Mad Scientists Light

Step 9 Finish

The finished Product with it's Glamour Shots, it lets off a nice glow and is certainly an eye catcher, everyone wants to know what that is and where i got it from, not bad for a lamp i made under $20 (not included the sweat and blood you may or may not donate to said project)

In the second shot you can see the finished product, along with a nice black Radio Knob replacing the big boring beige knob that comes with the dimmer switch.

If you liked this one, be sure to check out the smoke stack lamp instructable that i'll be posting up where i used some of the things i learned from this project, right now i'm still putting the finishing touches on that project but you can see some shots of how it's coming along in my Flicker Photo stream
Thanks for checking out my first Instructable!

Comments

[inhaos]

looks cool
but too hard for me
for my baby would touch anyting in my room.

[Dandolion]

Looks very cool! I was getting ready to do 2 or 3 fixtures like this (Except with 6 bulbs each). I am building a Frankenstein lab. I like the Idea of Wiring in series to eliminate the dimmer. I also like the idea of making the lights dim up and down using a circuit anyone know what the title of that article is?

[Betelgeus3]

A cool thing would be to integrate a timer to make them glow on and off slowly. I saw a thing on here where you could pull that off with just an analog circuit.

[ForgetMyProfile]

I have very serious reservations about this project because it involves the enclosure of electrical components in a combustible material AND the close tolerances of the lamp sockets in wood.

Wood CAN ignite and burn at temperatures as low as 77 degrees C. (www.doctorfire.com/low_temp_wood1.pdf ).

The lamp as specified is NOT A GOOD idea unless the connections are made in a non-combustible box and the lamp sockets are likewise  set in a non-combustible material.

I am a Michigan licensed residential builder but recognize a REAL potential hazard. This is one of them.

[forlack]

The heat produced is outside of the box, so as long as your connections are solid it shouldn't be a problem.  As well the article you linked to only reports one fire at 77 C and it was due to long term exposure of a water pipe.  250c has often been reported as the go no go temperature for wood (reported in the same article you linked).  Again this is my opinion and I think there is no real hazard as long as you do it right and don't run the bulbs at full tilt 24/7.

[ForgetMyProfile]

Why take a chance when there are safer alternatives? Metal, ceramic tile, cement board, drywall, marble, Corian,  etc.

If this device was sent to UL for testing, any chance that it would pass and be approved? Of course not.

I rest my case.

[tim-1138]

using the ceramic sockets like i did, and the fact that the bulbs are running at 10-15% of full intensity they really don't produce much heat that you should have to worry about it much, plus this what was available to me at the time, i've since transferred the light to a much larger enclosure and mounted the sockets through lexan, that was just what i used to start off with and as you can see many other people have come up with different containers and boxes to mount theirs in,

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/timmyj/1134984989/" title="100_1071 by timmyj1138, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1250/1134984989_fab7973299_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="100_1071" /></a>

[Bonzsu]

This is very nice.  My grandson wants to be a scientist (this week :D ) and his uncle the electrician could knock this up for him in no time.  Thanks for this great idea!  And great instructable too!

[negative zero]

 smexy

[sawatzky]

 willmore lamp

[sawatzky]

 Love this. I'm gonna do this... with enough bulbs to max out the dimmer rating.

Attached image is a real Willmore lamp. I can easily see where your plans, plus a cheap plastic mirror top and chrome knob and switch could look very similar to the real thing... eager to try this. 

[Dr_Meatwad]

A great addition to this DYI would be to mount one or two mirrors that are slightly taller than the tubes themselves to give the apperence of a huge number of them in a dark room.

[YAMAHAMMER]

LOVELY LAMP, I HAPPEN TO LIKE VERSION 2.0 JUST A LIL BETTER THOUGH. IT LOOKS MORE VINTAGE.

[omnibot]

_{Why are you screaming?}

[YAMAHAMMER]

BECAUSE I FEEL INFERIOR, SO IT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER! LOL

[omnibot]

_{well, carry on then}

[v_rancher]

hey, I love that style of lamp, have been playing around with 'em a bit over the years, they're probly the most unique looking lightbulb for such common low coast availability, great job, keep it up^_*
dohiyi
rob =][=

[redletter]

I own one of the 'real' Willmore lamps. Who needs bakelite and Fender? Yours is GREAT!

[deadwhale]

Nice Light! As far as the seat and blood, I've always been told the job wasn't done until somebody bled. Once again, nice work!!

[Bob Nash]

BTW, the first time I encountered the "blood" quote was in Steinbeck's "Wayward Bus." Perhaps that is the origin of it, I don't know. Apparently a favorite theme of his at the time, which was carried to an extreme in "To A God Unknown."

[Bob Nash]

I saw a project like this in an old Popular Electronics (I think) that used a voltage regulator tube mounted in a box with a mirrored sides. Perhaps a good variation would be to add mirrors, but it is great "as is"!

[cyberlox]

Just found instructables and the first thing I come across is this! I am suitably inspired to make one this weekend! Thank you. You also inspired me to sign up. I hope I can contribute something of equal worth sometime. As someone else already said, it just needs a voltmeter... and the needle needs to be swinging widly... in time with the lights... or something suitably 'mad scientist' :o)