Nickbee

Time for a new project! Actually this is a project I had in mind since I picked up woodworking as a serious hobby a few months ago. The idea is a rail /stile / glass accent lamp. The design is a rectangular cube (I’m not sure if there is such a thing, but that’s what I’m calling it).

Here’s what each of the 4 sides will look like sketched out on internet graph paper:



And the top view (note the exposed joints):



The only thing missing from the sketch up are some kind of feet. But I’ll figure those out based on the kind of socket / cord I end up using.

This project present a few firsts for me. It will be the 1st time I’m mixing together wood, glass and electricity. Luckily I have a background in electronics, so that part will be easy.

Unlike my previous rail / stile projects the panels (in this case glass) will not be trapped in groves of the rails / stiles. The idea will be to make “picture frames” that the glass can be adhered to from behind after the wood framework is complete and finished. My guess is that clear silicon should work well for this. If anyone has any suggestions please chime in.

For illumination I want to stick with some kind of LED bulb. My two concerns are light disbursement and heat build up. The lamp will be completely enclosed once its done. So the idea of an incandescent lamp burning away scares me.

So far this is the best candidate I’ve found for a bulb:

http://www.imtra.com/product/marine_...d42led12vw.htm



I’m open to suggestions as 36 bucks is a little steep. But with a 40,000 hr life expectancy it might outlive me! I’ll pick up a socket for this thing at my local electronics store and wire up a 12V adaptor.

Here’s a sample of the glass cut up and ready to go:



I’m fortunate enough to have a great glass shop 10 minutes away from me in Rockaway, NJ. They were very helpful and cut the glass to my specifications very accurately. If I continue to work with glass in the future I’ll get the necessary tools to cut this stuff myself. BTW the square top piece is cut too large. My original design was for a cube, but that would have ended up being too large. I’ll visit the store one of these days to have it trimmed to the proper size for this design.

For wood I’m going to stick with cheapo Home Depot poplar (¾” x ¾”). If things go well with this prototype I’ll spend some more cash on wood and make a purpleheart / purple glass lamp. But the lighter poplar I picked out should contrast well with the glass:



The 1st step will be to cut out all the sticks and prep them for routing. Stay tuned for more!

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Visteonguy

Hi Nickbee, I think that would make an interrresting lamp,,, I just looked on EBAY for,,,,, LED Tail light bulb,,,,,, and there were a lot of different ones,, some cost as much as you quoted,,, some were cheaper,, of course,, they maybe had less LED's,, but you could put maybe a couple of them in there,, and maybe have them different colors,,, A friend of mine was restoring an antique Ships telegraph,, and it had white glass sides with the words slow, slow ahead. stop, back slow,, and what ever else it had on it,,, but the thing was he was lookin for an easy way to light the inside and also to eliminate the heat problem of an enclosed bulb in there,, he ended up using a lenth of rope lights,,,, he just bundled the lenght of rope light and put it in there and plugged it in,, and it actually looked very nice,, so thats what he went with,,
There are lots of ways of solving that problem,, looking forward to seeing what you ended up with,, ,,,,,,,,, nice idea,,,

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Terry

It seems like every where I go,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, there I am...

challagan

Looking forward to seeing the progress here. Interesting project!

Corey

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My Carving Website: The Iowa Woodcarver
http://iowacarver.tripod.com/

My Shop Website - Woodshop 51503
http://woodshop51503.tripod.com/

Nickbee

Ya most of the LED lamps I found where "directional". The bulb will be mounted to some kind of base so it needs to project light all around and towards the top. So far this is the only bulb I've found that fits the bill. And I figured if it's good enough for high end yachts then it should be good enough for my lamp ...

Visteonguy

Yes, Nickbee, I know what you are talking about, as far as directional. But they had the same type of design that you posted, and others that were variations of that design. They were capable of projecting light 360 degrees. Its just that they gave you a few more options, not that you would save a lot of money there,,,but some were cheaper.

Or one more thought,, you could just get a bag of leds of what ever color you want,, and solder up your own light,,, making it with as many as you want,, you can buy LED's for pennys apeice... That would be your cheapest route...

I just did a quick search and you can buy em from this guy starting just a tick under 4 cents each.


http://www.hebeiltd.com.cn/?p=z.pricelist.led.diode

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Terry

It seems like every where I go,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, there I am...

Nickbee

Thanks for the idea Vis! I now have a few options to contemplate before ordering anything in a few days!

Ok time to talk a bit about dimensions. The final length of the corner stiles will be 7.25” but I will cut them a bit oversized. I learned the hard way that it is easier to bring the end grain of a stile flush with the length of a rail than the other way around. So I will purposely overshoot each side by about 1/16” then sand flush after glue up. The center stiles will be 6.25”. The allows for ¼” tenons on each end. The top and bottom rails will be 4.25” 3.75” of the rails will be visible and each end will get a ¼” tenon to attach to the corner stiles. The idea is we’ll have an alternating ¾” strips of glass and wood going all around the lamp. That’s the plan at least.

After cutting all the sticks on my table saw I kiss each end on my mini disc sander:



This allows me to square up the ends and fine tune the length of each stick so they are consistent:



Length consistency is key here. That is what will ensure the lamp goes together square with no gaps in the joinery.

A quick mock up shows things look good at 90 deg:



Here are all the sticks ready for the router. 4 corner stiles, 8 center stiles and 8 rails (top and bottom):



Next stop, the router table…

Nickbee

Time to get groovy, that is cut some groves in these sticks. For this I break out my 7/32” three winged slot cutter by Whiteside:



The bearing is for show as the fence will be setting the cutting depth. 7/32” is the standard size for 1/4” plywood but it will also make a good tenon size for this project. I set the fence depth to ¼” and raise the bit 1/8” off the table. That will make the expose wood “lip” in front of the glass 1/8”. I set up my feather boards and it’s time to start cutting:



After a few passes the corner stiles are cut and ready to go (expect for some notching they will need later):



Next I cut the top and bottom rails. After a few passes they have the “lip” of the frame cut:







To tell you the truth I did not sketch or plan this out at all. I’m kinda winging it. I’ll cut the tenons next on these pieces then a grove will have to be cut in the top rails for the top square of glass. I’ll do this after cutting the tenons to avoid tear out (a lesson I learned for a previous project).

Next I cut the center stiles. The 1” wide glass strips will be exposed ¾” between the center stiles. I set the depth of cut to 3/16”. This should translate to 1/16” wiggle room on either side of the glass once the box is assembled. A few passes and the frame is cut:







So far so good (I think). Next I will cutting the tenons in the rails and tabs in the center stiles. Stay tunned for more!

challagan

Your making some great progress Nick. Nice work on the rails etc. Great photos as usual.

Corey

__________________
My Carving Website: The Iowa Woodcarver
http://iowacarver.tripod.com/

My Shop Website - Woodshop 51503
http://woodshop51503.tripod.com/

Nickbee

Thanks Corey!

I had a thought that the base of the “T” on those center stiles might cast some shadows on my glass. I’m going to trim them down somehow tonight. Also I’m thinking about making the frame of the lamp black. Not painted black but some kind of dye so you can still tell its wood. Something I need to think about this week so I can try some samples.

Nickbee

Time to cut the “tabs” on the center stiles. For this I break out my coping jig / sled. Here you see the work piece clamped in with a backer to prevent tear out:



And it’s ready for the router table. The upside down feather board works as a stop:



A few seconds later the “tab” is cut:



Since I have the patience of a three year old I have to do a quick mock up of a frame / glass once I have two stiles cut:



Everything lines up nice and square and the joints look good:



Looking at the back of the mock up you can see my concern with the base of the Ts on the stiles:



The bulb will be projected from the center of the lamp and I could see these casting some uneven shadows on the glass. I get back to the router table and after a few passes with the slot cutter they chopped down to the same level of the glass:





Granted I sacrificing some glue area but these things will not be under any stress so it’s not a huge concern. At least now I know shadows won’t be an issue on these pieces.

Here’s an update on a few other things. Going off a recommendation I’m going to give Solar-Lux dye a try (jet black). I have it on order along with the retarder. Any experiences you guys can share would be appreciated along with recommended top coats for a low sheen finish.

I put the LED bulb on order along with a socket (from a yachting web site) . I also put a touch switch kit on order from here:

http://www.amazing1.com/simplex.htm

This will allow my to place a piece of metal somewhere on the lamp to be used as an on-off switch. And since it runs off of 12VDC like the bulb it will be perfect. I’ll get a 12 converter and run it to the lamp for everything. That should keep things safe.

Next I cut the tenons in the top /bottom rails.