If you are tired of buying retail nautical table lamps, consider making your own. The part of a table lamp will not bust your wallet, and you can recycle or reuse household items or hardware from other projects to make delicious and original table lamps. With a little ingenuity, an everyday object can be a creative source of light for your home.

Instructions

Screw 1 ft. Long piece of copper pipe into the copper pipe flange. These flanges are flat, heavy and circular and have a hole to screw in the tube in the middle. They are usually used to connect the pipe to flat surfaces. Make sure the copper pipe is sealed in the flange — lift the combination of the tube and shake it vigorously. It should not nautical table lamps grind or cause noise. You can pick up copper pipes and flanges at your local hardware store.

Release the plug end of your nautical table lamps socket stub on top of the tube. Lower it through the tube and out through the bottom of the flange. When you mount the assembly, it will lean aside due to the cord. Locate one of the screw holes in your flange — cut the edge of the flange with your pipe cutter, create a curve containing one of the screw holes. The thread should fit in this curve and allow the unit to sit flat.

Push the light socket on the top of the copper pipe securely into the tube — approximately 1/2 inch of the socket should be visible above the edge of the copper pipe. Remove the socket from the pipe, run a string of glue around the inside of the tube and replace the socket in the tube. The glue should put for an hour. Screw your nautical table lamps into the light socket and plug in your lamp. If you like this industrial look, improve it by using a small globe bulb, a chandelier flicker lamp or an un-frosted bulb so you can see the threads.

Tips and warnings

Versions of this project include salad bowls or vases with holes drilled in the bottom. Hang the socket up and down and you have a large-scale projector. Drill a hole in the side of a ceramic mug for socket wire and you have a whimsical desk lamp. Slip the socket down through a cleaned and drilled cognac lamp, terracotta pot with holes drilled in the sides, or plate-hole with hole-punch pattern. You can also use Bunsen burner stands and closed incense holders to keep your bulbs.