Introduction: Soldering Arms From an Old Lamp

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For this project I decided to make some soldering arms out of an old lamp that was collecting dust in a closet. I thought the bendy metal from the lamp would be perfect for this project. The arms are not just limited to soldering but can be used in a lot of different ways to hold smaller objects in place!

Supplies

  • Glue (E9000)
  • Metal Arms
  • 3D printer and filament
  • CAD software (Fusion 360)
  • Magnets
  • Alligator Clips
  • Something to cut metal (Metal Chop Saw)

Step 1: Deconstruct the Lamp

The first step to is to start taking apart the lamp so I can get just the parts I need. I took out all the wires and bulbs so all I had was the metal parts. The base was held together by some screws, so I removed them leaving me with just had the arms and the cone like shapes.

Step 2: Cut Each Arm Into Separate Pieces

The arms were all attached to a cone like piece which help the bulbs while it was on the lamp, but I did not need this part, so I used a metal chop saw to cut these pieces off. This is the tool that I had on hand but any metal cutting tool should work.

Step 3: Modeling 3D Printed Parts

I then used Fusion 360 to model my 3D printed parts that I would glue onto the arms and alligator clips. I got the measurements of the alligator clips, magnets, and metal arms. I decided to design these parts with the loft feature in Fusion 360 because I wanted something that had a nice transitional and sleek look to it. I saved these parts as STL files, sent it through a slicing software, uploaded it to my 3D printer and hit print.

Step 4: Assembling the Pieces

Using the E9000, I glued the magnets and alligator clips to the 3D print parts and waited for them to dry completely which was about 24 hours. The reason I used magnets is because I wanted to be able to stick the arms on a metal surface which would make them fairly portable. I then glued the metal arms to each assembled piece and waited for them to dry too.

Step 5: Finished Product

The final thing to do was to test the arms out and they work great. The only thing that I might have to change is to buy some stronger magnets because the ones I have now have a hard time holding the arms up. But other than that, I think this project was a success!