Some of you have requested to know how I built the steampunk lamp. It's really fairly simple.

I used a simple household dimmer (aka rheostat) in line with two light bulbs in parallel. I glued the dimmer in place and used a little duct tape to hold it in place while the glue dried. The most difficult part was shaving down the shaft of the dimmer to fit into the knob, which is actually a drawer pull. I got a snug fit and then used cyanoacrylate (Krazy Glue) to permanently fix it.

The the power cord enters the box, you can see the Underwriter's knot I used to prevent the cord being yanked out. The rest of the wiring is trivial with wire nuts.

Here is the circuit diagram for those purists. I think my symbols are right, but it's been a while since I've drawn a schematic.

Hopefully this answers your questions.