Who Needs A Streetlamp in the Workshop?
This next build of Peter’s is a rare treat among viewers of his channel, a project utilizing metalworking and welding!
During a recent shopping excursion Peter picked up the top portion of a street lamp for a mere $5! At such a great bargain, how would anyone in their right mind be able to pass that up?! A savvy flea market sense is a lesser known attribute of Mr. Brown.
He had the bright idea to create some mobile lighting solutions for around his home and in his shop. After salvaging various scrap from around his house and acquiring some miscellaneous fittings, he had the makings of a fully luxurious lamp.
It is important to have a solid base for such a potentially top heavy item, so Peter went to work slicing up some steel square tubing with his fancy Evolution R255SMS metal cutting miter saw. (Use Coupon Code : PBROWN5 for a 5% discount!)
Peter then cleaned up most of the mill scale, rust and corrosion from the metal rings in order to facilitate welding. The cleaner the surfaces are being welded, the easier time you will have along with the benefit of a stronger joint.
After tack welding the pieces in place with his MIG welder, Peter returned and finished up the beads to fully join the pieces of metal together. After all of the welds were finished, an angle grinder was used to ensure that all welded surfaces were nice and clean.
There were some components of the lamp that required welding to attach them, but had a protective zinc coating on the steel. The angle grinder was again put to work to provide a clean mating surface for the weld to fuse with. Not doing so can cause the zinc coating to vaporize when welding and produce dangerous and toxic gas. Please ensure you take all proper safety precautions before attempting such a weld.
After the base and the lamp post was painted with several coats of hammered black spray paint, it was time to move on to restoring the lamp fixture itself. Disassembly did not want to go easily due to several components rusted together, but with a bit of both penetrating oil and elbow grease, Peter managed to get it apart.
Once the lamp hardware was squared away, it was time to move onto the paint job. After masking off the glass, it was again coated with hammered black spray paint.
One of Peter’s primary design intents for this project was to have the lamp fully battery powered to allow for maximum freedom of illumination location. The high efficiency of modern LED strips makes them a perfect choice for this project.
After sticking the LED strips in place, Peter wired up the battery pack. Maximum portability is key here.
Routing the LED wiring along a corner channel is apparently a great way to hide wires within a street lamp!
Almost nothing beats the satisfying CLICK of a hearty toggle switch.
While Peter could have left the glass as it was, LED strip lighting can benefit greatly from some diffusion. This can easily be accomplished by using a frosted glass spray.
After assembly, they were ready to rock! He even managed to make three of them and used various bases (one of which has been waiting patiently for years to be used in this project!).
They turned out great Peter! It even looks like his wife Ms. Brown approves!
Currently hailing from a basement shop somewhere in North Carolina, Wes, a.k.a. Geeksmithing, creates geek and nostalgia inspired projects of all kinds using any new material or technique he can get his hands on including anything from 3d printing, cnc, laser cutting, prop making, robotics, electronics to even a bit of woodworking.
