Quick project this afternoon. I was on my weekly scouting mission at the local thrift store yesterday and although I got skunked for worthwhile sewing machines I did drag a decent floor lamp home. It’s an IKEA thing in pretty good shape but what I really liked was the beefy joint for the articulating arm that allows for a full ninety-degrees of motion. But, no shade with it.
I didn’t want anything fancy, this is a light for one of my machines, and I wasn’t looking to make a big deal out of it. I thought copper might be nice, and I knew I had a bunch of scrap roof flashings kicking around in the shop so I figured I was good for material.
I went with a basic cone shape, not too steep but enough to keep the bulb shielded and still allow good spread. I didn’t have any copper pop rivets here so just went with the homemade variety. I like riveting — it’s fast and has a nice feel about it. I just used some 10 or 12 gauge electrical wire for stock and dressed them in by hand. The trickiest part is getting the little buggers in the hole without dropping them!
After that, a few more scraps of wire and I had a shade holder. I knew all along I was not going to polish the copper, I kind of like the heavily oxidized finish that comes from being on the roof for a long time. Plus this lamp is going over my 192K “Spartan” machine, so-named because it was supposed to be a no-frills and low-cost companion to the more expensive Singer 99. Same machine, just no fancy bits.
Thanks for looking!
-frank
