Pipe Lamp

Concept Design:

  This was an interesting project. Both, fun and scary.
Fun because it is a new medium I had not worked with before. Steel pipes have a nice industrial figure, which I like every much. Like much of my previous work, this is a gift for a friend who lives in an old brick building with hardwood floors and exposed electrical and drainage piping.

While I have had some experience with electronics and wearing basic lamps, most of those were made out of non-conductive materials and didn't really require grounding. In this case however, I was plugging a hunk of metal into the wall. So you can see how it could be a tad bit scary.

Parts:

Gathering all the parts tough. Here I was at the hardware store with a few sketches and a list of what (I thought) I needed. I was at the hardware store for over two hours, bounding between the pipe guy and the electrical wearing guy. As it turns out, those two don't talk to each-other much. The light bulb fixtures screwed on to a tiny thin 1/8" pipe which then had to be screwed onto a brass adapter that converted the pipe to a 1/4"which can then be adapted to a 1/2" steel pipe. The switch was a bigger nightmare. It needed to fit in an elbow joint (or fitting), but it too needed to be screwed in place so it doesn't get damages after long term use and risk exposing the wires. The designer in me refused to use an elbow larger than for a 1" pipe, it just looked too big! After much wiggling, was able squeeze the switch into the elbow. Now, I had to screw a 1/8" to 5/8" adapter to the switch (which is inside the steel elbow. Then screw on a 5/8" to 1" adapter to fix the switch to its new shell (the 1" elbow).

Result:

Stay tuned for more photos of the lamp in its current habitat.

Learning Experience:
Pipe lamps are nothing new, and there are plenty inspiring examples out there. But don't be fooled (as I was) for they require more planning and effort than the untrained eye my perceive .
For starters, be ready to do some cleaning. These pipes are not designed to sit in your household and rub against your everyday attire. Not to say that you should be rubbing against your lamps, but if you plan on building something like a coat rack, be sure to clean those greasy pipes.
Growing up, I was a big fan of Jigsaw Puzzles, Lego Technic and Erector Sets, so naturally, I expected the same easy assembly from the pipes. But boy was I wrong! Even with a pipe-wrench I could hardly get it screwed in half way. And not to mention the nightmares of trying to align everything to fit my precious designs and sketches.
Finally, the wiring was no walk in the park either. I had first assembled most of the lamp's major parts thinking that I would be able to slide the wires in. It was working out great until I got to the elbows. I couldn't simply push the wire through like I had with the straight pipes. I had to disassemble the elbows, insert the wires, compensate for the twisting of the wires from screwing on the elbow and on to the next pipe.

I am proud to say that Mr Pipe Lamp it happily residing in its new home for the past 9 months without incident. I check up on it every now and them to make sure it is well fed and groomed.
I enjoy building these side projects because they remind me that if we are passionate and driven by something, and we put our minds to it, there is very little that can prevent us from achieving it.