How to Make a Lamp

Constructing a lamp is easier than you might consider. Specialty lamp parts stores like Antique Lamp Supply offer a variety of lamp making kits. Not only do these kits come in different finishes like brass, antique brass, and nickel, but there are different types of kits depending on the application you need. If you need a dimmer, 3-way, push thru or swag kit, they are all available.

To create a lamp you only need a few items: lamp base, lamp shade, and a Make-a-Lamp kit. The kit contains the socket, harp, harp saddle, threaded rods, finial, washers and nut. A few required hand tools include: flat head screwdriver and pliers.

As the included instructions show, the lamp cord is pushed up the lamp body and attached to the socket interior with a UL Knot.

In just a few minutes, the lamp is complete and ready to enjoy.

How to Create a Lamp from a Tin Canister with Decal

A customer brought in this canister the other day and wanted it to be made into a lamp. The can already had a 3/8 inch center hole in the top and bottom, so it was ready to be wired.

The first thing we do is gather all the lamp parts needed for the job: threaded rod, brass nuts, brass neck, harp base, lamp cord, and socket. For this lamp the customer wanted a heavy turned brass socket.

Now we plan for the lamp. Thinking about where the cord will exit the base and whether there is a front and back to this lamp. With the design on the canister, there is an obvious front so we want the cord to exit the back. We mark the spot on the can and carve out a notch.

Next we install the threaded rod through the canister. This canister has a shallow base and we need to make sure the nut and the cord will not stick out past the side walls on the base.

It is going to be a tight fit, but should work. The threaded rod is measured and cut to length. The bottom nut goes on first followed by the neck and the harp base.

Next the top nut is placed on the threaded rod and is tightened. We notice the top of the can is starting to bow a little with the pressure, so we plan to add a seating ring to widen the base of the neck and reduce the pressure point.

The seating ring is set between the canister and the neck. With the harp base correctly orientated to the front and back of the lamp the top nut is tightened. The socket cap is attached to the threaded rod. Note: These heavy brass sockets have a coupling holding the socket cap and shell together. The coupling must be on the lamp prior to the socket cap being attached.

The lamp cord is pushed through the threaded rod and a UL knot is tied. The cord is wired to the socket interior. The smooth wire connects to the brass screw and the ribbed wire connects to the silver screw. The cord slack is pulled back through the body of the lamp.

The socket shell is attached to the socket cap and a bulb is added for testing.

Nice! Total cost < $25.00 Total Time < 45 minutes

Tin Type Table Lamp with Shade Ring and Gallery Rewired

As we've seen over the years and even mentioned in this blog, lamps are made from everything. Some things are turned into lamps and other lamps are made to look like things. A customer brought in this patient the other day and it fits the later criteria. It appears to be a tin can but was probably always a lamp. The customer wanted this lamp rewired so it would be safe to use again.

Inspecting the lamp we notice the cord does not have polarized plug and the socket looks worn. The only lamp parts we will need to repair this lamp are the cord and socket. We start by blowing the dust off this lamp with a simple can of air.

We remove the socket key from the socket (it will be reused) and the felt from the bottom (also will be reused).

We push a little cord into the base of the lamp and remove the socket. Most of the sockets we encounter are the cap and shell type sockets. The socket is a little different. It connected to the lamp with a small metal hickey on the bottom and has a paper insulator on the top. The customer wanted the same style so we are going to replace the socket with another keyed phenolic style lamp socket with bottom hickey.

Using a pair of piers, the old hickey is removed from the lamp shaft. 

With the socket and wires removed it is a good time to tighten the lamp body.

This lamp has a gallery around the socket so the socket key has to line up directly in the key hole. Our replacement socket came with a hickey, but it is too tall so we are using the old hickey on the new socket. We test to make sure it will work and then put the lamp back together the same way it came apart. The hickey goes on by itself first.

With the new lamp cord, we tie a knot in the cord in the base of the lamp and add a plastic bushing to the threaded rod. The new lamp wire is pushed through the lamp. The socket is added and wired to the lamp cord. The smooth wire connects to the brass screw and the ribbed sire connects to the nickel screw. The socket is attached to the hickey. The socket key is attached and the paper insulator is replaced. 

The the cord slack is pulled back through the lamp and the knot in the base is adjusted. We add a bulb for testing. 

Great! The lamp is perfect. Total cost: < $15 Total Time: <30 minutes

For fun here is the lamp with a student glass shade.

Cleaning and Fixing a Crystal Table Lamp

Crystal is beautiful and makes a great material for lighting. For some reason (probably money) some crystals lamps were made with plastic necks. Necks are the pieces placed between the breaks. A break is a decorative part of the body of the lamp. This lamp is made up of base, neck, break, neck, break, neck, break, neck (from the bottom to the top). The old plastic necks have faded in color and look tarnished. Because they are plastic, there will be no polishing. We are going to replace them with brass necks. In addition to the necks, we will add a polarized lamp cord and a new threaded rod since the height of our lamp changed slightly with the new necks.

First we will need to disassemble the lamp. The socket shell is removed from the socket cap. The socket key is removed.

Cord slack is fed up the lamp body and the socket interior is removed from the cord.

The cord is pulled out of the lamp body.

With the cord out of the lamp, the socket cap is unscrewed from the threaded rod. The gallery and the shade ring are removed from the lamp.

The necks and breaks are removed from the lamp rod.

The parts are laid on the table in the order they belong on the lamp.

The breaks are washed with warm soapy water and some dish detergent. Since they are glass, they can be scrubbed. With all the parts ready and cleaned we begin to reassemble the lamp.

First we place a felt washer, flat washer and nut on the bottom of the new threaded rod.

The rod is then placed through the base of the lamp and put on the work table.

The new necks and clean breaks are placed back on the threaded rod in the order they belong.

The shade ring and gallery are placed back on the threaded rod. The socket cap is screwed back on the rod.

The lamp is placed on a level surface to make sure the shade ring and pieces are straight.

The shade ring needs some adjustment, so the socket cap is removed. The shade ring is adjusted by placing it on a level surface. With a screw driver the center washer is carefully bent back in place.

The shade ring and socket cap are re-installed and the lamp is tightened.

The new lamp cord is threaded through the lamp rod.

A UL knot is tied in the top of the cord it is attached to the socket interior. For polarity, the smooth wire goes to the brass screw and the ribbed wire goes on the nickel screw. The old socket insulator was worn and needed to be replaced.

The cord slack is pulled back through the lamp body so the socket interior is setting on the socket cap. The key is placed on the socket interior and the socket shell is snapped back in the socket cap. Tip: Galleries make the socket access a little challenging. It is always best to attach the key to the socket before snapping the shell into the cap so the key is in the correct position. 

The cord slack is tightened through the base. A few felt dots are added to the base of the lamp so the marble sits well on hard surfaces. 

A bulb is added and the lamp is tested. 

Crystal clear. Total Cost <$20  Total Time < 50 minutes