by hook or crook it lights the spot

Shepherd’s crook light

A new light, this one can serve as a reading light or as an accent light as well. The base is a block of machined 1/4 inch thick aluminum set in a Pear wood rectangle. The light source(s) is a group of LEDs. I just grabbed the first chair that came to hand; it probably would look better with one of my modern chairs.

new sculpture/light

Living as I do in a major earthquake zone, it’s a little hard to get too excited today about miniatures while thinking about the tragedies in Japan. Who knows when it will be our turn.
None the less, I still have to make a living, so here’s a variation on a theme. My client asked me to make all the columns on this sculpture under-lit, and as the customer is always (well, usually) right, I modified the piece. Of course that also meant I needed to create a new base to accommodate the additional electronics.The piece is about 2.5 inches (6 cm) tall.

My closing though today is from John Donne
- MEDITATION XVII  circa 1624 from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

new month - new light design

sort of shows how it lights the work area

close-up to show details

Working hard to avoid finishing other projects I spent a little time to design and make this desk lamp. In my entirely unbiased opinion it’s kind of cool. The base is aluminum, LED light source - about an inch (.25cm) tall - I haven’t measured it yet.

Is “quoting“ my photos a complement?

I had a cheap laugh today. I was doing some research on furniture by Paul Frankl, on the internet, and what did Google turn up? Sites like antique stores and auction houses using my photos(unattributed of course) of MY furniture, based on Paul Frankl originals, but not the same, as photos of actual Frankl furniture. I guess that’s flattering!?

another light “thing”

About 5 inches (12 cm tall)

the bench is 5 inches or 12 cm long

Well, I have continued my exploring with light piping. This time I wanted to se the effect of twisting a square  length of acrylic would do to light patterns. It does work in interesting ways, although again capturing it for the web is tricky. I’ve also added a photo of it beside a bench that is headed to the Kruger collection at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I must say I feel pretty good about that!

new lights - sculptures

Well, no one else makes them like this.

I decided it was time to get creative again (easier to do when there is no order back-log) and I started designing new lights that really are sculptures. The first one, which is about 3 inches (7.5 cm) tall, is the subject of the photos. The drawback to the lights is that they are extremely hard to photograph and successfully convey how they look “live“. The bottom of the base is illuminated.

here it is beside one of my Morris chairs - for scale - with additional light

rotated 180 degrees

turned 90 degrees (more or less)

other end, from a higher angle.

out from under the backlog

I've more or less finally got completely up-to-date on my orders, so now I get to create new things again. One new light that was part of the order backlog was a plant stand with an illuminated top. After a couple of false starts I decided on a simple rectangular column of aluminium and painted wood with a translucent top. I think it came out quite respectably. It's about 3 inches  (7.6cm) tall and the light source is an LED.

finally - some updates - making a lamp

One of the problems with modern designs is that a lot of the work that goes into making something that looks clean and sleek is not visible. I was making a couple of lights today for an order and took some photos of part of the process - making the base.

Here's a shot of  one I made several years ago
and here are some of the steps to make one: I left out the trivial ones like hack-sawing through 1/2 inch (12.5mm) aluminium bar and cutting the acrylic tubing. Clicking on any photo should enlarge it.

smooth ends

centre drill hole for wires

enlarge hole and drill through base

turn shoulder on base so acrylic tube will fit snugly, but won't split if the aluminium expands with the heat of the light or changes in room temperature. The acrylic also expands, but at a different rate.

test fit and turn some more

clean up the exterior

on my mill, mill channel for power cord so base will sit flat

now just assemble the LED electronics and they're done. If you look REALLY closely you can see the groove in the base of the right hand light.

 nothing to it! I wish

crunch time

I' m getting ready for a workshop and being reminded just how many parts go into nine roomboxes. The sawdust has generated has been impressive. When I get back from running the workshop I'll have some time to focus again on some new modern designs. I picked up some incredibly thin and badable plywood -0.8mm thin (that's less than 1/32 of an inch)! I should be able to get some great shapes for furniture bending and laminating that stuff.

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