Assignment
This week’s assignment: create an enclosure surrounding something. I made a lamp – an enclosure surrounding a light bulb.
Thinking about my Philippine heritage theme for fabrication, I was inspired by Filipino parols, which are star lanterns commonly displayed throughout the Philippines during the Christmas season, and capiz shells, used to make parols but are also often part of windows, doors, and other decorative products. I’ve also been following a secondary theme of making housewares, so I felt that making a lamp would fit right into my object family.
Materials and Process
I knew I wanted to utilize an exposed light bulb and a pack of square-cut capiz shells. I ordered a wiring kit for the bulb socket and utilized another part of the remaining poplar wood I have in the shop. I started out by making a square base from the 2x4 piece, but later, I cut the corners at an angle to create an octagon shape. I made sure to test out different bit sizes with the drill press to ensure that I had a good fit for the black plastic socket shell pieces – even making sure that I cut into the wood at different levels for the change in widths.
However, I didn’t realize I was fitting the shell into the base upside down until I started wiring the socket. This definitely served me a lesson in order of operations. I should've tried to assemble the wiring kit together before making the very thing that would enclose it.
From left to right: square capiz shells, a lamp wiring kit, and a vintage style LED bulb.
Testing out the size of the drill bit with the plastic bulb socket shell.
A photo of the lamp base with the bulb socket inserted as I thought it would fit – before I started wiring it and realized I had it upside down.
A close-up of the square-cut capiz shells to see their translucent texture.
Result
To my relief, the light bulb and switch itself all worked fine. However, the way I ended up positioning the bulb socket in the base meant that instead of the pieces fitting perfectly flush inside, it all stuck out. The light bulb wasn’t sitting securely in the opening. It was at this point that I began sketching out how I could attempt to make this base again. The lamp works and is fine for now, but there are some modifications and next steps that I want to get to:
Fabricate a new base that will house the entire bulb socket. This may require gluing two pieces of wood together.
Laser cut the capiz shells into small subway tiles and apply them to the base as a finish.
Change the rotary switch or add a dimmer to reduce the bulb’s brightness. (I also need to figure out how to restore the glass after getting a few scratches and too many of my fingerprints.)
Going back to the drawing board. When I realized the correct orientation for the socket, I tried to get a grasp of how I would have to drill the wood on my next attempt so that the light bulb could sit flush inside the base.
Let there be light – for now! My current lamp as is.