Industrial Cast Iron Pulley Edison Lamp - Metal & Woodworking How To
3 Materials
$50
8 Hours
Medium
In this video I make a pulley styled lamp from an old treadle sewing machine base.
This is a pretty straight forward project. I tried to cover all of the steps to make it achievable for just about anybody.
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Here's the accompanying video for the project.
First I disassembled the old treadle base to get to the middle section and pulley. The side panels of the base were cracked so the casting was no longer good for supporting a table.
I removed the pulley wheel and extracted the center arbor. Then I looked for a good location for the pulley. Locating it on the center truss portion of the treadle base can be tricky. On this project there was a threaded knob that I worked very well as a mount.
I found a old bolt in my scrap bin that matched the threads. I had to cut it down with my hacksaw to make it fit.
The center arbor location need a bushing. I also found the bushing in one of my parts organizers. The bushing allowed me to mount the pulley firmly.
I found and marked the appropriate location to cut the truss. I also used my right angle grinder with the DIABLO Round Corner flap disc to reproduce the original profile in the casting.
I placed the cast pulley assembly on the plank of wood to find the correct locations to cut and drill. I used the original bolts to mount the cast assembly. I had to used a countersink bit to recess the bolt into the wood. I used a 3/4" countersink bit.
The cut end was too new looking. So I distressed it with a rock. I used stain and a black Sharpie marker to match the rest the plank's surface. used a
I cut a channel into the back of the plank to make room for the lamp cord.
I used a common keyhole router bit to cut the keyhole mounting locations.
I lightly sanded the lumber to remove loose wood. I then applied two coats of water based polyurethane (satin) to both side
I painted the cast iron with satin finish black spray paint. After it dried I began to assemble the lamp.
I disassembled the lamp cord so I could fish it through the back of the wood. I located it in the middle so it would go up and over the cast pulley.
And here's the finished project. There are more details in the video. I always appreciate comments and a thumbs up!
Please watch the video for more details.
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4 comments
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Awesome! I love pulley lights! This would look great anywhere!
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I love it, it looks very nice ,but why put it on the pulley and glue the cord in. I thought maybe you would make it so you could pull it up and down.
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Good idea. I never would have thought of that.
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