Jump Start on Xmas Presents

[FrankEV]

While I live in Florida, my son lives in North Carolina and my daughter lives on Long Island, New York.  So, visits, or getting together for Holidays, do not happen often.  I will see my son In October for Biketoberfest and my daughter in Joining us on a cruise to the Caribbean this November.   I decided I wanted to make them Xmas gifts I could package up for them to take home with them. I thought a version of a ‘Night Light Lamp’, similar to lamps I have made in the past, would be a good gift for both families. 

My box style construction technique that I have used previously is simple and straight forward.  Other than the Scroll pattern, all parts are cut and/or mitered on the Table Saw.  The scroll patterns were stack cut using Pegas #3 and #5 MGT R blades as well as Pegas #2/0 and #0 Spiral blades.  Rounding corners was done on my bench belt sander while most finish sanding was done using my Palm sanders and hand sanding as needed.   The Lamps were finished with multiple coats of Deft Clear Gloss Lacquer.      

I decided to make these lamps shorter than those I made previously, only 6 inches tall, with a simple scrolled base that is formed by the walls.  My design is based on a 5 1/2” square box with mitered corners, since 1/4” Red Oak from Lowes is available this exact width.  I did purchase some Bolivian Rosewood (from Ocooch) for the lamp I made for my son as a dark wood lamp will be more appropriate with their bedroom furniture while the Red Oak will work for my daughter. The Bolivian Rosewood is beautiful wood!  Both Lamps have a loose, 1/4” thick Matching Top with an underside “stopper” that keeps the top in place.  I chose to use 1/4" BB ply, stained to match, as the interior bottom piece for both strength and not wanting to waste the costly hardwood. 

The plans to make shorter lamps made the task of finding suitable patterns for these lamps a difficult task as, you all know, cutting any kind of intricate pattern at a reduced scale is a challenge.  Also, the pattern must be a self-framed positive image that allows the light to glow through the frosted Plexi behind the large open areas of the image. 

My daughter-in-law is a fanatic about Dragon Flies.  I had previously found a very suitable Dragonfly image I had converted into a Scroll Saw Pattern and had saved for a future project.  This Pattern became the initial motive to make Night Light Lamps in the first place.  Now just I needed to find something that worked for the lamp for my daughter.  After a lot of searching on-line, I found a very suitable stock image of a ‘Butterfly in a Garden’ that I purchased.  I was able to insert the round images into a the square spaces by adding the cut-out corners. 

For these (and future) lamps I purchased ‘MakerStock’ two-packs of 1/8” x 12” x 24” Transparent Orange Acrylic sheet and Frosted Lilac Acrylic sheet, from Amazon.  For the Transparent Orange, I glue Drawing Velum to the interior face to make it translucent (appears frosted).  I think the Orange worked well with the Bolivian Rosewood and the Frosted Lilac worked well with the Red Oak.  An important note here.  I found if I sized and mitered the Acrylic pieces to fit the interior box dimensions snugly, the pieces held themselves together and did not require any adhesive to keep them in place. 

And, of course, a lamp requires the electrical lamp parts, which I chose to purchase locally at Lowes.  However, for anyone that may choose to make these (or similar) lamps, I might suggest you search on-line (Amazon) to get better pricing. You can find the patterns for these two lamps in Pattern Exchange.  

I hope you may have enjoyed reading my detailed story above and, hopefully, did not get too bored.  Here are the pic of the Lamps and, as always, comments and critiques are welcome.

This pic was taken in dark with no extra lighting.  Fairly close to what they will look like when use as a night light.  If still too bright, the equivalent 7W LEDbulb can be replaced with an equalent 3W LED bulb. As seen, the Orange is brighter than the Lilac.

 

 

PS: Boy, close up photos reveal things you don't see in person.   Although I glued the stopper cross grain, there is still some warp in the Rosewood top.  Also, the corner joints of the Red Oak appear to be open slightly, but they realy aren't.

[daveww1]

beautiful work

[preprius]

Very nice.  The pattern is not too busy which makes the lamp look balanced. That is not too much light and still shows off the scrollsaw work you did. The bottom curves to add feet to the corners just adds to the overall eligance.  That is not just a box. 

For next versions, Is there something you can do with the top to make it not just a square lid and remove possible warping? Would allowing light coming through the top be distracting? 

Me.

Mark Eason

 

[FrankEV]

2 hours ago, preprius said:

... Is there something you can do with the top to make it not just a square lid and remove possible warping? Would allowing light coming through the top be distracting? 

I don't think allowing light through the top works for me. 

Half inch material would probably eliminate the warping also but may look too heavy. 

I'm thinking a decorative pinnacle that has a similar curved pattern to the botton added like a cross (+) to the 1/4" top would stop any warp.  I need to play with the idea on the computer.  It is not to late to add something on these lamp tops if it looks good.

[TAIrving]

Those are really nice Frank.  I like the patterns and your renditions are beautifully done.  

My daughter loves butterflies and I might have to do one of those for her.  But I do not care for red oak and will have to use some other wood for hers.  

[Charlie E]

Very nice work! I see no flaws but when I look at my things after posting, the zoomed images always show up flaws I didn’t notice. Then when I look at it it’s the first thing I notice.

[FrankEV]

7 hours ago, TAIrving said:

Those are really nice Frank.  I like the patterns and your renditions are beautifully done.  

My daughter loves butterflies and I might have to do one of those for her.  But I do not care for red oak and will have to use some other wood for hers.  

Yep, maybe Maple or Aspen!

I liked the Lilsc Plexi, but there are many other colors.  A bright Pink might be a good choice. 

Don't forget, if the Plexi is transparent, you need to apply the drawing velum to the inside face, or you are able to see the light bulb and socket.

[MarieC]

Frank, that is really impressive and a lot of work!  Great job. 

[namunolie]

Awesome work!!

[Dak0ta52]

Beautiful pieces, Frank.

[FrankEV]

6 hours ago, MarieC said:

Frank, that is really impressive and a lot of work!  Great job. 

These projects are not as much work as they might appear. 

Yes, the scroll saw images are delicate, but stack cutting makes the cutting time rather quick. Esch pattern was stack cut in one sitting in under 3 hours.  The use of spiral blades does speed up the cutting also.  The table saw work and assembly needs to be carefully done and in the corrrect order to avoid errors in the fit up.   Strap clamps make the glue-up easy, but glue drying takes time...but not much work.   

If the wood is presanded, final sanding is minimal and a lacquer finish is easy-peasy...spray/dry/spray/dry, repeat as needed to get a nice smooth finish.  Sanding between coats is unnecessary.

So, these Night Light projects are a little time consuming, but, really, not much work.

 

[wombatie]

They are beautiful Frank, your son and daughter will we so pleased with them.

Marg

[Scrappile]

very nicely done!

[goldfish]

Looks cool whats the special light inside?

[FrankEV]

3 hours ago, goldfish said:

Looks cool whats the special light inside?

 Just a 7W equivalent LEd Bulb in a candelabra base.

[rdatelle]

Love those Frank. A lot of detail there. Love the finish.

[Trka2002]

On 9/23/2023 at 8:49 AM, FrankEV said:

While I live in Florida, my son lives in North Carolina and my daughter lives on Long Island, New York.  So, visits, or getting together for Holidays, do not happen often.  I will see my son In October for Biketoberfest and my daughter in Joining us on a cruise to the Caribbean this November.   I decided I wanted to make them Xmas gifts I could package up for them to take home with them. I thought a version of a ‘Night Light Lamp’, similar to lamps I have made in the past, would be a good gift for both families. 

My box style construction technique that I have used previously is simple and straight forward.  Other than the Scroll pattern, all parts are cut and/or mitered on the Table Saw.  The scroll patterns were stack cut using Pegas #3 and #5 MGT R blades as well as Pegas #2/0 and #0 Spiral blades.  Rounding corners was done on my bench belt sander while most finish sanding was done using my Palm sanders and hand sanding as needed.   The Lamps were finished with multiple coats of Deft Clear Gloss Lacquer.      

I decided to make these lamps shorter than those I made previously, only 6 inches tall, with a simple scrolled base that is formed by the walls.  My design is based on a 5 1/2” square box with mitered corners, since 1/4” Red Oak from Lowes is available this exact width.  I did purchase some Bolivian Rosewood (from Ocooch) for the lamp I made for my son as a dark wood lamp will be more appropriate with their bedroom furniture while the Red Oak will work for my daughter. The Bolivian Rosewood is beautiful wood!  Both Lamps have a loose, 1/4” thick Matching Top with an underside “stopper” that keeps the top in place.  I chose to use 1/4" BB ply, stained to match, as the interior bottom piece for both strength and not wanting to waste the costly hardwood. 

The plans to make shorter lamps made the task of finding suitable patterns for these lamps a difficult task as, you all know, cutting any kind of intricate pattern at a reduced scale is a challenge.  Also, the pattern must be a self-framed positive image that allows the light to glow through the frosted Plexi behind the large open areas of the image. 

My daughter-in-law is a fanatic about Dragon Flies.  I had previously found a very suitable Dragonfly image I had converted into a Scroll Saw Pattern and had saved for a future project.  This Pattern became the initial motive to make Night Light Lamps in the first place.  Now just I needed to find something that worked for the lamp for my daughter.  After a lot of searching on-line, I found a very suitable stock image of a ‘Butterfly in a Garden’ that I purchased.  I was able to insert the round images into a the square spaces by adding the cut-out corners. 

For these (and future) lamps I purchased ‘MakerStock’ two-packs of 1/8” x 12” x 24” Transparent Orange Acrylic sheet and Frosted Lilac Acrylic sheet, from Amazon.  For the Transparent Orange, I glue Drawing Velum to the interior face to make it translucent (appears frosted).  I think the Orange worked well with the Bolivian Rosewood and the Frosted Lilac worked well with the Red Oak.  An important note here.  I found if I sized and mitered the Acrylic pieces to fit the interior box dimensions snugly, the pieces held themselves together and did not require any adhesive to keep them in place. 

And, of course, a lamp requires the electrical lamp parts, which I chose to purchase locally at Lowes.  However, for anyone that may choose to make these (or similar) lamps, I might suggest you search on-line (Amazon) to get better pricing. You can find the patterns for these two lamps in Pattern Exchange.  

I hope you may have enjoyed reading my detailed story above and, hopefully, did not get too bored.  Here are the pic of the Lamps and, as always, comments and critiques are welcome.

This pic was taken in dark with no extra lighting.  Fairly close to what they will look like when use as a night light.  If still too bright, the equivalent 7W LEDbulb can be replaced with an equalent 3W LED bulb. As seen, the Orange is brighter than the Lilac.

 

 

PS: Boy, close up photos reveal things you don't see in person.   Although I glued the stopper cross grain, there is still some warp in the Rosewood top.  Also, the corner joints of the Red Oak appear to be open slightly, but they realy aren't.

First things first, the projects look great. 

Second:

The use of the word Xmas should never be used in place of Christmas. Christmas is a time to remember the birth of our Lord and Savior. His name should not be x’ed out. 

[FrankEV]

22 minutes ago, Trka2002 said:

First things first, the projects look great. 

Second:

The use of the word Xmas should never be used in place of Christmas. Christmas is a time to remember the birth of our Lord and Savior. His name should not be x’ed out. 

You are absolutely correct.  It is/was used as a typing shortcut as is often done.  No disrespect intended.