Introduction: DIY Rope Lamp

About: Living in Barcelona and making furniture mainly from things found in the street.. I'm hoping to make it more of an income at some point. Hope you like something you see here, if you do feel free to get in tou…

Pretty simple design to get a cool effect.. the shape of the base is up to you, but I decided on this one cause it was more interesting than a regular shape.

Step 1: Tools and Parts

Tools:

  • Screwdrivers
  • Saw
  • Cutters / strippers
  • Pliers
  • Scissors
  • Files (large and small)
  • Sandpaper
  • Glue
  • Drill
  • Black spray paint

Parts:

  • Wood Base......................... Approx 2cm thick, 30 x 30cm square to cut your shape from
  • Pole....................................... ~120cm of 6mm screw pole (again this depends how may corners your base has)
  • String......................................... ~3m of 3mm diameter
  • Switch and Plug
  • Bulb..................................... 25cm 7W Edison Tube Bulb
  • Socket ................................... Socket for bulb 2 x 2mm screws

Step 2: Base

1) Cut the base to the dimensions in the first picture (shown in cm)

2) Drill holes for the poles, wire, and screws

3) Feed the wire through the base and out of the hole

3) Strip about 1cm off the wires

4) Screw the socket into place

5) Connect the wires to the socket. Make sure the live (brown) and neutral (blue) wires go to the positive and negative terminals of the socket respectively.

Step 3: Poles

The holes drilled in the previous step should be equal to the diameter of the pole that you use. This way the pole will screw into the hole and stay in place.

1) Cut 4 equal lengths of pole - for me this was 33.3cm

2) Screw the poles in, making sure they stay straight. It's a good idea to keep some pressure down on the pole when doing this to make sure it screws in well.

3) I painted the socket black here so that it would match the base.

Step 4: Rope

1) Tie one end of the rope to one of the poles. I picked the one seen in the bottom left of these pictures since for me it seemed the most sturdy.

2) Wrap the rope around each of the poles. Make sure to keep tension in the rope so it doesn't slack as it goes around.*

3) In my design the shape of the base means that the corner with the external angle needs a bit more work. To make the bend, do a wrap around this pole before continuing to the next.

4) Every so often push the rope down the pole to keep it as dense as possible. Also try to keep the rope even as it goes around each time.

* Actually this isn't such a bad thing as it also gives a nice effect, but I just preferred it to be as dense as possible.

Step 5: Finishing Off

When you reach the top of the poles tie the rope to whichever one is closest. It's a good idea to put some superglue on this end so it doesn't unravel after some time. The same can be done for the start of the rope at the bottom.

Let me know if you have any questions, or if you have a go building it.

Make it Glow Contest 2018

Participated in the
Make it Glow Contest 2018