Hanging Lamp Design

Hanging Lamp, Fabric Shade

I came up with this hanging lamp design many years back when the only power tools I had quick access to were a small hobby lathe, a drill press, scissors. and a sewing machine. 

A simple lathe turned hub for the bulb socket and power cord, and six lengths of 3/8" hardwood dowel are all the wood parts needed.  

Lathe-Turned Hub

Making the pattern, cutting out the shade panels, then sewing them together with slots to slip over the dowels was the hard part.  I had to remember a few sewing tricks I learned when I was a kid watching my mother sew clothes for family members. The seam edges between each panel are hidden in the dowel slot. 

Light On

I have 5 of these I made.  The hub and the fabric used each slightly different.  The lamps have no switch, so I use touch plate switches with each one.  The lamps plug into the control boxes for the switch, which then plugs into a wall outlet. In every room where I have one of these lamps the touch plate is set where it is easy to reach.  

To drill the holes I used this adjustable angle fixture to hold the lamp hubs under my drill press.  I positioned the hub, drilled a hole, rotated it 60 degrees, then repeat 5 more times for each hub.  I carefully marked 6 evenly spaced spots on the hub for the center of each dowel hole.  

Jig Rising

The hubs are 2.5" diameter and vary between 2.5" and 3.25" tall. 

It took some drafting skills I learned in high school to figure out the pattern shape for the cloth shade panels.  Nothing special about the fabric I used. A couple seem to have faded a bit near the top close to the bulb.  When assembled there is a gap between the hub and the cloth for any heat from the bulb to rise up through. 

I now have a rotary axis on my CNC, so making the hubs is an easy repeatable step should I want to make any more. While I can't drill angled holes on the rotary axis, I can have the CNC mark where each dowel center is before taking it off the rotary axis.  The shape could also be a hexagon rather than a cylindrical lathe turned shape.  This would tighten up the detail continuity of the design. With flat sides rather than a round shape it would be easier to drill the holes for the dowels accurately.  The hub shape could also be modified to better relate to any pattern the chosen fabric may have.  Choosing the fabric before finalizing the hub shape is recommended. Or simplify it to intentionally not compete with the detail in the fabric. 

The shade panels are 12.25" tall + another inch for a half inch hem on top and bottom. 12.75" from seam to seam on the bottom edge 2.5" from seam to seam on the top edge. Extra is needed for the slots for the dowels.  The dowels angle down from horizontal roughly 35 degrees. 55 degrees up from the vertical axis of the hub. These specifications are all arbitrary.  You could change the slope and size of the shade.  

I may make one more as I have a box of fabric scraps, plenty of wood to make a hub, and several 3/8" dowel sections that need a project to justify their existence.  Perhaps I could use a different fabric for each panel to make the shade, eh? 

Finding the right socket and cord hanging lamp kit is the last challenge.  Mine have a 15' cord.  Most I've seen are designed to hang with just a decorative bulb. Too much unneeded plastic around the socket.

Some lathe turning, hole drilling and sewing skills required for these hanging lamps. A fun and creative project given the variety of available fabrics out there and fairly common light hardware used.  I recommend using a dimmable LED bulb that will work with the touch pad switch.  Not all LED bulbs are the same. 

Comments welcomed!

4D