Claremont Designs

March 30, 2013
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Expanding the Size of a Single Bulb Edison Lamp

Started today to build a new single bulb Edison lamp. This one will be a little unique. It’s still going to be square still, but this one will approach 6.5″ square. In theory this isn’t a big deal, but the challenge is related to my bandsaw. I have a pretty nice bandsaw, but it’s resaw capacity is just shy of 6″. In order to make the top of the lamp, I need to resaw a board to get the 1/4″ thick top board. Technically I could just plane a board all of the way down the the right thickness, but that just seems like a complete waste of lumber. Fortunately, I was able to make this work by keeping the sides of the lamp a little thicker than normal. The thinking is that the outside dimension of the lamp is 6.5″ square. If you use lumber that is 3/4″ thick, then the interior dimension of the lamp is only 5″ (6.5″ – .75″ -.75″). From there you need to add back about 5/16″, so that it will be able to rest inside the groove for the top.

After a lot of math and woodworking, I was able to get the lamp into the clamps. The first photo shows the sides of the lamp before it’s pieces are cut to length. My goal is to always get the lamp out of a single board. By using a single board, you can have the grain wrap around the piece. Unfortunately, I had to use a different section of the board for the thin top piece. The lumber just wasn’t thick enough to get it out of the same section of lumber. When I get it out of the same board, I at least attempt to match the top to the front of the lamp. When it works properly, you get a top that is bookmatched to the front. The second photo shows the lamp after the dovetails have been cut. It’s been a long time since I’ve used the 7 degree dovetail bit, but with my jig it’s necessary for stock this thick. Hopefully, soon I’ll have a post on this site that isn’t just WIP…

March 29, 2013
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Aligning the Various Holes to Make an Edison Lamp

Over the course of 36 hours, I had 8 visits to 6 different Lowe’s and Home Depot locations. Either these two stores have stopped stocking and selling the light sockets I need for my lamps… Or they just have horrible back end systems. Really they should have seen that these sockets have been flying off the shelf and it’s time to buy more. Of course maybe they have ordered, but they haven’t been stocked to the shelves. Regardless of their reason, it looks like the internet will have to be my supplier of the future. Maybe this rant is a function of how I think for my big boy job rather than what I do at Claremont Designs on the weekends; let me get back to the woodworking…

The last tricky part of building a lamp is aligning the hole for the brass nipple and the opening where the bulb screws into the socket. I’ve shown in the past where I fit a board into the top of the lamp base and then drill through both boards at the same time. I usually focus those posts on drawing a series of evenly spaced lines on the support board. This time I figured I would show the next step in the process. The photo below shows the moment before I drill through both boards. Basically, I drill all of the way through both boards, then increase the bit size and only drill through the support board. I then remove the support board and swap out bits so that i can cut the large hole that the bulb fits through. I need to buy a proper drill press to do this more effectively and efficiently. Until then I’ve been using my dedicated mortising machine. It works just as well, but it’s definitely time for a new toy in the shop.

March 27, 2013
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The Very Beginnings of a Walnut Single Bulb Edison Lamp

Just a week ago, I finally got an order for a single bulb Edison Lamp made from walnut. I’ve previously built single bulb versions out of koa and birdseye maple, but never walnut. And just a post or two ago I was bemoaning the end of my supply of walnut… But I do have enough left to build a single bulb version. In fact I’ve got enough stock to build at least 2 lamps. I’ll designate the nicest of the 2 finished lamps for the new customer and probably list the second one for sale as-is on my etsy store. The board I’m building the lamps from is probably 20″ long by 8″ or 9″ wide and maybe an inch thick. The photo below shows the lumber before any work is done to clean up the surfaces. Fortunately, I’ve worked from this tree long enough to know that it will look pretty nice.

In several of my prior posts I’ve talked about resawing the lumber to get the 1/4″ thick piece of lumber for the top of the lamp. To do that I need to first joint a face and edge of the lumber. I then run the board through my bandsaw with the jointed edge down and the flat face against the fence. If any real woodworkers ever read this I know that the fence on the bandsaw is not the best approach, but I’ve pulled the fence back to where the blade is. Essentially the board can float free beyond this point. It’s not the best setup, but I’ve been getting good results for some time. The picture below shows the face being resawn.

After that I did all of the other dimensioning so that I could finally move to cutting the dovetails. From that point the only difficult moment left is to cut the groove for the top board. I’ve learned the hard way (on several occasions) that if you aren’t careful you might cut the groove all the way through the end of a pin or a tail. In fact I’ve had to scrap a few lamps for that very reason. The first picture below shows how I approach this issue… Basically I clamp stop blocks on the front and backside of the cuts. They prevent me from cutting through the end of the boards. Once the stops are in place I drop the board on top of the router bit and make an initial cut. Once that is complete I can proceed as normal with the confidence that the stop blocks will prevent me from cutting too far.

I did have a new issue arise this time. I was almost done with the groove for the lamp top when I could hear that no cutting was taking place. It turns out that for one reason or another my router bit had sheared off. It’s not that it was an extremely costly piece to replace, but it was frustrating to have to run out one more time to the hardware store. The photo below shows the outcome of that incident.

Ultimately everything worked out and the piece made it to the clamps.. The clamps where it will sit until I can return to clean everything up before fit and finish.

March 22, 2013
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Lots of Coasters on the Way

During one of the last Edison lamp builds I ended up with walnut that was just a little thinner than I wanted. Actually it looked fine, but I didn’t know if it would be acceptable for a customer I’ve never met. Rather than risk upsetting a customer, I restarted the build of that lamp. But I ended up with this extra stock and nothing to do with it.

At the same time I have been making lots of drink coasters. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that each time I build a lamp I end up with extra 1/4″ thick stock. I’ve started turning that thin stock into drink coasters. In fact the current lamp I’m working on will produce over a dozen coasters. I probably have 60 coasters in inventory.

So ultimately I decided to turn the unused stock for an Edison lamp into an extra large coaster case. I’m guessing that it can hold over 120 coasters before it’s full. The coasters haven’t been flying out of the etsy store, so I might end up filling this case pretty quickly. The photo below shows the case after a first coat of finish; the odd red hue is courtesy of my space heater in the shop

March 19, 2013
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Chalking Up Another Walnut Edison Lamp

As soon as I finished the last walnut lamp it was time to turn around and build another one. The challenge is that I was out of any suitable walnut to build it out of. So a quick trip to the closest woodworking store was required. Unfortunately the only walnut they had in stock they referred to as “wide stock” or something to that effect. More importantly that meant that they were going to charge $9 a board foot for that lumber. For those that don’t know, a board foot is basically a cubic foot of lumber (1″ thick by 12″ wide by 12″ long). Similarly for those that don’t know, $9 is a lot for walnut. My last stack cost me around $3 a board foot. So after $54 for a 4/4 board 9″ wide and about 8 feet long it was off to the shop.

Once in the shop the first day of build followed a typical routine. I first selected the section of the board to use for the lamp and cut it to rough length. From there I needed to rip the board to an appropriate width. My jointer is only 8″ wide, so the 9″ wide board wasn’t going to work. More importantly if dealing with any cupping issues, you can get to a flat surface quicker if you start with a narrower board. Unlike my rough sawn lumber this piece was already surfaced on both sides (although not straight and flat). So before heading to the jointer, I’ve marked the boards with chalk to help check my progress (see photo below). The basic idea is that once all of the chalk is removed, I can be pretty confident that the lumber face is smooth and flat. After that its the same old process… Joint the edge; resaw a 1/4″ piece for the top at the band saw; rejoint the face and edge; run the boards through the planer; cut pieces to final dimension; then breakout the dovetail jig; cut the groove for the top board; sand the interior to 220; then glue the base up.

In this build the walnut was a hair narrower than I usually used so I switched over to the 14 instead of the 11 degree bits. The 14 degree bit is just a tiny bit too short (in my opinion). Consequently there was the smallest lip at the end of the cut. If you look really closely in the photo below, you might be able to see it. Not that big of a deal though – an extra couple of minutes of sanding before being able to glue the piece up. The base is sitting in the clamps now and will be ready for a lot of extra fit and finish next weekend.

March 9, 2013
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Finished Sapele and Walnut EdisonLamps

Just a quick post tonight to show the 2 most recently completed lamps… The walnut lamp was built for a customer and features my traditional Edison lamp design. On the sapele version I’ve switched over to a porcelain socket that doesn’t rise above the top of the lamp base. I really like the look of the bulbs being embedded in the base as a result. One of the sockets must be a tiny fraction of an inch below the surface of the top. As a result I had to really screw in one of the bulbs to get it to work… In the future I’ll have to ease the edges of the opening a bit more or make the top a bit thinner. I built this one to go on etsy and I think it will still go there, but I’ll definitely have to be very clear about how hard you have to screw down the one bulb…

March 3, 2013
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Lots of Sanding for 2 Edison Lamps and Almost 40 Coasters

Just a quick interim post here to update on the status of current projects. In the photo are two Edison lamps that are ready for final finish. The walnut lamp is being built for a customer. It is a pretty standard build. The only distinction is that this is the first chance I’ve had to build a 5 bulb version out of walnut. I’m sad to say that this lamp used up the last real amount of walnut that I’ve been working from. The other lamp pictured is made from sapele. It’s the first time I’ve worked with sapele and so far I’m happy with the results. There was a distinctive pattern on the board that I featured on the front of the lamp. Taking it one step further, the 1/4 inch top board is book matched to the front to further highlight the pattern. Finally in the front left you can see the stack of coasters ready for finishing. The coasters are great but trust me that it’s a lot of work to sand all 6 sides, break the edges and steel wool between 2 coats of finish. It’s a great use of my scrap lumber, but it sure is a lot of work to get a product that I’m happy with.

February 27, 2013
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Measure Twice, But No Cutting

The old adage of measure twice cut once is good advice. I have a tendency to measure twice and cut a lot of times (in certain circumstances it’s easier to cut a little oversized and slowly creep up on the final size with a series of small cuts). In the photo below is the other way I frequently measure twice. In this case I was trying to find the center point of a board. The board was a hair bigger than 34 7/8. Dividing 34 7/8 in half to get 17 7/16 isn’t too difficult. The issue is that “a hair” is definitely not a standard unit of measurement. So I could just mark 17 7/16 and then just move the mark a half a hair to the right and hope that I find that center point, or I can try a different approach to the measure twice adage. In this case I just measured 17 7/16 from one side and made a mark. Then I did the same thing once again but measured from the other side. The center point is right between the two marks.

February 24, 2013
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Not Always Sure What You’re Going To Get When Starting a Walnut Edison Lamp

I’m finally building a 5 bulb Edison lamp out of walnut. I’ve been wanting to do a walnut version for a while now, and thankfully I just got an order for one through my shop on etsy. I’ve been working off of the same stack of walnut for years now, so I have a fairly good idea of how it will look when dressed. If I hadn’t been working from this same tree, I would be flying blind. In the photo below, you can see the board I used to construct the case. The board on the left is rough sawn; I haven’t done anything to it yet. The board on the right has been passed over the jointer (both to expose the beauty of the walnut and to flatten one face / square one edge). Sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get until the lumber hits the jointer.

From there it was on to my normal sequence of planing, dimensioning, routing and assembling the case. I’m not going to detail those steps here, but there are plenty of other posts on this site that show those steps. Ultimately, I got to the point where the 2 boxes pictured below were ready for sanding. I decided I would add another lamp to the weekend build. Once you go through the steps to setup tools to build one, you feel like you might as well build a second one too. The box in the back is made from sapele. I’ve never worked with sapele before, but it seemed like I was getting a good deal on the lumber (and you can build an entire lamp from one board). Unfortunately, the photo isn’t the best… The ceiling light in my shop is not great, so the photo is overly lit by my space heater. As a result it’s hard to see any details or the colors of the lamps. Once I get to the finishing stages, all of the details will become clearer.

February 10, 2013
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Single Bulb Edison Lamps

Just a quick post here that is mostly photos oriented… While working on a 5 bulb Edison lamp for a customer, I also built some new single bulb versions. These don’t have homes currently, so they’ll sit in inventory unless someone wants to buy them. If you are interested, either contact me directly or just check out my shop on etsy.