Project Information
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…
.
.
The clarinet is an "oldie goldie" which was manufactured in about 1915 or 1916 (according to the serial number).
.
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".
.
.
.
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.
.
.
.
Using a router I cut a channel for the cord to lay in, and stuck on a couple felt pads for feet.
.
.
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.
.
.
And here's a few pix of the finished lamp.
.
.
.
.
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 !
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…
.
.
The clarinet is an "oldie goldie" which was manufactured in about 1915 or 1916 (according to the serial number).
.
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".
.
.
.
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.
.
.
.
Using a router I cut a channel for the cord to lay in, and stuck on a couple felt pads for feet.
.
.
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.
.
.
And here's a few pix of the finished lamp.
.
.
.
.
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 !