Quick & dirty telescoping lamp

[kday]

I've been lurking on this forum on and off for a while, and after I threw together this project yesterday it occurred to me that you guys might appreciate it. I'm sure I'm not the only one here with a pile of old brake rotors and some scrap EMT conduit lying around!

This lamp is made from an outdoor fluorescent floodlight ($25 on Amazon), a few bucks worth of fittings from the hardware store, and scrap:

The 1/2 conduit telescopes inside the 3/4 conduit by way of a 1/2 EMT compression coupler (the center stop was removed on a lathe) epoxied into a 3/4 rigid coupler and a 3/4 compression fitting.

I went with the epoxy because it's too cold outside to experiment with welding galvanized pot metal

The base is an old brake rotor from the front of a Miata and some 3/16" steel scrap:

When extended to full height, the base starts to get marginal. I just grabbed the rotor on the top of the pile. A slightly larger one might be better. This one would be overkill though:

Anyway this is providing me some much needed additional lighting in my tiny garage. It seems to be working well, though I think I might shorten the tube a bit, to allow the light to be closer to the floor.

I need to find a grommet for the cord, other than that it's done. I'm pretty happy with it for the hour I have invested in it.

 

[DoyleDee]

Nice first post...... I like that idea, and I would use a bigger rotor just to make it more stable.

 

[cowboy73]

I like it! Now you just need to paint it.

 

[kevin206]

I think that I'll have to put this idea to work. i work at a brake testing facility, so I have dozens of rotors each week. Plenty of conduit ends up in the scrap bins as well. i just have to score the light and some connectors.

 

[kday]

I like it! Now you just need to paint it.

Heh, not really my style. I hate painting. Plus it would probably interfere with the telescoping action, which right now is really smooth.

 

[Dale B]

I'm sure he meant the rusty rotor .......

 

[srmofo]

If you have a matching rotor, you can try doubling them up and placing a few tacks to hold them together. The extra weight should make it more stable without taking up a bigger foot print

 

[BigAl62]

Great idea and great first post! I'm going to have to "borrow" that idea!

 

[5lima30]

Very resourceful idea! Keep up the good work!

 

[kday]

If you have a matching rotor, you can try doubling them up and placing a few tacks to hold them together. The extra weight should make it more stable without taking up a bigger foot print

I think this one will should work fine -- I will probably shorten the pole anyway, and it's only unstable when it's 6-7' tall. I have at least a dozen old rotors outside my garage and most of them are larger than this one, but all of the larger ones have a different bolt circle so I won't be able to interchange without redrilling the holes.

I'm thinking about making a second one with two lamp heads. I could use one of the 323mm rotors I have for that, which is something like 3" wider than that Miata rotor...

 

[Richard Cranium]

nice job of recycling

 

[e-tek]

That works!

I just bought a 2-lamp stand for $20 in Canada, which would be about $12 in the US, so unless you have all the stuff on-hand.....

 

[bobadame]

I posted these pictures in another thread but it fits here too. The red lamp is adjustable up and down. Works well under the hood of a car and it will go low enough to reach under the car too.

 

[kday]

That works!

I just bought a 2-lamp stand for $20 in Canada, which would be about $12 in the US, so unless you have all the stuff on-hand.....

That's no fun! If I bought one all of the design defects would bug me, instead of being natural limitations of the materials

I don't care for the halogen work lights -- they get too hot. I looked for a reasonably priced fluorescent one before I decided to build this one.

(I assume you mean a US store would sell your lamp cheaper? When I was in Canada a few weeks ago the exchange rate was close to parity.)

 

[kday]

I posted these pictures in another thread but it fits here too. The red lamp is adjustable up and down. Works well under the hood of a car and it will go low enough to reach under the car too.

That's cool. What do you use the magnifier for? I have one on my electronics bench for fine pitch soldering, but I'm not sure what you'd want to roll it around for.

 

[bobadame]

That's cool. What do you use the magnifier for? I have one on my electronics bench for fine pitch soldering, but I'm not sure what you'd want to roll it around for.

I couldn't decide where to mount it so I made it portable. When I'm using my mill I use it to check a mill cutter for sharpness. On the other end of the shop is my work bench. Sometimes I need it there.

 

[BWS]

Nice.

We'd run into it and break it.......'cause thats what we do.If you can find a wheel that matches rotor's bolt pattern...that would be one way of increasing weight/footprint if needed.Good luck,BW

 

[sberry]

I have several lamps like thsat, put wheels on them too.

 

[LutzTD]

I like it. its funny I was watching Runaway Bride yesterday and the charactor Maggie (Julia, the reason I was watching) made lamps from bendy conduit and junction boxes. I was just thinking those would make great bench lights in a shop, this would be right in line