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Japanese lamp from recycled materials

by PKM on May 28, 2008

Table of Contents

intro: Japanese lamp from recycled materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1: Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 2: Make a frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 3: Motif, part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

step 4: Motif, part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

step 5: Skin it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

step 6: Make some more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

step 7: Wire it up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

step 8: Make the base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

step 9: Attach the sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

step 10: Switch on, stand back, admire! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

step 11: Reader submissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Customized Instructable T-shirts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
intro: Japanese lamp from recycled materials
A cheap but attractive paper "shoji" style lamp that uses mostly recycled parts and is easy to put together.

DISCLAIMER 1: The overall design (and possibly the whole idea) of this lamp was influenced by atarax's shoji lamp Instructable. The motif on the side was influenced by
Nick Falzone's superb Sangaku and Yuugou case mods. I did not steal either of their ideas.

DISCLAIMER 2: This is probably one of the safer non-computer Instructables I've written. However, hot glue is hot, scissors are pointy, bamboo can give nasty splinters
and this Instructable involves wiring a mains lightbulb socket. If you are unsure of how to do that safely, I disclaim all responsibility for electrical mishaps.

DISCLAIMER 3: Yes, I got the parts images from Google image search because I built this thing before taking the photos, and couldn't be bothered taking photos of a
light socket and corrugated cardboard. If I am using your image and you would rather I didn't, let me know and I'll replace it with one of my own.

Image Notes
1. The finished article. Ignore the gaps around the edges, I made mine in a rush.

step 1: Materials
You will need the following.

Tools:

Glue gun
Craft knives
Scissors
Diagonal/wire cutters or nail clippers

Materials:

Strong corrugated cardboard, preferably 2-layer

Paper- I used regular lined paper but if you wanted to be fancy you could used textured craft paper or tracing paper
Bamboo/wooden chopsticks or kebab skewers
Straight batten lightbulb socket
Plug
A couple of metres of flex (2-core or 3-core is ok)
(optional) Inline switch
Lightbulb- I use an 11W CFL, I'm not happy about the idea of an incandescent bulb in a box made of paper

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Image Notes
1. Only one layer- the double-layer stuff they move furniture in is a lot tougher

Image Notes
1. Torpedo switch.

Image Notes
1. Replace with locally appropriate plug.

Image Notes
1. I used this sort, they aren't the most sturdy but you can cut them with nail
clippers and they bend nicely if you want a curvy design. Also they cost about a
penny each.
2. This sort would make a much stronger lamp.

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Image Notes
1. Textured paper would be nice but it has to be thin enough to let light through-
tracing paper would be good, I used thin lined paper.

step 2: Make a frame

Before doing this you will need to decide how big you want your lamp to be. You are constrained by the length of your chosen framing material (unless you want to go
hardcore woodwork and make joints) and the size of your paper. I chose a shape a little smaller than the A4 paper I was using in roughly the same aspect ratio. If you are
very keen on mathematical aesthetics you might like to use the golden ratio, but a slightly tall rectangle is generally a good way to go. Avoid a shape wider than it is tall,
your lamp will look squat and weird.

Cut two stick-like things (hereafter referred to as "sticks") to the height of your frame and two to the width of a side.

Glue a short stick to a long stick. (Image 1)

Glue another short stick to the free end of the long stick, then get as right-angley as possible and glue the remaining long stick between the two short sticks. (Image 2)

Image Notes
1. The surface is the side panel of my beige Viglen case- the metal is heat-
resistant and hard to glue stuff to, so makes a good glue gun table.
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 2. Glue.
3. In these photos I am actually making a square panel for the lid of the lamp but
pretend this side is longer than the other one.
Image Notes
1. Try and get the angles to 90 degrees before finally gluing this joint up,
consistency will make your life easier later on.
2. Good nail clippers are good at cutting thin bamboo skewers, but watch out for
flying bits.

step 3: Motif, part 1

Now you have to decide what, if any, motif you want on the side of the . I used this asymmetric square pattern because I liked the way it looks- anything within the bounds
of reason that you can construct with a glue gun and bamboo skewers, go for it. I will provide instructions on how to construct this motif which can be generalised to many
rectilinear patterns.

I was intending for the small rectangle in the middle of the motif to be square, but screwed up my measurements, and by complete chance it ended up having the same
aspect ratio as the side which actually looks much better. The exact lengths are unimportant but I will assume you have "short motif sticks" and "long motif sticks".

Measure one short motif stick length from one long side of the frame, at the top and bottom (Images 1 and 2). Glue a long motif stick to one of the points you just marked,
along the line connecting the two points. (Image 3)

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Mark here... 1. .. and here...

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Image Notes
1. I couldn't find a pen to mark with so used my Super Manly Bowie Knife instead.
2. Mark 1- glue here
3. Mark 2
4. Eventually one of the other length of stick will be glued here, hence the
measured gap.
5. The frame has been rotated 90 degrees from the previous picture

Image Notes
1. Hopefuly this is more helpful than confusing....
2. Mark 1
3. Mark 2
4. The first stick you glue in
5. Second mark 1
6. Second mark 2
7. Second stick to glue in

step 4: Motif, part 2

Essentially, repeat the process at 90 degrees to the first stick- measure away from one edge with sticks of one length and glue a stick of the other length along the line.
(Image 1)

Repeat for the remaining sticks, gluing all the points they meet at. (Image 2)

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Image Notes
Image Notes 1. Again, pretend it isn't square, for the moment...
1. Mark 1, glue again
2. Mark 2
3. Glue here after gluing at mark 1
4. It skins b'ars, it guts fish, it saws wood, it opens beer! Is there anything it doesn't
do?

step 5: Skin it
Now you should have a glued-up frame. Admire its spindly beauty.

Now grab a piece of paper and lay it on top of the frame. (You can turn the frame over if you are worried about the "handedness" of your motif, ie it doesn't have reflective
symmetry). Apply dabs of hot glue along one of the short sides of the frame to stick the paper to it. Work towards the other end, tacking the paper with dots of glue-
seams are unnecessary and get strands of glue everywhere unless you're very handy with a glue gun, and the paper isn't structural so enough to keep it held to the
frame is ok. (Image 1)

Once the glue is set, trim the paper along the edges of the frame, as neatly as you can because this will be on the outside of the lamp. (Images 2, 3)

Image Notes
1. This picture was pretty hard to take given I'm right handed and didn't use a
tripod :)

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Image Notes
1. Nice and trimmed- the edges of this frame are on the outside so try to keep it
neat.

step 6: Make some more

Yep- time to make three more side panels and a top panel if you so desire, exactly the same way as last time. I made all the frames in one go and then skinned and
trimmed them, it's a little less frustrating if you are only doing one task at a time.

step 7: Wire it up
First, strip the outer insulation of your flex a few cm, and strip the individual wires' insulation about a cm (no more, the more you strip the higher the chance of a short. If
there is exposed copper outside the cable connectors you should trim the stripped conductor). Wire one end of the flex into the socket- a plastic batten socket is unlikely
to require an earth connection.

Strip the other end of the flex similarly and wire the plug. Check that an appropriate fuse is installed- you should only need a 1 Amp fuse for an 11W CFL, but higher
wattages (especially in 110V mains areas) will probably need a 3A fuse. If you have a 13A fuse replace it with a lower value.

Install the torpedo switch close to the socket end of the flex if you desire. You can now plug it in and perform a quick test to check all your electrical parts work- if it's
going to catch fire, better to do it while it isn't glued into a box made of paper and cardboard.

step 8: Make the base

Cut out some squares of corrugated cardboard the same width as the width of your side panels. Laminate them with more glue gun glue, alternating the direction (or
"grain") of the cardboard for maximum strength. I recommend at least two layers of double-layer cardboard or four layers of regular (like in the image).

Cut a shallow groove from one edge of the base to roughly the centre, to accommodate the flex. Glue the batten socket into the middle of the base with the flex in the
groove.

Image Notes
1. Only one layer- the double-layer stuff they move furniture in is a lot tougher

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Image Notes
1. Shallow groove for flex
2. Crazy European lightbulbs!

step 9: Attach the sides

Assemble the sides of the lamp around the base and mark where the corners sit. Now run a seam of hot glue along the inside edge where the base of each side panel
meets the base, and up the insides of the side edges. Don't glue the base on, as you will need to remove it to change the bulb.

Image Notes
1. Glue along here- I didn't because I'm lazy so used a lot of sellotape and stuck
bits of skewer in at the corners.
2. Ratty-ass old armchair inherited with the house..

step 10: Switch on, stand back, admire!

And you're done!

A few notes- the lamp is very light and not very strong, so don't put it somewhere it will get knocked around. With an 11W CFL it gives a soft glow that is ok to read by but
won't light up a whole room brightly.

Running for an hour with the lid on, the paper on the lid was slightly warm to the touch and the sides were room temperature so it's probably safe to leave on for long
periods, but if you are using an incandescent bulb I would suggest not using the lid.

The lamp is not at all fire safe- don't even think about using a naked flame or other combustion-based source of light in this rather than the lightbulb. Again I
accept no responsibility for what you do outside the scope of these instructions.

Image Notes
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 1. It's not this dim in real life, I underexposed this to show what the lamp looks
like to a human eye

Image Notes
1. The finished article, rather badly lit

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Image Notes
1. Mmm, soft diffuse light
2. Hilariously rickety DIY cardboard shelves. Yep, I keep my soldering iron and
calculator on home-made cardboard shelves. Form an orderly queue, ladies.

step 11: Reader submissions

More than any other Instructable I have written, this one seems to have inspired people to try it out for themselves. These pictures were submitted by four readers who
built their own lamps, and all added something to the design.

Thanks to all of them for sharing their work and inspiring me to keep making projects!

Image Notes
1. IcarusOne used balsa sticks, so his lamp came out a lot straighter than mine,
and added feet to give a little clearance underneath the lamp.
Image Notes
1. cubester808 used translucent paper, so you can see the bulb inside the lamp-
this would go well with multiple lamps, or (if you were brave enough) a candle or
oil lamp.

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Image Notes
1. Flying_carrot went with a triangular design that sits well in a corner of a room
for his lamp.

Image Notes
1. bobBooth took the geometry to the next level with this impressive icosahedron
lampshade using a similar construction technique.

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Reduce Your Beautiful lamp The Popsicle
made from trash Lamp by Taga-
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lamp by atarax lamp by atarax by fungus by j626no Fluorescentize Chairs 101 by
amungus Your House by wholman
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 93 comments

Negotive00 says: Dec 12, 2008. 3:47 PM REPLY

I just finished making my version, heres the pics :) i liked the sepia pic so i added that one with the color one.

kamuimask says: Jan 5, 2009. 12:22 AM REPLY

Wow, nicely done. I've just started getting materials for mine. Just wondering, how did you do the lighting inside the lamp?

Negotive00 says: Jan 7, 2009. 3:14 AM REPLY

i took one of those 3 way pole lamps and gutted it for parts, i attached the lighting units to dowels with screws, then hot glued the dowels to the sides
of the inside, i like the way each one has a switch on the back so i can turn on one or all three.. ill post a pic later, im just getting ready for work now :)

strider_14 says: Jan 2, 2009. 9:37 PM REPLY

This looks awesome, and I SO want to make one; Im just a little iffy on some of the electrical work.

Is there another instructable or external site you can refer me to for more info on wiring everything? I checked some of the other lamps people have done,
but I can't find any that have a full wiring tutorial including bulb socket, switch and plug. Thanks for any advice you might have. Props again for the awesome
work.

PKM says: Jan 3, 2009. 2:28 PM REPLY

but I can't find any that have a full wiring tutorial including bulb socket, switch and plug.

I'm totally on it- I can write up wiring the electricals for the next one I build, which might be soon because it's depressingly dark at this time of year.

zzzxtreme says: Dec 19, 2008. 1:08 AM REPLY

thanks very beautiful and cheap. a lil bit of chinese brush stroke would be awesome

PKM says: Dec 19, 2008. 3:58 AM REPLY

I did think of that- possibly the next one I build will have one, I discovered that charring the end of one of these sticks makes a nice charcoal pencil that's
great for that sort of drawing.

(Discovered while trying to draw a stencil of a picture of the lamp on some wax paper so I could bleach a t-shirt with it... mm, instructo-incestual)

musicalbee2003 says: Jun 17, 2008. 6:18 PM REPLY

I made one, and it looks...decent (*%#@&~$ hot glue cobweb thingies!). Made an interesting discovery. I used tracing paper, but it was too thin. So I glued two sheets together, and
when it dried I had a sweet panel with a spiral pattern! It looks awesome. Unfortunately, my camera hates me, so I can't post a picture. It turned out pretty sweet! Serendipity rules.

DuctTapeRules! says: Dec 18, 2008. 11:43 PM REPLY

Me too! Hot glue EVERYWHERE! My one was too short for the lightbulb and poked a hole in it but it looked OK. I just used normal A4 printer paper

katicks says: Dec 7, 2008. 8:34 PM REPLY

i try make the lamp,yesterday. but i don't use bamboo. the lamp look good.

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 PKM says: Dec 8, 2008. 3:46 AM REPLY
Glad to hear it. As always I'd love to see pictures of the finished item if you wanted to upload some.

Lucazio says: Dec 3, 2008. 9:04 PM REPLY

Are you sure that you're not secretly a ninja or something because that is SO COOL. One question: would it be easy to make a battery powered version?
(with a smaller bulb)

PKM says: Dec 4, 2008. 4:05 AM REPLY

It should be, if you have the circuit to power the battery-powered bulb. One thing to think about is that the paper blocks quite a bit of the light (I randomly
guess about "half", whatever that means) so if it's not a very bright bulb you won't get a very bright lamp.

cowscankill says: Dec 3, 2008. 2:39 PM REPLY

I want to make, but I don't-- I DO! I have a lamp! I WANNA DO THIS!!!

I don't have bamboo though...And actually, it's kinda big. I want to modify the design.

PKM says: Dec 4, 2008. 4:01 AM REPLY

And actually, it's kinda big. I want to modify the design.

Go right ahead- see the last step, several people have made their own with different designs and they are all cool. A bag of a hundred skewers cost me
something like 99p, or you could use all sorts of other materials.

mistercow.pnoy says: Sep 11, 2008. 4:46 PM REPLY

What is "Flex"?

PKM says: Sep 11, 2008. 5:18 PM REPLY

The word "flex" is UKinese, as bumpus would put it- in UK parlance, "cable" is thick high-gauge wire used in fixed locations (eg behind walls) to wire up
electrical sockets and fixed appliances where the wiring doesn't have to move, and the thinner more flexible wire used to connect to movable appliances
like lamps is called "flex".

Shut Up Now says: Nov 26, 2008. 8:35 PM REPLY

are u from the uk. well considering the pic of the plug, and the use of the word flex, i think you are. great instructable. maybe i should make i small
one for my desk. that would be cool dont you think? i really wanna make one of theses when i get time

PKM says: Dec 2, 2008. 3:16 AM REPLY

Yep, I'm from the UK. I'm thinking of making a desk lamp similar to this actually (once I buy a desk) so if I do I'll write it up.

bumpus says: Sep 14, 2008. 4:32 PM REPLY

:D

StarFace says: Nov 20, 2008. 1:01 PM REPLY

This lamp is ace!

And just to let you all know... anyone that wants LED lights go for ebay! You can get quite a lot of them for really quite cheap!

Alternatively if you live in the UK, look in places like Wilkinsons- you can usually get strings of LED lights for around 2quid... they are usually star shaped or
whatever but often come with a small box attached so you can turn them on and off/control brightness etc... another alternative to think about might be
putting fairy lights inside because the bulbs are easily replaceable, they would provide different colours for a cool variation and are very, VERY cheap!Plus
with fairy lights you can usually program them using the little box (if there is one attached) so you wouldn't just have a lamp, you'd have a light show - Would
probably make a really nice night-light for a child actually

Hope this helped anybody x

how_may_i_help_you says: Dec 1, 2008. 4:16 PM REPLY

wow, I haven't heard anyone say "ace" for years

afterZtheZsnow says: Nov 26, 2008. 4:59 PM REPLY

this is SO AWESOME! I'm going to try it! XD

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 BobBooth says: Nov 21, 2008. 3:18 AM REPLY
This instructable inspired me to build a free-hanging icosahedron version; 15 cm sticks for the triangle edges worked out to a good size. The parchment
paper I had on hand wouldn't stick to the hot glue, so I went with regular A4 printer paper. 14 Watt CFL inside. Thanks, it was a lot of fun!

mironman says: Nov 19, 2008. 9:49 AM REPLY

awesome im soooo going to make this

flying_carrot says: Nov 15, 2008. 9:52 AM REPLY

Hey! I just have made my lamp, but I decided to make it in some other shape. Take a look and tell me what you think.

flying_carrot says: Nov 14, 2008. 9:17 AM REPLY

This lamp is so awesome! I will make it soon, but before that I have one question. How to blend together all sides of lamp on the easiest way?

PKM says: Nov 14, 2008. 10:14 AM REPLY

Thanks!

That's a question I wondered about while I was designing it, actually. If you wanted the frame to look really consistent you could build it all as one part
and add the paper skin inside when it was complete- that would be harder than my method but would give neater looking edges.

My edges don't quite meet up because the skewers I used bent a little- if you used stiffer bamboo chopsticks, for instance, the edges could probably be
much straighter and could be make to match up better. I'd be interested to know how it goes for you so I could possibly improve the design.

Carlos Marmo says: Oct 30, 2008. 3:46 PM REPLY

Wonderful Work!

Congratulations!

Rmg12 says: Oct 18, 2008. 4:39 AM REPLY

wow cheap, easy and looks boss!

rak says: Sep 27, 2008. 9:21 AM REPLY

the led is a good idea.
can u make it hanging, and hide the batteries... in a "fake bottom" that is easily accessible? makes changing the batteries and fixing it a lot easier.
also, can it be done with a string of leds?

corey11 says: Sep 27, 2008. 7:31 PM REPLY

yea you figure it would, just line the sides with leds and it should be good. But i cant find leds anywhere so you will have to order them off the internet.
here is a link...
http://www.theledlight.com/5mmwhleds.html

rak says: Sep 28, 2008. 7:25 AM REPLY

are we talking about some special leds here?
and do they have any that come in super high output? -- might make it work out

gandalfsz says: Jun 1, 2008. 1:40 AM REPLY

You could take baking paper. I think it would look cool and it is resistant to heat too. To make it look even better you could ball it up and unball ( Is this an
english word ?) it again.
Greetz Daniel

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 skill3 says: Jun 8, 2008. 2:37 PM REPLY
By "baking paper" do you mean parchment paper? I think that would be brilliant, it's silicon impregnated, meant to bake on, translucent, even "fancy"
looking. It does have a bit of a sheen to it however, if you're concerned with the aesthetics.

gandalfsz says: Jun 9, 2008. 12:39 PM REPLY

Yes I meant parchment paper. But LEO (Translation Tool) said that baking paper is also correct). Sorry for bad my English but I am still learning.
greetz daniel

shooby says: Sep 11, 2008. 2:32 PM REPLY

This is cool. Are the sections proportional to Shoji (tatami mats)? If not they should be.

That would be square of 1x1, rectangle of 2x1

PKM says: Sep 11, 2008. 4:00 PM REPLY

They aren't- I was working to several different constraints, mathematical, aesthetic and practical in nature, so did what anyone sensible would and
eyeballed it all :)

The paper is A4, which has an aspect ratio of (root 2) to 1 (210 to 297mm as I remember), the skewers are 300mm and I wanted to waste as little as
possible, I wanted a nice aesthetic shape (possibly close to the golden ratio) and I wanted the small rectangle in the middle to be square.

As it turned out, I did my maths slightly wrong and the small rectangle in the middle is the same shape as the lamp, which looks way better than what I
intended to do. Long story short, it was a lot of guesswork and what looked right.

I'm planning another one, so perhaps the next will be taller and thinner.

shooby says: Sep 11, 2008. 4:06 PM REPLY

Hey, as long as you were thinking about it. Good job.

F-17 says: Aug 5, 2008. 7:36 PM REPLY

how long does the outer edge have to be for each section?

znorris says: Jul 17, 2008. 2:12 PM REPLY

It could look good with a few LEDs. Looks a little to bright to me. Anyway, badass, i love it, keep it up!

PKM says: Jul 17, 2008. 4:06 PM REPLY

If it looks overly bright that's probably because my camera didn't cope very well with taking photos of the room's main light source- it's really not very
bright, and such a diffuse light that you can comfortably look straight at it even with no other lights on. I considered making a bunch of smaller ones but it
would be a lot of effort :P

Thanks for the feedback!

znorris says: Jul 17, 2008. 4:55 PM REPLY

Oh aight great! I haven't made any of the countless instructables i have bookmarked but i might just do this one. :)

I was actually thinking of how cool those could be outside but im not sure if you could use the same materials. Then my thought was to take one of
the top pieces and make it a solar cell. That way its good looking and uses less power.

lego187 says: Jul 5, 2008. 11:57 PM REPLY

i bet it would look amazing with a black light light bulb in it.

n0ukf says: Jul 7, 2008. 12:37 PM REPLY

Different papers (as well as other materials) react differently to black light. You could have 2 sheets that look the same in normal lighting and yet in black
light one would glow and the other wouldn't. You'd also want to see what black light back-lighting does with your materials. You might end up with a light
that glows but otherwise blocks the UV from reaching anything else.

Lego man says: May 29, 2008. 5:15 PM REPLY

How much is it in American dollars? Very Cool! rated.

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/
 Etcetera says: May 29, 2008. 9:08 PM REPLY
Well, as the pound is about 2 times the US dollar, 10$. Might have altered a little in recent months, the dollar value so terribly unstable.

Lego man says: May 29, 2008. 9:40 PM REPLY

Thats what scares me.

PKM says: May 30, 2008. 4:30 AM REPLY

The paper and cardboard were effectively free, the bamboo skewers were £1 for 100 and you might have some lying around (or you could use
surplus bamboo chopsticks from chinese takeaway)- the electrical parts were what cost real money. IIRC the bulb holder was £1.50, the plug
was £1.00, the plug was another £1.50 and 2 metres of flex was £1.00 so the electrical parts together cost £5.00 or about $10 (I didn't use
a switch in the end). The CFL was another £3, though- ouch.

I got them from a fairly expensive small family-run store, though, so you might get them cheaper or you could always salvage them from broken
electrical stuff. I got a whole desk lamp that had all the parts you would need for this project (minus the bulb) for about £3 from Argos...

zachninme says: Jul 5, 2008. 8:04 PM REPLY

I think you could do this for under 5 USD. I think that some low-cost items don't easily scale price-wise.

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http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Japanese-lamp-from-recycled-materials/