Japenese style lamps

[Josh Goldsmith]

I have been really getting into woodworking now and everything i see i want to make regardless if i have the abilities to actually do it.:D Recently i saw an awesome lamp that was made out of all wood. Yes that does include the lamp shade was made out of wood also. I guess just really thin so the light would shine through. Have any of you made some of these? How thin would the wood have to be for light to shine through? What about rice paper? The pics below i believe is made with rice paper, i think. Any bit of info would be appreciated! Thanks

[Michael Ballent]

Those look really cool. However, they would be challenging to build. For example, the wire looks like it's being fed up inside the post, which looks very tiny.

As far as getting thin wood, I would guess that you would need to take your flashlight to the WW store and head over to the veneer section and start flashing them to see which one allows light through... :D

I would love the details involved to build one of these. They are purty ;)

[Lee DeRaud]

Those look really cool. However, they would be challenging to build. For example, the wire looks like it's being fed up inside the post, which looks very tiny.There are two posts: split the wire back all the way to the base and run one half up each post...can probably get away with a 1/8" hole up each post.

[Don Baer]

I agree with Lee. Split the wire. One more thing I would do is drill a hole or cut a slot in the base for the wire instead of running it over the base. It would look much cleaner to me.

[John D Watson]

I have seen that rice paper murals and wall hangings have become more popular these days. It may be a good place to look for your shade material.

[Michael Ballent]

hehehe, someone has their thinking cap on :D ... Note to self buy a good thinking cap :p


There are two posts: split the wire back all the way to the base and run one half up each post...can probably get away with a 1/8" hole up each post.

[Josh Goldsmith]

Have any of you ever used rice paper? Is it flexible or is it britle? No one that is part of SMC has ever made one of these or something similar? They look easy to make but for some reason i think i might be fooled. Thanks Josh

[Jamie Buxton]

Standard sliced veneer is typically .025" thick. I once tried making a lamp shade with it. I did not find any species which transmitted enough light. For that lamp I eventually developed a design with overlapping slats, so the light kinda dodges its way through the spaces, and does not go through the wood.

I've seen photos of shades which are apparently wood. My guess is that the wood is laminated to some other material like plastic. I'd guess that the wood needs to be down in the .005" range or less. When I pull fine shavings off the hand plane and hold them up to a light, a few mils seems to be what's necessary. Perhaps one could first laminate the veneer to the plastic, and then use a thickness sander to thin the wood.

Rice paper is a standard material for shoji screens and lamp shades. It is flexible, just like most other kinds of paper. A related material is plastic which looks like rice paper. It is stronger, and is often used on shoji screens.

[Mark Singer]

To run the wire, rip a post in have ....ron a small dado wide enough for the wire and glue back together....There are interesting papers for shades...I have not tried veneer

[Mike Cutler]

Josh. Even though these aren't Oriental style lamps. This guy does some incredible work with wooden lampshades.

He does alot of the New England Art shows, and I've seen his stuff a few times in person. It's incredible. I know it isn't exactly what you are looking for, but.....

http://www.woodshades.com/

[Roger Barga]

Your choice of materials depends how much light you want to shine through. For the first lamp pictured below I went to an artist supply store and purchased a sheet of hand made paper that included pressed leaves and flowers ($3/sheet). There was ample material in this sheet for several lights and I ended up using two layers for the shade because one layer was a bit too bright for the effect I wanted. It provides ample light for shuffling around the room in the middle of the night w/o turning on a light.

The second lamp, which is not my design, uses standard veneer (cedar), but I have experimented with birds eye maple and laurel burl and they look nice. The image is a paper cutout affixed to the back of the sheet of veneer. I've had good results coating the veneer with a thin layer of two part epoxy and and press it over a form until dry. I put a layer of wax paper or plastic on the top and bottom to keep it from sticking to the form. A 2" wide nylon strap wrapped tightly around the form provides clamping pressure while the epoxy dries. The result is a relatively durable shade that holds its shape.

Roger

[Dan Forman]

Any hints on joinery for these delicate structures? On my to do list also.

Dan

[Roger Barga]

You will find a number of project plans and techniques described in the book: "Making Japanese-Style Lamps and Laterns" by Edward R. Turner.

roger