Stone tile lamp

While looking for a new table lamp for my living room, I saw a beautiful lamp made of marble, but at $120, it was a bit more than I would consider spending. So here is my attempt to make a cheap imitation.

I used stone tiles glued together and a cheap picture frame as the base. The tiles cost about $3.00, the frame $1.00 and the light socket and cord about $9.00.

Step 1: Materials:

• marble/stone tiles (I used 8 4X4inch tiles)
• wood for base (I used a picture frame)
• light socket , cord, and two wire nuts
• vinyl bumpers
• glue -Weldbond works well with tiles
• grout (a matching colour)

Comments

[jimijoe]

Loved the lamp! Had to make one myself couldn't find any marble tiles, so I got some stone ones. It was the first thing I have made from here, and you could say it it inspired me to do more.Thanks for the Great Instructable!

[ChrysN]

That looks great!

[macwhiz]

Could you somehow turn this into a fountain?

[ChrysN]

I guess if you had a bowl or dish on the bottom istead of the wood frame and use an underwater light, that would look really cool. Have you seen this fountain.

[adam adkison]

I'm going to build your lamp, but now also I have a nice fountain to make out of the left over tiles from my bathroom floor.  Thanks!

[bilham]

A+!

[komecake]

  Wow! This is pretty awsome and would be fun to make. Thanks for the idea and guide. :)

[leepinlarr]

did you have to cut the frame down to fit

[ChrysN]

It was close in size, about half a centimeter too small so I just sanded it down to fit.

[porcupinemamma]

This is beautiful

[Mr. Thrak]

It would be interesting if you somehow drilled holes into the tiles so that they resemble dominoes. Then you fill in the holes with some translucent material so that the light could have a softer glow.

[ChrysN]

A dominoes lamp, that sounds cool!

[Mr. Thrak]

i might try this for mother's day ;)

[Creativeman]

Newsletter! Congratulations! Cman

[ChrysN]

Thanks!

[DasBus]

My husband has made several lamps out granite, and they are beautiful! He scrounges all the granite from an artist/counter guy who makes custom pieces. If a piece he is working on breaks, the granite is no good to him, and waalaa! Free granite!

[ChrysN]

He's lucky to have such a great source for material. The lamps must be beautiful.

[pauprint]

Very nice lamp and very good instructions. Thanx.

[Lori Ell]

That is sooo beautiful. I'm going to have to try that Thanks for sharing

[lillady09]

When it comes to removing stains, old paint and markers from items even concrete and brick try using Goof Off which is available at Home Depot, Walmart or most paint supply stores.

[desoi]

maybe bleach could be used on the price codes?

[ChrysN]

Good idea, I tried acetone, rubbing alcohol, and then I just sanded it, I didn't think to try bleach, thanks.

[Creativeman]

Excellent instructable Chrys! Very well written and lamps are always a good project. And to top it off, you went from featured to popular in less than 24hrs! Not sure but from the pictures does the light actually diffuse through the tile? Thanks for your well thought out project(s). Cman

[ChrysN]

Thanks Cman, some light does actually diffuse through the tiles, creating interesting patterns.

[StarshipMcGee]

haha "Cman"....

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

they are called wire nuts

[ChrysN]

Thanks! I wasn't sure what they were called.

[twoslice]

In Canada, we generally call them Marettes which I think is a trade name. Sort of like tissue and kleenex. Instead of using Marettes, I prefer to solder my electrical connections and use electrical tape and heat shrink tubing, especially if little exploring hands can get inside if you have any young children around.

[StarshipMcGee]

I wonder if there is no-name marettes. I also use heat shrink tubing a solder but marettes are much quicker. Great instructable BTW.

[theophilus]

I'm going to try to build this. great 'ible!!!

[ChrysN]

Thanks!

[EvilTom]

That is very cool. Very nice work. But doesn't anyone make the Underwriters Laboratories knot anymore? Our Shop teachers drilled that into our heads all the time.

[ChrysN]

The Underwriters Laboratories knot, what's that? I never took shop.

[RetroTechno]

It's a strain relief safety feature. You tie a knot inside the lamp frame before the wire nuts so someone can't damage the connection by pulling on the outlet cord. Nice lamp!

[ChrysN]

Yes, that would have been a good knot to use, thanks.

[555mst555]

great ibles.....it would be better if u could choose the thickness of the marble.....so that u will know how much light will go throught the marble

[chouf]

nice work man, I'm considering building one too. Thanks for the very nice instructable ! By the way why did you need a piece of cardboard at the back?

[ChrysN]

I added the cardboard because I wanted the plywood to be flush with the bottom of the frame.

[mikeasaurus]

neat! I like how it looks like a sleeper lamp when ambient light it on then rich colours when the lights are out. It looks great! Any issue of too much light escaping from the top? Would it be possible to fully enclose the light in tile? Maybe that depends on adding a venting strip along the bottom, or maybe a CF bulb. I like the effect, Nice one!

[ChrysN]

I thought about putting a tile on top too, but it would be too dim, I wanted it to provide a bit more light to the room.