I wanted to make a last minute entry to the Home Depot Lamps and lighting contest and was trying to think of something feasible.

https://www.instructables.com/contest/lampslighting...

So I was sitting in my room thinking of all the different lamps and lights I could make in a short amount of time. I look up and I see my Drawing figure I found for a dollar at Goodwill and a light bulb goes off in my head. A Bright Idea Lamp Man. So I scrounged up some things and made one.

Here's how I went about it.

If you enjoyed it I would greatly appreciate a vote.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Materials

Some thin wire. (I used some strands from cat5)
Small light bulb ( mine was a 4.5V 0.5A)
Small switch
4.5v AC adapter and jack (took mine from a Motorola phone.)
Drawing Mannequin ( mine was about 12 inches)

Tools

Solder iron
Flux
Solder
Two part epoxy
Drill
Drill bits
Third hand helps
I used a small chisel as well

Step 2: Power Jack

I took apart an old cell phone for a little jack and unsoldered it.

The AC adapter for my particular phone was a 4.5V one.

Step 3: Layout and Drilling Holes

After I removed the power jack from the phone I soldered a length of wire a bit longer than the drawing Mannequin to it.

I then laid out where about I wanted the switch and plug and marked it.
Drilled the hole for the switch just enough that the terminals on the bottom were barley sticking out. I had to mark around the switch and chisel out the square part.
I drilled a hole on the side for the power then drilled a hole from the bottom up into that hole to feed the wires to the switch and carved a channel between them.
Then drilled a small hole close to the drawing Mannequin's post for the light wires to come up through.

Step 4: Drilling Holes in the Mannequin

The mannequin is hollow inside so I just needed a few holes to feed the wire through the body.

On in the butt drilled at an upward angle.

I had to carve out a notch in the neck bead for the wire

The last one was in the top of the head.

Step 5: Soldering and Wiring

I pulled the wire that's attached to the power jack through the jack hole.
Soldered one sort power wire to the switch then ran it back to the small hole to go to the light bulb.
Pulled the other power wire and the switch wire through the small hole.
Then ran it through the hole in the butt and fed it though the body ( you may have to stretch the spring joints to see where the wire is going.)(You may want to twist the wires before you try to pull them through. I soldered the ends together also.)
When I got to the neck I had to drill a hole inside the bead to make room for the wire
Fed it through the head and your about done.
Then soldered the two wires to the light bulb side and bottom terminal.
When I screwed him back on the post it had the added benefit of wrapping the wire around the post for a tidy look.

Step 6: Feet or Base

Because my switch was too big and the terminals stuck out I had put sticky pad on it so he wouldn't fall over.

While I was at it I epoxyed the power jack in the hole so it wouldn't move around.

Later I'll cast him a heavy duty concrete or metal base. Just didn't have time today.

Step 7: Testing and Celebration

Plugged in the power flipped the switch and the Ideas shown bright! Just how I pictured it.

The first picture is with it off.

The other three are with the idea bulb illuminated and various exposures and lighting trying to get a nice look.

Hope you enjoyed it. I sure did making it.

Also entered in the Epilog Challenge because LASERS! I would use that thing everyday. I do a bit of graphics and 3d work and would love for that work to get out of my computer and into the physical world. Who needs a regular printer I would just laser etch all my documents that need to be printed.

If you like I'd appreciate the vote.