DIY Luxo Jr. Lamp (Pixar Inspired)

Intro: DIY Luxo Jr. Lamp (Pixar Inspired)

I wanted to make a Pixar style lamp out of wood. It took me three attempts, but I'm happy with the result!

STEP 1: CNC Fail

I chose this project because I wanted to learn Google Sketchup. It took me about 3 days but I finally got the hang of it. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the X-Carve to cut properly, so I gave up.

STEP 2: The Old Fashioned Way

I got my second wind after all the frustration and decided to cut my parts out by hand. This worked great and only took me about 30 minutes.

STEP 3: Assembling the Head

I bought this brass lamp shade from my local salvage supply for $3 dollars. But it needed a back so I brazed another piece of brass so I had something to attach my lamp socket to.

STEP 4: Electrical

I used liquid electrical tape and a rubber gasket to insulate my wiring from the brass.

STEP 5: Stain and Final Assembly

I used brass rod to connect everything. Initially I was going to use springs to make it a true balanced arm lamp, but the friction of the joints is working great. If that ever changes I'll add springs like in the design.

STEP 6: Finished!

Here's the sketchup and SVG files if anyone is interested in making their own.

http://www.mikeandlauren.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/lamp_files.zip

Comments

[obengeric]

It looks great and you can use it for your projects at night ,what software did you use for designing on the computer.

[Edgar]

Ponoko, CNCKingdom,sell those plans online! Also good for Wifi boosting antena arrays.

[KzooK1]

Great lamp, the brass looks wonderful with the dark wood. Thanks for sharing!

[dpharris3215]

I thought the actual plans would be part of the PDF download. Isn't that the purpose of it?

[SHIFT!]

Nice! Did you use thingiverse's 45365 Snap-Together-Lamp as the base model? They look similar.

[mikeandlauren]

Oh, there was a sketchup model in the warehouse that I looked closely at (thats where the lamp head came from). But the parts were not designed to be actually made, it was just for show.

[mikeandlauren]

No, but I wish I knew that existed before I did mine!

[EmmitS]

Nice. Now you have to make the little ball for it to stomp on.

[MelC8]

I searched google on how to convert svg file to a pdf file, the cloud done the conversion, it was very simple. Tried to copy and paste file but it won't let me.

[MelC8]

Looks great. Do you have a printable pattern for the wood parts. I think my daughter would love one of these.

[mikeandlauren]

Sorry, just the SVG files. Inkscape should be able to open it and save it as a pdf.

[trentw]

There is a link with the files at the end of the instructable.

[eternus]

FYI SketchUp isn't part of Google any more (hasn't been for 3 years now) but you can still get it at http://www.sketchup.com

[mikeandlauren]

Interesting. I didn't know that.

[alanrfloyd]

This looks really beautiful! Do you have a printable file (dwg) that I could print? I would really like to make one of these.

[mikeandlauren]

Sorry, all I have is the SVG file provided at the end of the instructable. Free software like inkscape should be able to open it up and save it as a pdf.

[Timo Repo]

Gee, thanks! I downloaded the svg file and converted it to AutoCad dwg format. Next what happens, will be a construction of the lamp support with other material, maybe plexi from discarded flatpanel display or just birchwood. The lamp part which I will try is a 100mm diameter LED plate powered with 48VDC. I do not want to use a switchmode powersupply for the lamp as it will produce EMC to my radios, so maybe a convenient toroidal mains transformer and a rectifier circuit will be my choice.

[Kreat0r]

Wow, looks antique and modern at the same time.good one.

[Aussie58]

Congrats - Great look!

What did you do with the brass rod to make them do the job? Thread cutting, flaring the ends? Did you use sleeves on the brass rods as spacers between the parallel sides of the lamp arms? Bandsaw or scroll saw? Brazing or soft soldering?

[mikeandlauren]

The brass rod was un-modified. I just cut the holes slightly smaller than the rod to provide friction. No spacers were used. I guess it was soft soldering not brazing.