Author Archives: depolorization

Glass Insulator Pipe Lamp

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At a recent visit to an antique store, something caught my eye. It was a lamp – a very different looking lamp. In fact I wanted to buy it, but at $150.00 it was out of my price range.

The lamp was made from galvanized pipe and an old telephone pole glass insulator. I decided to make one, and now I am on my third build. Here are the finished lamps.

Note: Believe it or not, the most expensive material was the galvanized (galvo) pipe. It was about $40.00 at a local hardware store. See if you can obtain it from a salvage yard. You may have to clean it up a bit, but your build will be much less expensive and you are recycling.

Special Tools:

  • Diamond Drill Bit – 1/2″ DIA
  • Soldering iron – 40W
  • Long Drill Bit – 3/8″ DIA x 10″
  • Plumber’s putty

Materials:

  • Old weathered wood – recycled
  • Glass telephone pole insulator – about $7.00 – $10.00 at an antique store
  • Galvo pipe – about $40.00 new
  • Dimmer switch – $5.00
  • Lamp wire – $3.00
  • Toggle switch – $6.00
  • Metal – recycled

Galvo Pipe List:

Note: All pipe is 1/2″ except where noted.

Tips on Building the Lamp

1) Drilling The Top Of The Insulator

I must admit, I was a bit of a skeptic, but what the guy told me at the hardware store worked perfectly.

Set up a test fixture as below.

Put some plumber’s putty around the hole on the insulator.

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Fill the area surrounded by plumber’s putty with water. Then insert your drill with diamond bit attached, at roughly a 45 degree angle and begin drilling.

Slowly position the drill until it is completely upright. Then drill all the way through the insulator. It takes about 15 seconds or so to cut through. This way, using water, the diamond bit will not be damaged. It’s a bit messy though, but awesome.

2) Toggle Switch or Dimmer Cable

In my build, I show a toggle switch. It is just for show. After my first build, I used a dimmer switch – much simpler. Either way, some wiring mods will be needed to pass the wire through the pipe.

Those are the essential tips. I did assemble the glass insulator pipe first. With insulator attached, I inserted the wire with lamp socket into the insulator. As I fed the wire through, I kept adding the pipe pieces, and then attached all to the base flange.

These lamps make a really unique gift. So go ahead and add some “light” into someone’s life!

Flying on a Hammerhead Shark

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Every once in a while a project morphs or leads into several different projects. An example is my hammerhead shark balance board Hammerhead Balance Board.

It’s made from a recycled desktop. I really wanted something different than a standard skateboard/surfboard shape, so I went with this design idea.

A balance board is like a skateboard but with a roller and track on its underside, instead of wheels. The board is 40″ long.

Just imagine a board that you stand on, with a movable fulcrum centered underneath. I decided that I would be less likely to break bones on this, as opposed to a skateboard – right!

Additionally, I thought once I improved my balance, I could add wheels to the balance board and it would morph into a skateboard.

Here is the roller that I will be using. I ordered this one from Vew-Do.

While building the board, I decided that I needed a balance paddle. So begins another project. I felt that I needed a safety stick (like a cane), so that I would not tip over while on the board.

Here is the balance paddle under construction. It’s made with 4 old ceiling fan blades glued together (a fan blade pair on each end) and laminated pallet wood for the paddle shaft.

I’ll show you how to build the paddle in a future post as well.

The balance board is not even complete, and now I am making a paddle too. But wait, there is more!

One morning I awoke from a dream and realized that I had been flying on the back of a hammerhead shark. So very cool I thought, “How could I do this – I mean really do this.”

Then it hit me, add a hydrofoil wing to the bottom of the board. If I could add the wing, I could literally fly above the water on the back of a hammerhead shark – a dream come true!

Hey, guess what? I am building a hydrofoil wing. I ordered this cool kit from Clearwater Hydrofoils. Of course it has to be fiberglassed, but I will learn a new skill. One post soon, I’ll show you that process too.

So, one project often morphs and/or leads to many others. The project fun never ends! What would life be without projects?