Making a Lamp from a Globe

A customer brought in a globe the other day and wanted to make it into a lamp. With the right lamp parts, anything is possible.

Our parts list includes:

4 feet of black PVC cord:

46617C - Black PVC 2 wire Medium Duty Cord

Black Phenolic on/off Lamp Socket:

47684 - Turn-Knob On/Off Phenolic Socket

2 Inch Threaded Rod:

22350 - 2" Long, 1/8 IP Steel Nipple

Some lock nuts:

22702 - Plated Steel Lock Washers, 1/8 IP slip

Regular Washers:

22721 - 1" Regular Duty Steel Washer, 1/8 IP slip

Canopy with kit: 

11778BK - Satin Black Modern Shallow Canopy Kit

Grip Cord Bushing: 

26922 - Black Cord Grip Bushing

Pulley Cord Bushing:

26920 - Off-White Pulley Lamp Cord Bushing

Black Bushing Cap: 

26901 - Black Bakelite (plastic) Cord Bushing, Tap 1/8F

Now we are ready to get started. First, we want to remove the globe hardware.

Using a utility knife we cut along the 45th parallel south.

Then we clean up the edge with some light sandpaper. 

Using the hole where the hardware connected to the North Pole we place the threaded rod and reinforce it with some washers. The black bushing cap goes on the top of the rod. 

Next, we thread in the cord. It goes through the rod and through the socket cap. The socket cap threads on the rod. 

The PVC exterior is stripped back to expose the two internal wires. A UL knot is tied in the wires. The wires are stripped and attached to the socket interior. For polarity the black wire attaches to the brass screw and the white wire connects to the nickel screw. 

The cord slack is pulled from the top of the globe and the socket interior sits inside the socket cap. The phenolic shell screws on top of the socket interior.

Next, we work on the canopy. We didn't want to lose Antarctica, so it will be a canopy cover. First, we need to push the cord through our pulley bushing and then the hole in the cut off globe piece. 

Next, the cord is threaded through the canopy loop and then the hole in the center of the canopy. Since the PVC wire is reinforced we will not use a chain but will secure the cord at the top of the canopy with a grip bushing. 

Next, we connect the rest of the canopy kit to the canopy. 

This is a whole new world! Total Cost <$15.00 Total Time < 1 hour