath was run inside the pipe and prior, been threaded with three cores of double insulated electrical wire.
The pipework was then reassembled and fixed with thread sealant and then painted with 'Oil Rubbed Bronze' and a final coat of clear varnish.
Timber Base
For the timer base, a suitable piece finally sourced from Time 4 Timber in Brookvale NSW.
The base was measured up and cut into two sections.
Following additional work to the bases to drill access holes and switch recesses, the timber bases were sanded, and two coats of sanding sealer applied.
The bases were then stained, and finally two coats of Scandinavian oil applied.
Electrical Work
The initial design was to bring the electrical cable through an elbow (which was changed to a 'T-section' coming off the main pipe section and have an inline switch.
This part of the design changed when I came across in my inventory, some earlier antique style round brass switches I had acquired.
The switches would be mounted onto the timber base; however, these would need to be recessed to be more aesthetically pleasing.
This part of the design would necessitate the boring of an 8mm horizontal access hole, 260mm deep to reach the switch from the backside face of the timber.
The horizontal access hole would then be intersected by two vertical rise holes to allow the electrical wires from the switch and the lamp. Electrical termination made inside the flange base.
For the Earth bonding to the pipe, the same technique as used on my very first steampunk lamp.
Lamp Completion and Testing
With both lamps fully assembled, electrical testing was completed to ensure all connections are electrically safe and secure.
The Osram E27 LED globes with the specifications: 7W (60W equivalent) 806 lumens E27 Natural white (4000K) had been selected specifically as to provide a nice light with good brightness.
The Lamps finally Lit for the first time on 16th December 2020.
- Written by Flavio Spedalieri -
