~ Easy Articulating Convertable Spot/Flood Light Lamp ~

We needed a few bright spotlights to shine on our 3d printer platter and not blind the monitoring camera. After several long searches on the interwebs, nothing bright enough or flexible enough was available at a reasonable cost so we just MacGyverd one together. We wanted to be able to adjust the height, angle and use it as a flood or spot light. Our cost was under $10 each because we reused a lot of wire and bulbs so here we go...

Supplies

1 - bright LED bulb (Noma 10watt 800 lumen 5000k daylight colour) (We used a LED because they run cooler and are less breakable)

1 - medium base socket with push through button switch (type of switch is optional)

1- 25cm long standard nylon insulated house wire 14/2 NMD90 (Any 2 conductor stiff wire, strong enough to support the socket and bulb will do. We had enough NMD90 in the scrap pile but anyone will give you a short piece if you ask. Some hardware stores will sell a 1metre piece)

1 - two conductor lamp cord. (length is optional, we had a few old appliance cords around so that's what we used. If you buy one you can get it with a line switch included and save on a socket without the switch.)

2 - Crimp on butt splice wire connectors (tube type)

1 - 8cm x 22cm piece of thin (0.5mm) aluminum (we had some roof flashing in stock but you may cut a soda can or even double or triple up some heavy duty aluminum foil)

1 - piece aluminum duct tape 5cm x 6cm

1 - 3d printed base (stl file attached). (Not strictly necessary. You can make the house wire long enough to twist into a coil as a simple base or cut a small piece of wood)

1 - oz of hot glue (or epoxy or silicon or any non conducting glue)

Step 1: Make the Lamp Base

You need some kind of a base to hold your lamp steady. We decided on designing a custom base in Tinkercad (a free CAD design browser software) so the lamp cord hides neatly underneath (image 2). You could just make your house wire long enough to form a coil and that would be plenty strong enough to support the bulb and socket above it. As an alternative, you could also use a scrap of wood about 12cm square and a few wire holding staples or glue to fix the house wire to the wooden base.

The lamp base .stl (CAD design file) is attached in case you wish to use that. If so, download the file, adjust it to the size you prefer and slice it with 3d printer slicer software to generate Gcode for your printer. We use Prusa Slicer for our Prusa MK3 printer which works fine. The type of plastic filament you use won't matter as the base is not exposed to any heat (if LED bulbs are used) and little weight above it. Our base is made of ABS because that's what we had loaded on the printer at the time. The 12cm diameter base seems to be perfect to hold this lamp steady.

Step 2: Assemble the Lamp

Take your house wire and strip both ends. Disassemble the lamp socket and screw the house wire onto the socket terminals and reassemble it.

Push the other end of the house wire through the printed lamp base and use the 2 butt connectors to attach (crimp on) the house wire to the lamp cord securely. Safety first with electricity, so make sure the connections are tight and no bare wires are touching each other or sticking out the back end of the socket or connectors.

Fold the wire so the connections fit neatly into the base arm with the tunnel (image 2). Hot glue the connections into the base arm tunnel taking care not to let the glue or wires protrude below the base. Hot glue is not required, you can use any glue that works for you as long as it is non conductive. Epoxy or silicon sealant could also be used if you prefer or even just wrap it up with vinyl electrical tape to hold the wires in place. We used hot glue so that we didn't have to wait for glue to dry.

Step 3: Make a Slip on Shade

If you only want a flood light, you can skip this step because your lamp is now ready to screw in a bulb and plug in. However, if you want a spot light option convertable from the same lamp you need to make a slip on friction shade.

Contrary to popular belief, LED bulbs do get hot. Not like old school incandescents hot, but their base does get up to about 80c when operating. Likely not enough to ignite cardboard but, for safety, we elected to use a strip of aluminum (image 3), as a slip on shade that directs the light outwards in a spot pattern.

Making the aluminum shade is very easy, just roll the strip into a tube tightly around the bulb and tape it together with some aluminum high heat duct tape (image 4). You could staple or glue it together if you prefer but the duct tape makes it fast, easy and secure. Now you can slip the shade on and off depending on the type of light you need (spot or flood). The tube stays firmly in place by friction only. We cut an 8cm x 22cm piece of aluminum left over from some larger roof flashing with a pair of large scissors, but you could just cut the ends off a soda can, cut the can open along its length, cut the edges straight, then wrap and tape it as described above. You could also use some baking tinfoil, because it's heavier than the regular type, and fold it a few times to stiffen it up and that would also work although it wouldn't be as sturdy. Careful working with thin metal, it can bite you like a cobra (for real and I have the scars to prove it...).

Now you are done. Slip on the shade, plug in your lamp and bend the house wire to aim the spot light up or down and turn the base left or right as you desire. Once you have it aimed just right, turn on your webcam and you are ready for your closeup Mr. DeMille ;)

This works so well I made 2 for the lab and another for use in the garage. The small size and ability to aim it makes it excellent as a work light under the hood, inside and under the car and the shade keeps it from blinding you as you work next to it. Enjoy.