Introduction: Desk Tidy / Bedside Light

About: Designer, Maker, CNC Enthusiast, Audio Lover

I made this as a present for a friend of mine this past Christmas. It is designed as a storage tray that sits on your night stand or table near the front door for your every day carry such as wallet, keys and loose change.

The light was added as an extra touch which is nice if the tray is used on a bedside table as it provides a nice ambiance, not so much a reading light! Please check out my Instagram for other projects and more design related stuff!!

I used a CNC machine for this project bu I believe it could be accomplished to the same standard with conventional hand tools and a few common power tools.

Step 1: Materials/Parts

Wood: White oak

Bulb: edison bulb

socket: generic bulb socket

wire: braided cable

Step 2: CAD/Design

As with all my builds these days, I started in Fusion 360.

I modeled the base with cut outs for the switch and electrical wiring, along with a hole to mount the copper pipe. The beauty of using Fusion 360 is that I can jump straight into creating tool paths right in the same program. When I was working with Inventor (admittedly I did have HSM but never bothered to use it!) I would export to Aspire and create 2d tool paths there which was not very efficient.

Step 3: CAM/CNC

Then it was just a matter of generating some toolpaths and cutting out the parts on my CNC router.

Step 4: Cleaning Up the Wood

Once the part was off the CNC machine and glued together, I used a roundover bit to round the bottom edge and then I sanded the whole thing.

Step 5: Copper Light Stem

Some scrap copper pipe formed the mount for the bulb and I soldered some decorative connecting pieces to make the stem a little more interesting.

The copper, after soldering, could be buffed up nicely with some steel wool and then inserted into the base.
Following this, a small hole for the wires to the bulb was drilled into the side of the copper pipe in the electronics compartment of the base.

Step 6: Wiring

Next, the switch could be installed.

Followed shortly by the bulb socket which was epoxied onto the top of the stem. Hot glue was also poured into the stem to help keep the bulb socket in place and increase the connection strength. It also helped insulate the electrical connections inside the bulb from the copper pipe.

inally, the electronics could be soldered up and a nice braided cord added to connect the lamp to the mains.
As you can see, I potted the electronics with hot glue to keep them in place but also to insulate them which meant I didn’t need to create a cover for this compartment under the base.

Step 7: Finishing Touches

After that it was just a matter of applying some finish to the wood and giving the whole thing a wipe down with a cloth!

I installed some little rubber feet to stop it scratching the surface it might be on.

Step 8: Done!

Box Contest 2017

Participated in the
Box Contest 2017