Lamp Construction

Here are some pictures from the construction of my second streampunk lamp.

The top part of the lamp. The bulbs will be series-wired, so they're dim enough to not need a shade, and the wiring will pass through from one side of the top to the other.

A serendipitous discovery inspired this lamp - regular bulbs intended for concealed lighting are a nice snug fit inside 15mm plumbing connectors.

I couldn't resist these curvy pieces - had to find a place for them somewhere in the lamp.

The centre column is primarily structural, but it also ensures the top casing is earthed. At the moment the stopcock isn't functional - wish I could find a dimmer small enough to fit.

I could have soldered these lower joints, but you need to be able to take it all apart to thread the wiring.

Laying out the pieces for the base. Soldering gives the copper a lovely mottled look.

First assembly - it all fits, but still no wiring inside.

The most troublesome part was figuring how to make the electrical connectors to the bulbs. The result is somewhat Heath-Robinson, involving rubber tap washers, some screws, some slightly modified plastic wall plugs, and lots of insulating tape. Lots of care needed here to avoid killing someone - the connectors need to be physically robust and electrically insulated from all the metal tubes.

The connector is very strong - you can pull hard on the wire and it won't come out. But it needs further insulating before inserting into the tube.

These tap washers are a perfect fit to the connector.

The lower connectors are pretty much the same.

Threading the cables was a serious pain. Note the earth cable pop-rivetted to the centre pipe to ensure everything is really well grounded.

Final wiring. Those terminal blocks need additional insulation before being inserted into the tubes..

And the end result.