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.
I really like that ornate knob. The whole thing is pretty cool, actually.
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….
OMG. My mom and I both exclaimed, “I want one!”
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!
Do you want to sell it? I want it! Nice work man!
Forgot to add: Email me and let me know if it’s buyable.
It’s elegant and beautiful. Really one of the more tasteful executions of the Steampunk aesthetic I’ve seen. Good Job!
if that could make an eerie humming noise, it would be cool.
Nice work!
It is always so much fun to read your posts.
you are amazing..
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)
I know of a poker-dome where it would look very nice, indeed…
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.