A hexagonal table lamp made from clothes pegs!

This project is super easy, low cost, and the pegs cast some great shadows. I made a few of these around Christmas as gifts, but this is how I made mine.

I used -

Wooden clothes pegs (about 50)
Wood for base
12mm Dowel for feet
Light fitting
Wood glue
Drill w/ 12mm bit and 29mm flat bit
Mitre saw (hand saw would be fine)
Router w/ bevel cutter (optional)
Spray varnish

Step 1: Make the Base

I made a little base from a bit of Oak, but you can use whatever. I cut the Oak into a hexagon shape with 95mm long edges on my mitre saw.

I drilled 12mm holes in the bottom for the legs (not all the way through), and a 29mm hole in the middle of the top to receive the lamp holder (again, not all the way through). Then I beveled the edges using my router, and gave it some love with sandpaper.

To finish off the base I glued in some small bits of 12mm dowel as feet, and carefully leveled them out by sanding them down.

Step 2: Pegs and Pegs and Pegs And...

After a little dry run, I worked out where my starting pegs would need to sit and glued them to the base using Gorilla wood glue. Once this was dry I applied a little glue to the inside of the "jaws" of each peg and fitted pegs to complete a ring. Make sure you nudge them about now while the glue is wet to make sure they line up. Then the pegs that would be the start of the next layer got glued in place, and left to dry for about 30mins.

Just repeat this process until you reach the desired height.

Step 3: Varnish & Electrics

To finish I just used spray varnish. Follow the instructions on the can for the best finish.

I got a bayonet lamp holder fitting from Screwfix and took off the 'orrible white plastic bits I didn't need. Then took a short length of wire, and wired up the lamp holder, passing it through the hole in the bottom of the base. I also added an inline switch.

After a quick test, the last step was to glue the lamp holder into the base.

Step 4: Finished!

I love lamp.

If you also love lamp and have a go at this yourself please leave photos in the comments. If you'd rather just buy one, please get in touch and I'd be happy to make one for you for like £20.