DIY Lamp Assemblies

Hi all!

So I bought some string lights for our patio but wife wanted single filament bulbs. So now I’m stuck with 26 LED bulbs that put out an ambient 100 lumens each. I’m too lazy to return them so I got approval to keep them for a future project where I make some nice Edison Bulb-Style chandeliers.

How hard would it be to create one of these (read: a safe one that won’t burn my house down) and what are the basics I’d need to have wiring-wise? I don’t want to muck it up because this is a situation where I want to be 100% safe for the sake of my family. Not entirely trustworthy of the websites where I can learn how to make one in a blog post and then click next and learn how to re-dye my old jeans… thought with BLF being a hub of smarties I’d get some solid advice to start off properly.

Thanks!

I did one in my kitchen to replace one of those “ugly” 2x fluorescent tube lights:

One of the bulbs wasn’t screwed in all the way for the picture as it was a work in progress and my wife wanted an update picture to make sure I wasn’t ruining the house. We were going for rustic and I initially was going to utilize some chicken wire or additional “X’s” on the long sides, but we ended up liking it as is.

I re-used the sockets and wires from a bathroom vanity light that we replaced, and built the wood part around that. I sort of just threw it all together as I went (had a basic idea of what I wanted and the components required, but no real plan) so I don’t have any drawings handy. If you are following directions for making a lamp, you should be ok. The main safety concerns will be the install and mounting it safely (don’t want it to fall down).

Do you have any plans on paper yet? I’m happy to take a look (even concept type drawings are great to get an idea of the shape and engineering requirements).

I actually do- I’ll get a scan of it later today for your thoughts! Thanks!

In a similar vein, I’ve had a long running idea in my head to create a large wooden “ceiling square frame” with LED bulbs inset into it, spaced accordingly (about 6 inches thick and 6 feet long on each side). The idea would be to simulate a classic wooden beam ceiling, while leveraging it for lighting.

Wait… you want something like Christmas lights?

Super rough, but I was thinking of something like this:

I have walnut with raw edges that I was thinking of suspending the lights from - will hollow it out to keep it light, but my biggest issue was how to join all the wires together - do I use a junction box?

Thanks community!

Could use something like this…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BGC3S0

…to connect all the lights to one side, and jumpers on the opposite side (2 per hole).

Nice, clean, covered.