The lights were designed by myself, but may have been inspired by some of Frank Lloyd Wright's work.
I made them to replace such a typical black plastic low pressure lamp in the USS.
These lights have an interesting way to reflect the light on the inner surface of the top.
They look cool when it's dark.
The four pillars in the corner are made of Sipo.
Sipo is a kind of African wood, also known as Utile.
It has similar properties to mahogany, so it is a good choice to use outdoors where weather resistance is important.
The grille is made of 1/4 "walnuts, and they cut slots on the grille to let the light pass through.
The sloping top is made of Spanish cedar.
Its light color is a good choice for reflecting light.
I cut the Sipo into a rough length of 30 "for the previous post, 36" for the later post.
These are just the rough length of the column, long enough to hold the 20 degree angle at the top.
I'm working on two lights so there will be eight posts in total-
Four columns in front, four behind.
On the band saw, I cut the legs to 2 "a little wider and the goal is to plan the final leg to 2" sides.
I used a 8/4 thick walnut about 10 1/2 wide.
I used the band saw again.
See it almost 1/2 "thick, so the final planned size is 1/4 ".
I can definitely feel the saw working.
It would be easier if I had a hard alloy blade.
In this case, I used a fairly new normal 1/2 blade.
The final work will be 17 1/2x10 1/2x1/4.
I gouged the walnut to 1/4 thick and cut it wide-about 10" wide.
Use a spiral rise of 3/8-
Cut bit in the router, connected to stop at the end of the router table, I Route three vertical slots to walnut.
These positions allow the light to pass through.
I used my dado set to cut the gap on the side of the walnut.
This will create additional slots along the edge to let the light escape.
It will also create 3 tags on each side attached to the corner post.
You may have noticed that there are only two slots in the grille in the photo.
That's because I made a mistake and cut the first slot in the wrong place.
I was able to recover by adjusting this design.
I made two of these things specially and put them behind each lamp.
I cut the 20 degree dad near the top of each post to keep the position on top of the Spanish cedar.
This angle has two purposes: it allows rainfall to flow out of the top;
It provides a good reflective surface on the lower side of the top panel, allowing the LED light to reflect externally.
I also cut the 90 degree dad who will be used to fix the bottom plate in place.
The bottom is used to keep the LED lights in place.
I used blue tape on the post to help prevent tearingout.
I used the Forstner drill bit to cut a 3/4 hole in the bottom plate.
Fixing the LED lights in the right position is a perfect size.
1 7/8 "is OK, but be careful not to make the hole too big.
2. the hole is too big.
It stays in place with gravity.
Connect the electric boxes to the lower side of the bottom to keep the electrical connections and protect them from the elements.
I rate the acrylic with a knife.
This will be inserted into the slot of the leg to help protect against the weather.
It takes about 17. 5" high x 9. 5" wide.
Acrylic is considered optional.
It will help to protect the bulb from rain and snow, but it is not absolutely necessary.
Eliminating acrylic sheets is a good way to save costs (and work).
If you choose to use acrylic sheets, you will need to route slots in each post.
Tag posts carefully so you can route slots on the right side of each post.
Two slots will be routed to each post.
I chose to cut the acrylic sheet to 17 1/2 "high, so the slot needs the same length.
I used a 1/8 router bit to cut the slot to the legs to accommodate acrylic sheets.
Acrylic acid is 0.
110 ", the bit is 0.
125 "so it's perfect.
I run the router at the slowest speed and am very careful because it is easy to break such a thin router.
Insert the acrylic sheet into the column.
It's a bit tricky to do this without the assistant providing an extra pair of hands, but I managed to do it on my own.
Then insert the bottom and top into dad, screw the post to the bottom and top, and fix everything together.
I applied a spar polyurethane on the inside of each grille.
This is an important issue, because the acrylic sheet hinders the inside of the walnut, it is impossible to apply the finish after the assembly is completed.
I carefully marked the mortises of the walnut label with a knife and a chisel.
I put the grille on the column so that the bottom of the grille is about 6 "from the bottom of the column ".
Then I used a 3/8 spiral router.
Cut, Cut for walnut label.
I cleaned mortises with a chisel and finally cleaned it with tight fit.
It took me about 30 minutes to prepare mortises for each side.
Then I stuck the walnut in the right place.
I'm a bit aggressive, just clip them together for 30 minutes while I'm preparing for the other side, then remove the clip so I can clip it on the other side.
Then I let everything sit together for the night so the glue can heal.
I decided to put the lights on the patio stone so that the legs would not have direct contact with the soil.
I first drilled a hole in the corner of the patio stone (
After marking the position of each leg).
Then I put the lights in place and drilled a 1/4 hole in my leg.
I used 3 bolts of 1/2 "1/4" to extend from the bottom of the patio stone to each leg.
There is a nut that holds the bolt in place and it also keeps the separation between the wooden legs and the patio stone.
Assuming the 12 v DC line is in place, just connect the lights with a few wire nuts.
Wrap wire nuts with black tape to protect them from moisture.
Turn on the power of the lights to make sure they are wired correctly.
You will be happy how they look!
I am very pleased with the design of the Spanish cedar and the way the light reflects.
If you want to see me do this, you can follow it here on YouTube.