February 25, 2009
Steampunk Lamp

A few weeks ago, I saw a post on Boing Boing about steampunk lamps. I liked them and decided to build one for myself.

I used an old wooden cigar box, a few ceramic bulb mounts, a rheostat and few other odds and ends. I did get a little fancy and paint the ceramic mounts with textured copper paint. The wiring was trivial, but I got a chance to use an Underwriter's Knot.

There's a lot more steampunk I could have thrown at it, but I like the simplicity of this.

I used two 60 watt bulbs, so it can get quite bright. It's much more pleasant at a lower light level.

Here is a short video of the steampunk lamp in action.


Steampunk Lamp from Michael Pusateri on Vimeo.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with it now, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Posted by michael at February 25, 2009 07:20 PM



Comments

I really like that ornate knob. The whole thing is pretty cool, actually.

Posted by: lomara [http://blog.lomara.org/] on February 25, 2009 8:01 PM

I bet this lamp is featured on tonight's episode of Lost. They are able to travel back in time and steal other people's ideas you know....

Posted by: Sanjay Sabnani [http://www.crowdgather.com] on February 25, 2009 8:04 PM

OMG. My mom and I both exclaimed, "I want one!"

Posted by: Rachael [] on February 25, 2009 9:01 PM

I can't believe the timing of this. I followed the link from Boing Boing. We've made almost the same lamp ( http://tinyurl.com/cigarbox ) for a teen craft event at the San Diego library on 2/26. Teens will get to make their own lamp to take home and we are hoping to spawn a bunch of jr. makers out of it. Here's to more kids playing with electricity!

Posted by: Ingred [http://machinafatalis.blogspot.com] on February 26, 2009 1:43 AM

Do you want to sell it? I want it! Nice work man!

Posted by: onestoploser [] on February 26, 2009 8:33 AM

Forgot to add: Email me and let me know if it's buyable.

Posted by: onestoploser [] on February 26, 2009 8:35 AM

It's elegant and beautiful. Really one of the more tasteful executions of the Steampunk aesthetic I've seen. Good Job!

Posted by: Austin [http://amildsnafusis.blogspot.com] on February 26, 2009 10:07 AM

if that could make an eerie humming noise, it would be cool.

Posted by: kp [] on February 26, 2009 10:52 AM

Nice work!

Posted by: Bribo [http://www.flickr.com/photos/bribo] on February 26, 2009 6:33 PM

It is always so much fun to read your posts.

Posted by: Mom [http://momonthealert.com] on February 26, 2009 8:54 PM

you are amazing..

Posted by: yee [] on February 27, 2009 2:31 AM

Very nice!But personally I'd have hidden the writing on top of the box(or mounted the lights and switch so it would have been part of the design)

Posted by: Arno [http://www.arnobrosi.com] on February 27, 2009 9:59 AM

I know of a poker-dome where it would look very nice, indeed...

Posted by: Ken [] on February 27, 2009 10:29 AM

Hey, can you post a simple circuit diagram of the lamp? Or a picture of the insides? I am trying to figure out how big a rheostat you would need to take a 60 Watt or greater load. Thanks!

P.S. feel free to email me if you don't want to post it.

Posted by: the_wakeful [] on March 3, 2009 8:50 PM
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