BOC box and more

Very Nice as always!

Wow

John K Jordan

The BOC box will be a star! Now I really want to come and take your painting class!

I wonder what Cindy Drozda would say about the banksia pod? Maybe send her the picture!

JKJ

Very nice and a question....

Barry Irby

I really like these. I am sure the Roanoke guys were glad to have you.

I just made some lamps for my granddaughters. Would you mind giving some dimensions? Height and diameter of the lamps, height of the harp and dimensions of the shade. I have no sense about what shade to buy, and that one looks good. Perhaps I can follow your lead. And to be even more of a pest, where did you get it?

Re: Very nice and a question....

john lucas

Buying the harp and shades can be tough. In this case the shade I picked goes on top of the lamp socket. I don't like that type but we have such a small market to buy things like that around here. I actually added the little Cherry piece that sort of looks like a candle after the fact. I had to remove the threaded lamp rod that I epoxied in and put a longer one in. The shade simply came down too far. By adding 2 1/2" to the height with the Cherry piece the shade sits about right.

I buy a lot of my lamp supplies at my local lamp store. (OK not that local it's in the next town but I've been dealing with them for about 15 years or more) When I make a lamp I often go buy and buy the harp and sometimes the shade from them. They tell me what size harp to get. Their shades are about double or triple what they are at places like Hobby Lobby and lowes and if I can afford it for that lamp I'll buy theirs because they are so helpful. Other than that it's kind of an educated guess as to what size shade to buy. And what color, style etc. I purchased this shade at Walmart because Lowes only had big and small ones and I felt this needed something in between.

I haven't measured this lamp but I"m guessing it's about 16" tall. I would prefer a more tapered shade that goes from maybe 8 to 10" and is about 8" tall.

Thanks....

Barry Irby

I have been somewhat amazed and amused at what these four lamps I made cost. It would have been cheaper to just buy some online. A friend suggested going to Good Will and buying lamps for a buck or two and robbing the parts off them.

You Epoxy the threaded pipe in at the top? A short nipple? I run the pipe all the way through.

I glue up the blanks and leave them hollow. I tried boring one and the bit came out the side. That was a long time ago. Maybe I need a lamp auger.

Thanks for the help.

Re: Thanks....

john lucas

There are tricks to boring lamps. I use a lamp auger and bore from both ends cleaning out the swarf very often. Another way is to drill about 4" or so into both ends with a drilll press or on the lathe. Then connecting those holes with a longer bit. With the lamp Auger the hole is just about 3/8". That means the lamp rod won't go all the way through without drilling it with a larger bit of a size a little bigger than 3/8". I don't have one of those so I just glue in short pieces of lamp rod. Saves you money in the long run. Getting the wire through can be challenging. I suck a string through using a vacuum cleaner. Then tie the wire to the string and tape the tip so it's tapered. Then it's usually not a problem.

Sometimes you can get lamps at flea mkts or Goodwill but most of the time the brass is worn through or tarnished pretty bad. Same with the shades. You are right. If I buy all the parts and shades from my lamp store it would be less expensive to buy a complete lamp at a discount store. Of course it doesn't have my shapes or finishes.

Re: Thanks....

mikeee12345

One of the more precise methods used for drilling center holes in wood lathe turned items is to use a drill chuck mounted in the tail stock and drill the hole slowly so you do not run the drill bit off center. Drilling into a hard knot in the wood can easily send the drill bit in a different direction. Drilling from both directions and meeting somewhere in the middle usually resolves the issue of having a hole in the center at both ends of the wood turned piece. It is difficult on longer pieces to drill the entire length from one direction, the drill bit will quite often come out the other end not in the center. I have some extra long drill bits for drilling these types of holes but I usually start off using a shorter drill bit that has less flex in the shaft and transition to the longer drill bit after I bottom the shorter drill bit out.

Re:  Nice Job & cute Rodent

jake niedling

John - nice lamp and BOC box. The rodent is cute as can be and made me laugh. Thanks for that. Now how did you get the cloud paint on the brick/block shapes of the BOC box? I assume it was masked off. Hope to see these pieces Wednesday nite at the club meeting.

Re:  Nice Job & cute Rodent

john lucas

Yes it was masked off. I used the Green Frog tape. It was challenging cutting through the double layers where the pieces overlap. I will have to see if I can find some of the flexible masking material or experiment more with the paint on masking. This worked however and is readily available. Took a little while to cut out all those squares and when peeling them off after painting to get ready for finishing I missed 2 and didn't notice until after the first finish spray.

I hope to have another piece done to bring Wednesday if I can get all the steps done. Turned it last night and will work on the masking and painting today.