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Years ago (too many to mention) I played the Saxophone. I started on the Alto, then switched to Baritone and for awhile I even had a straight Soprano. All of them are long gone now, but something I have wanted to do for years was to make a table lamp from one. So a couple weeks ago I stumbled across one on the internet and since it had damage that made it not worth repairing, I bought it.

BUT (and you knew there was a "but" coming ) In making the Sax lamp I didn't use any wood, so I didn't want to take any chance of incurring the wrath of the LJs Internet Police by posting it.

Well. last week I was surfing the 'Net and spotted an old metal clarinet. It "kinda-sorta" resembles a Soprano Sax so I scooped it up and this time I DID use some wood in transforming it into a lamp. So now I get to show you BOTH of them :)

The Sax was pretty simple. I de-constructed one of our end-table lamps and used the pieces from that to transform the Sax into a useable lamp. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the Sax and ran the tube straight up thru the Sax and mounted the lamp socket (and shade) up top where they belong. Here's the Sax lamp…


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The clarinet is an "oldie goldie" which was manufactured in about 1915 or 1916 (according to the serial number).
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Because the bell end is rather small I had to make a base so it will sit on the table and not be tipped too easily. I started with a 12" square of a 2-layer glued up piece of pine and cut it down on the lathe to about 9".
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Tapered the sides to resemble the curve of the bell. I then turned a cone from a piece of scrap something I found in the scrap pile so it would fit snug inside the bell. Splashed it with some dark MinWax stain and about 5 coats of rattle-can lacquer.
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Using a router I cut a channel for the cord to lay in, and stuck on a couple felt pads for feet.
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I also had to come up with a way to attach the 3-way socket and shade harp to the top so I turned a small "adapter" from a hunk of mahogany to fit snug in the top of the clarinet and JB welded it to the cut-off center tube from the old lamp. It's a good tight fit, but I put a small set screw thru all it just for better holding power. I couldn't get a clamp on it so I stacked a bunch of huge 1" hex nuts on it till the JB Weld set up.
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And here's a few pix of the finished lamp.
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To most people that old clarinet looks a lot like a Soprano Sax, but I can tell the difference, so I'm likely to give this to one of my daughters, soon as I can find another Sax so I can have a matched set for either end of the couch.

Yeah, I know there's not really very much WOOD involved in this project, but I am kinda proud at how well they turned out …. so I took a chance and posted them anyway.

As usual, comments, critiques welcomed ! Thanks for checking out my stuff ! :)

Gallery

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Oh, that big squarish white blotch on the end table is from when a newspaper got wet and went unnoticed for a few days. I really should re-finish that end table :)
 

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You ain't "whistling" Dixie… toot-toot!

Nice job.
 

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Do the instruments play themselves ???

If not, start over and let us know when you're REALLY done.

Maybe something like this …

:)

Love your lamps !!!
 

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Nice, now I know where my clarinet is….LOL
 

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Tuning in the light. Now I've seen everything. You should get it to play some background music. Looks very relaxing.
 

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That's a very "saxy" lamp, definiteky unique!
The clarinet looks elegant and regal, almost royal!

Thanks for a view of another perspective on lamps and woodworking.
 

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Too saxy by half, Joe.
By the bye, doppelganger mine: I, too, played the alto for years. She's in the case til I can afford a mouth full of implants and bone grafting. She's nickle-plated, and far to valuable to make a lamp of. You know, clarinets are made of wood. Rosewood. I'm pretty sure what you have there is an archaic soprano saxomophone.
 

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I love them Joe ! good thinking my friend ! Keepsakes !
 

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Great idea to light up a musical instrument that the light has gone out of. Now it would be neat if you could wire a swicth into one of the keys to turn it on and off. also a short piece of music. You wife will be devoted to keep it dust free and shinny since you did such a great job.
 

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That's next level upcycling Joe….well done sir….well done!!!
 

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Awesomeness! You really pulled out all the stops, the tone of the wood makes these reeding lamps really keyed up.
 

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I'm a huge fan of what you did. I like the writeup and I plan on modifying this and making one for my niece out of her student sax when she's ready for a better instrument soon!

Very cool man.
 

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Joe,

Clever idea! Maybe the next one could be set up with LEDs that turn off and on with a tune! I don't know if I could drill a hole in a musical instrument even if it didn't work. I'd want to try to make it play again.

I've got a tenor sax in its case under the grand piano. I haven't played it since I was involved in a church with an orchestra 25 years ago. I grew up on saxophone-first alto, then tenor, then baritone, but the tenor and baritone were borrowed school instruments and the alto was my sister's. As an adult when I could finally afford my own, I didn't realize how out of shape my mouth muscles were so I did a lot of squeaking and squawking when I would play. (The piano doesn't need to be taken out of a case and I spend far too much time in the shop, so there hasn't been time for a saxophone. Maybe it would be good therapy for improving my breathing as I'm getting old.) BTW, I weighed under 80 pounds and was about 4½ feet tall when I played the tenor. It hung down below my knees. I was once introduced for a music competition as the little girl with the big horn! By high school I was relegated to the baritone so I didn't have to march in the band with it and only practiced it at school since I was really too wimpy to carry it home. What memories!

L/W
 

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Thanks everyone for the comments. I did score another Alto (damaged, not worth repairing) which I hope to have here next week to make a matching lamp for the opposite end of the couch. I posted these on FaceBook and have gotten several inquires about making lamps from other instruments. Might look into the feasibility of making a bit of "pocket change" . The biggest issue I see will be in shipping the finished pieces. I think it'll take a pretty darn good package to safely insure one of these would survive shipping, so the shipping charges might eat up any profit.

 

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A very artistic conversion Joe, you are a very talented man in more ways than one.
 

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Bari Sax ? now you have my interest…...please tell me more!

tee hee

P.S.

lightweightladylefty

So thats where the unusual name came from!!
 

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Bari Sax, Short for Baritone Saxophone. While there is one that's bigger (the Bass Sax) the Baritone is usually the largest sax used by most players. You can still stand, move around, and even march in parades with a Baritone.
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