Little lamp build

This little lamp build started when I found this small birch trunk with roots in my inventory.

I pulled it from the pile and thought how can a make this slender trunk into something cool? I brought the trunk into my shop where it hung out for a couple of weeks being moved around as it seemed to always be in my way. At one point I leveled the base so it could stand on its own and thought man you could be a neat lamp if only you were bigger. At that moment it hit me. (I had been working on creating some little drink coasters by casting stones and little pieces of burl in molds with epoxy.) Why can’t I cast a base for this little trunk? What’s the idea popped into my head I knew that’s what I would do so this little trunk could become a lamp.

I acquired a rubber cake mold just big enough to fit the root base in. I mixed some epoxy and poured a 1/4 layer and let it cure. This would give me a little base so the underside of the root would be protected and encased in epoxy. Once the first layer had cured I set the root base in on top of it, then proceeded to add stones, a couple of square nails, a penny, and a couple of acorn tops. Once there are items were strategically placed I mixed a larger amount of epoxy and pour it into the mold making sure to get a thin layer on top of everything but not fully covering everything.

While waiting for the epoxy to cure I set out on making the lampshade. This style of lampshade is not my first as I have made a few all wooden shades in the past. This particular shade would have an all cherry frame and thin maple burl veneer. After a few hours of cutting and gluing I finally had a shade, I could be happy with.

Looking at the trunk and its new base I thought uh how the heck am I going to attach this shade to that thin trunk? I decided hanging the shade somehow was the best option. I began cutting white birch branches at different angles to create the upper half of the trunk this was time-consuming. Each piece needed to be mapped out so I would have enough room for the shade to hang within the void I had created. Once the glue and epoxy had dried I was quite impressed with how sturdy the new top of the trunk was. At this time I decided it would be best to order up a vintage-style rope harness and socket. I decided to wrap the pre-assembled wiring around the trunk to have the look of a vine. With that this lamp was complete.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this little lamp build. Be sure to check my available pieces here on this site and follow me on the provided social media links to see more projects and up to date on new ones!

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Thanks again,

Kyle