Douglas G Clarke

Lamp number four in the #tequilalamp series has another side to it. On the backside I did a traditional laser cut 1800, at least traditional for me. For this lamp I selected an 1800 Tequila Silver bottle. The shade has the same angles as the bottle and I think the rations are good. This is the smallest of the four lamps I’ve made, standing total of 17.5 inches tall.

Unlike all the other lamps I’ve done, almost all of the light comes down onto the table top. This might actually make a good bar light.

Lamp number four in the tequila lamp series was inspired by my friend sandee baker (sandee baker on Instagram) – this is the second thing she has inspired me to do – you’re great. The idea for this lamp was to use very thin wood so that the light behind it would cause it to glow. I went to Rockler and looked through all the #veneer. I wonder what the the people working there though as I held my phones light to the back of the wood to see which one looked best? I picked the Redwood Burl Veneer. I lasercut the frame and then used #laseretching on the veneer to #etch in the 1800 (which is visible when the light is off and barely visible when its on). I really like the way the redwood’s texture is shown. For this lamp I selected an #1800tequilasilver bottle. The shade has the same angles as the bottle and I think the rations are good. This is the smallest of the four lamps I’ve made, standing total of 17.5 inches tall. I went with the smaller 750ml bottle, both because it was smaller so there was less #tequila to drink and becasue the 6.5 inches wide and 12 inches tall.

For the third tequila lamp in the series, I went tall. I found the tallest tequila bottle I could fine, 13 inch, and then created a lasercut shade that is also 13 inch tall. Because of its height, I felt the need to find an extra tall bulb, 11.5 inch. The actual design was straight forward, with the only tricky part being a two diameter mounting piece to hold the shade onto the bottle. It was hard to finish the lamp and have to wait for the bulb to come. Heart break yesterday when I opened the box and found out that they sent me the wrong size bulb (base is two big so I can’t screw it in). The Corralejo tequila bottle is interesting, with what looks like a yoke embossed on the glass and the lable cut away so it shows.

For my second tequila lamp, I spent some time looking for the right bottle and then emptying it. I wrote about the whole process in my monthly newsletter (Issue 95 – July 2017). The lampShade is very small compared to most shades to lamps. It’s shape is the same as the bottles. It’s made from a Camarena tequila bottle. Except for the light coming out of the sunburst, all of the light comes out the sides and tom. The pieces of the shade are only held together at the bottom so it makes continuous strips on the ceiling.

For the last two months, I’ve focused my attentions once again on lamps. Here is the first lamp I made from a Jose Cuervo tequila bottle. It’s story is quite simple, I had just emptied the bottle, was looking for a project and imagined the lamp shade that would go on it. The hard part about the project was cutting the paper to go inside the shade (and getting it in there). Because the shade as a arced shape the paper is not just a cone. It has an LED Edison Bulb in it.

 

My 92nd newsletter is up and is about writing stories in a brighter future. It is a collection of story ideas where scientific advancements are either good things or just the background for the story, not the bad guy.

Please take a look and let me know which story idea is your favorite.

Issue 92 – April 2017

I was talking with a co-worker last week about binge watching shows on Netflix. I was commenting on how Netflix is releasing whole seasons of their original shows at one time and how that encouraged binge watching. He was commenting on how he was almost done with season four of a show that he’s been watching way to much of, but he would describe it as regret, but more like binge mourning because he only had a couple of episodes left and then he wouldn’t know what to watch.

I took these two ideas and wrote a short story for my newsletter this week. I’d like to know:

Do you binge watch? How many in a row do you consider a binge?

What show have you been binge watching?

Do you feel regret or mourning when you finish, or something else?

Do you think Netflix should add a user preference like: Only let me watch __ episodes on a row?

I hope you enjoy the story

Doug

Here is the newsletter

I Saw an Edison lamb built into a piece of wood on Instagram that I liked. I though it was cool and decided to make my own version. Since the lamp does not have a cover, I built in a dimmer switch.

Here is what it looks like off.

And here it is with the bulb at its lowest level. It is a dimmable LED bulb so it doesn’t use much power, won’t break easily, and it is cool so I don’t have to worry about the wood getting too hot.

The piece of wood is from a branch that broke off our carrotwood tree. I cut it to size and polished the top. There are two holes; one for the bulb and one for the dimmer.

In the bottom I had to carve out a place for the dimmer and a slot to run the wires. I then used a router bit in my drill press to cut out the rectangle so I can put a 1/8″ plywood cover on it.

I stained the wood with an oak stain and then sealed it. I turned the knob out of the same wood. Here you can see the difference in color between the bare wood and the stained and sealed wood.

All in all a successful project. It took me too long make to be something I could sell, at least for a price I think people would pay. And as my son told me, the knob is off center.

So, how much would you pay for a lamp like this?

With Christmas and New Years over I decided to look forward to another holiday when I was thinking about my next laser cutting project.

It starts with a plan. In this case I took the drawing the I created for my Christmas candle, delete the tree and added some hearts. I created three different patterns.

Then I cut some of the boards that I’m recycling from old blinds to the correct length (enough to make one candle and still fit in the laster cutter)

Laser Cutting is the next step. It takes about two and a half minutes to cut out each candle holder. You can also see that it takes the whole width of the blind.

With the pieces all cut out, including the four pieces of red tissue paper all that is left is to glue it all together.

Here are the three prototypes. Which means …

… ready to go into production.

Happy Valentine’s Day a month early.

Doug

Another lamp, but this one is designed to be a desk lamp. I made a base on it – to hold the lamp fixture – and ran the cord out the back.

I found two public domain vector images of birds. I used on large on the top of each face and etched both of the bird in the base. The light is a full sized LED bulb and has pink paper infant of each cutout.

The lamp puts out a lot of light upwards.

Material costs

• $16 Two sheet of plywood
• A little stain
• A little glue

Toal material cost $16

Labor costs

6 hours non-recurring

1 hour of recurring