Cedar Lamp With Built in Candle Holder

I had an idea for a lamp that would also hold a candle. After a quick trip to the 'At Home' store around the corner, I saw the most variety in 3" pillar candles, so that's where started. Here we can see from a single fence picket: a 3.5" x 3.5" top, two 3.5" x 16" sides, two 4.5" x 16" front and back, and finally a 5.5" x 6.5" bottom cut from a scrap of 1x6 I had laying around.

A side goal of this project was to have no exposed fasteners, so I started with gluing the front to the two sides. This is why the front and back are 4.5", to cover the additional thickness of the two sides. I ended up using a total of four clamps, and plain old elmers white glue. This needs to dry overnight.

I then slid in the top. I wanted it recessed, you'll see why a bit later. I did not glue this in just in case it needed to be adjusted later

I spray painted a 1/2" galvanized floor flange black and marked my hole for the lamp wires...

... and drilled another hole at the base for a power cord.

I attached the flange with some no. 10 x 1" sheet metal screws. I don't really like the look of these, they will probably get painted later. I added a 1/2" NPT-to-3/8" tubing adapter from the plumbing section at Lowes

I bent this gooseneck out of 3/8" brass brake line. a 5' piece cost $12 at the auto parts store. Here you can see a tubing bender I bought off ebay for $25 and a standard tubing cutter from most any hardware store.

Confession: I used to do this professionally when i was a sensor/automation technician, so I have a 'leg up' on this type of work. If you don't want to learn tubing, try making the same setup out of black or galvanized pipe

I drilled the bottom of the light bulb socket with a 3/8" bit to fit the tubing, and then tightened the set screw. This socket does NOT have a switch, I will put it on an Echo Smart-plug in my bedroom. I ran into a problem getting my power cord to fit thru the tubing, so I grabbed some old lamp cord that would pass thru the tubing. This will require a splice inside an approved electrical box, hidden inside the lamp. Again my apologies for not taking pics of the splice/junction box.

Observe polarity on all your conductors including the lamp cord. The hot side is smooth and the neutral side is ribbed.

Slide the lamp cord thru the pipe adapter and into the lamp box.

This is a cloth covered extension cord from Amazon. I cut off the female end and stripped the wires for splicing inside a small metal box with cover using wire nuts (as mentioned above). If you get the right cord in the first place you're way ahead of me.

Here you can see me using two zip ties connected in a loop. This will be the cable strain relief for my power cord.

I attached the back with some No 8 x 1.5" square drive screws similar to pocket hole screws. PRE-DRILL YOUR HOLES so you don't split the wood this close to the edge. This is a good time to test your wiring. If all is good, go ahead and tighten up your pipe adapter where it meets the brake line.

A bit of trial and error here: I marked the bottom for screws to attach it to the lamp box. I used ordinary No. 8 x 1.5" exterior drywall screws (because that's what I had close by). Again, PRE-DRILL your holes. It will keep the cedar from splitting.

I had a small wire frame candle holder I added a simple red votive to. I like that I can change out colors with the seasons etc. My original idea was to put a glass candle holder in here, but have yet to find a 3" square one.

And here it is lit up. I think the gooseneck may be a bit tall for me, so If I change it I'll edit the post and pictures as well. I can see a larger one going in my living room asap. I'll probably use pine 1x4s for a larger structure. I really enjoy the look of treated pine with Minwax Espresso stain applied.

PLEASE ask any questions you might have or email coxster@yahoo.com if I can help. If you try this please post your results in the comment section.