Let There Be Light

I made a ceiling light fixture for my workshop (it is supposed to be my garage) from scrap wood. Since LED lights do not get hot, one can do that without danger of burning the house down, but it would be a good idea to incorporate a 250 mA polyfuse in there for peace of mind.

The light of my life.

To hide the ceiling house wires and chocolate block connector, I made a big hole in one block with a hole saw and glued it to another block. The vertical stick is mortised into the ceiling block - rubbed some wax on it all and there we have a little Tinkertoy Chandelier. I used bees wax, but good old boot polish will work as well and it comes in multiple shades.

Cantilever Desk Lamp

BTW, the easy/lazy way to make a rectangular mortise hole, is with a drill and a jigsaw. You just slowly grind the wood away with the saw blade till you have a perfect fit. A hammer and chisel does not work well on soft wood, no matter how sharp the chisel, while a jigsaw will happily chew up anything!

I made two of the ceiling lights and one desk lamp. The lamp fixture is invisibly fastened to the end of the stick with a little screw and epoxy glue. The counterweight more or less balances it, which makes it easier to adjust and stay in place.

Now I had enough of sandpaper and lamps for a while - if I can just stop sneezing!

La voila!

Herman

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