This was a project long overdue...

About a year ago I was walking down the street and found 2 cut off pieces from a tree on the sidewalk after a tree trimming day in my neighborhood. I had no idea what I was going to do with these things but I knew that at the very least I could hack them up, chuck them into my lathe and make a candle stick or something down the line after they dried out.

I helped my best friend move into a new home about a month ago and I needed to give him a cool house warming gift... and then I got a bright idea ***RIMSHOT*** you can totally laugh, good joke, good joke ;)

Things Needed:

- Power Drill

- 3/8" X 15" drill bit

- Hack Saw

- Box Cutter

- Screw Driver (Philips)

- Old Lamps

- Tree Cut-offs

- 2 Part Epoxy Resin

- Chip Brushes 2

- Latex Gloves

Best part of this project, it cost about $20 for both of these lamps! Very pocket friendly.

Step 1: PARTS!

So here's the thing, I totally could have gone to the hardware store and bought these parts, but that would have been so much more expensive!!!

The light socket if bought separately is about $5, and I needed two of them. I would also need to buy wire, two male plugs, two lamp shade harps.... That's just silly when I have a GoodWill FULL OF OLD LAMPS!!!!

I took a trip to my local GoodWill and bought two matching lamps that were $7 each. BUT!!!!!!!!!!! RED TAGS WERE 50% OFF!!!! I made off with everything I needed for $7!!!!! BEAT THAT AMAZON! ...one even had a bulb in it... SCORE!!!

I went ahead and took the lamps apart and tossed out all the stuff I didn't need leaving just the socket, wire, plug, and lamp harp.

The base had a piece of felt glued onto it, I ripped that off and that exposed the one nut holding the whole lamp together. Once the nut was removed, the central assembly slides out.

Step 2: Drill Some Holes Man...

I really use 2 drill bits for this step.

I first used a regular 3/8" wood drill bit as a pilot hole that went in about 4-5" into the wood. After I drilled the pilot hole, I used the 15" Spade drill bit to drill the rest of the way through. I did this to make it easier to keep the long spade bit moving straight down the log because at full length it has a tendency to bend and that just felt too iffy to me.

Once I drilled all the way through the wood, I drilled one more hole on the side of the log that would connect to the original hole I drilled in a sort to T fashion. I did this so that I could wire the log easily.

I started on the bottom side hole and threaded the wire in and down out of the bottom of the log. Once the wire was out of the bottom, I looped it back up through the same hole and it would now move up out of the top of the log. Does that make sense?

Step 3: Central Assembly.

The central tube that was in the old lamp was cut in half because I really didn't need the whole tube in there and 5" of it would leave it plenty stable once it was in there. Best part: the tube is 3/8" diameter and sits really well in the hole I drilled.

Step 4: Wire It Up Man!

Just a quick note: I am NOT a pro at this by any means but I just redid what I saw when I disassembled the lamps in the first place. PLEASE MAKE SURE THE CORD ISNT PLUGGED IN YET!!!!

Once you have the cord through the log, cut it down the center to separate the wires.

Strip the wires, I did this with the box cutter. If you lightly put the blade on the wire and use the length of the blade to roll the wire along a surface, it will cut just far enough though the wire and you can just slide off the protective tubing to expose the copper. Twist the copper wires in your fingers nice and tight.

Thread that wire through the central assembly and set it into place.

Tie the two lose ends into a knot and wire one to each contact screw on your socket. (This is so the cord cannot be pulled out of the lamp)

Now give the cord a tug so that the excess wire is pulled down into the lamp assembly.

Screw on the top of the socket assembly.

Step 5: Test Fit.

Wait a min... Are those MATCHING lamp shades???? Yeah, another GoodWill find.... $9 for the pair!

While I totally think this is a fine look, lets be honest... Amateur hour... (cough)

Step 6: Pretty Slick Man....

I took the lamps apart and I coated them in a 2 part epoxy resin.

I first took a garden hose to the wood to get all the dirt and dust off of them and let them dry over night.

I coated them with epoxy resin that I had left over from a previous project.

The two parts of the epoxy were mixed in a 1:1 ratio and applied with a chip brush.

I let the epoxy cure over night (24 hour cure time) and covered the wood one more time with another coat of resin because the first coat was mostly absorbed by the raw wood. After 24 more hours... GOOD TO GO!!!

Step 7: Reassemble!!!!

I mean, how great did these come out????

I am really happy with the result and because of the epoxy coating, they are very easy to clean off with a wet rag and reflect the light from the bulb so they even shimmer a bit.

Now I know I said that the project cost me less than $20, but that's because I didn't factor in the cost of the epoxy resin because I had some left over from another project. You can buy that stuff on Amazon prime for under $14.

I hope this project will inspire you to do something cool and see potential in every day items that might have just been tossed aside. RECYCLE and UP-CYCLE!!!!

Please Comment, I'd love to hear what you think about these.

Thanks for reading.