I received a couple of these beautiful, wooden Cigar Boxes. For whatever reason, perhaps call it inspired, I knew they needed repurposing, to become unique Edison lamps. The boxes themselves are of a nice, sturdy, wood construction. Inside, I added more wood for structural support as well as for mounting it to the base.

Healing Power of Copper?

Well, maybe not healing, but it sure looks great! I selected copper colored Cloth wound, vintage style cord with a vintage style plug. The lamp socket is a departure from the normal brass sockets. This lamp socket is clear polycarbonate showing off more beautiful copper within.

Inviting Unbalance

An on/off, dimmer switch was added off-set near the top left corner for an asymmetrical, perfectly unbalanced design. The dimmer switch has a distinctive, solid “click” on and off, and smooth dimmer functions, easily setting the mood from a soft, warm glow to bright. Quite literally and for some inexplicable attraction, this thing is fun to turn and bring the bulb to glowing life.

Solid and Strong

The solid Cast Iron wheel topping the dimmer control is big, bold and significant. Beautifully Industrial with weighty heft and strength. The blackened patina strikes a perfect contrast against the colors of the Punch cigar box.

Stately Style

Not to be over-shadowed by all above, the base was also designed to balance the lamp with stately style. More cast iron is found in the corner feet noting the same, beautifully industrial and blackened patina as the dimmer wheel.

Glow of a Bygone Era

Edison bulbs have become quite the rage in lighting style. I for one am exceedingly glad this style has come back. No blisteringly hot and blinding light, this style of bulb is warm and inviting. To the touch, it is warm, not hot like standard bulbs that sizzle your skin at the slightest touch. The light it gives off is inviting, not offensive. Much like the glow of a candle, you’ll find yourself easily captivated by the golden glow of the intricate spiral filament.

A mix of Steampunk, Vintage Edison Lamps, and Sci-Fi Nostalgia:

Features:

Vintage Edison Globe style bulb
Wireframe lamp shade
Custom Handcrafted STARSHIP rocket in glimmering silver and copper
Ready-for-Launch Indicator LED lights
On-Off Dimmer with solid Brass dimmer wheel
Massive ‘Launch” base
Cast Iron feet
Vintage Cloth-Wrapped wire

The Build:

This thing has been rattling around in my head for quite some time, so I was thrilled to finally bring it into reality.

I began with the rocket body; turning it into shape on my vintage Shopsmith in lathe mode. No templates or measurements, just all by eye and feel.

Shaping and fine sanding of the Starship body complete, its time to attach the rocket fins. Fins are epoxied into a freehand routed groove. Since this is to be painted, a flawless fit between the fin and body were not important. Any gaps etc. were filled in and smoothed out with the epoxy.

All the fins attached.

Standing tall and looking pretty good.

Masking for paint

Notes – Sanding sealer was used prior to paint. the Silver/Aluminum paint required many coats. The Copper seamed to be a bit less transparent than the silver and took less to cover the fins. The tail of the rocket was originally going to be flat black, but I ended up giving it a faded paint job with red fading into the black to mimic the glow of rocket engines firing up.

In all honestly, it took me about 2 years from wanting to design some to actually making them. I had to research what to use, where to source the quality of hardware I wanted, and then decide how I wanted them to look. The first ones I built to look like a solid cube of hardwood using a woodworking technique called an endless grain box. What looks like a solid block of wood is actually a hollow box with each side’s edge matching the grain of the next side. Pretty complicated to get all the side miter joints and the top miter joints matching precisely. From a workshop perspective, these are really tough to get right. Since I’m such a stickler for absolute quality, I was not happy with anything less than perfect corners and miter joints. The look was totally appealing and very pleased.

Further designs related to the original cube include brass columns supporting solid hardwood top and bottom with an open space in the middle. Other styles have included a beautiful hand-blown glass Dome covering a complimenting style Edison bulb, and some more free-form lathe turned bases. Very exciting genre of lighting to work with.

Features can include any number of the following:

• On/Off with Dimmer switch
• Solid brass lamp socket
• Brass hardware
• Edison bulbs (of course :-))
• Vintage Cloth Wrapped Power Cord in various awesome colors
• Hardwood
• Standard On/Off switch

Pair of Robot Lamps

Industrial Lamp animated GIF

Street Lamp

Light Beer? Corona Lights

Shoji Style Lamp

Space Lamp and Industrial Lamp

Cigar Box Lamp

Book Lamp done right

Industrial Lamp

Jar Light

Shoji Style Lamps

Totally open to questions and special designs.