With all the plumbing work I've been doing lately as a Bernzomatic Torchbearer, I wanted to create something a little artistic and crafty from the same material I'd been using on my home improvement projects.
There's just something satisfying about soldering copper pipe.
Smoke and flame.
Molten metal.
Copper plumbing work has an industrial, artistic beauty about it. It's too bad most of it ends up hidden, sealed inside walls. I've always loved the retro-tech look of Steampunk design.
Wikipedia says,
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.
Yeah, that.
Planning
I started sketching ideas for a Steampunk lamp that would use various sizes of copper pipe as well as interesting fittings and gadgets. I did the sketches before I went shopping for parts, so I knew I'd have to make some adjustments, depending on what doodads I could get my hands on.
With infinite combinations of tubing and fittings that I could put together, I knew I wanted a nice, stable base, probably up on legs. I'd figure out the rest as I went along and watched the piece develop.
I planned on doing neat, soldered joints and polishing the whole piece up when I was done, perhaps clear coating it with some sort of spray finish, to preserve the shine.
Creation
I returned from shopping with a bunch of fun pieces and parts to play with. More of the stuff was pulled from the AZ DIY Guy Strategic Parts Reserve , hidden in my garage workshop, waiting for a purpose.
I'd use various sizes of copper tubing (1/4", 1/2", and 3/4") to give the piece some interesting effects.
I started with prefabricating the leg pieces. I cut all the parts at once with a tubing cutter, to be sure they'd be uniform in size. It's tricky to measure parts later, when they are assembled.
Even though this assembly wouldn't need to be watertight, I followed the same plumbing steps anyway. After cleaning both of the mating surfaces with sandpaper or my wire brush, I applied a thin coating of flux.
I laid some heat on the fitting with my torch until the flux started to sizzle and bubble out of the gap.
Hot enough, and the solder instantly melts, getting sucked into the gap between the fitting and the tubing.
The best tool for the job is the Bernzomatic TS4000. This project required constant on-and-off heating as I made countless soldered connections (60 at last count!). The Bernzomatic TS4000 leaps instantly to fire-spewing life with the pull of the trigger. There's no valve knob to mess with, no sparker to fiddle with, and loose, just easy one-handed operation.
Nice legs, eh?
Although the TS4000 can use propane, I'd stepped it up to hotter burning MAP-Pro gas to fuel the flame. I was liquefying solder very quickly as I assembled piece after piece, following the same steps: clean, flux, heat, solder, and quench with a damp rag.
The Bernzomatic TS4000 soldering copper tubing
I don't remember when I decided against my original plan for a neat and clean finish. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with heavily soldered joints, the occasional drip and run of the molten silver metal, and the tarnished, discolored finish of the heated copper. I changed my approach, and went for a more rustic finish.
MAP-Pro cylinder. 100% more yellow than propane's
The lamp rapidly took shape, once the base was complete. The base was all 1/2" stock, with some extra pieces put in for interest. I'd added a ball valve, a threaded union, and a couple additional T's to add some cosmetic pieces too.
I toasted areas that looked too nice, occasionally adding a little more flux and solder, to distress it up. I even started torching the UPC stickers on the fittings, rather than peeling them off. The resulting scorched area really added to the distressed look.
This was one of those projects that was simply enjoyable. With some classic rock playing in the background, a few peaceful moments in the garage, playing grown-up Tinker Toys, creating a Sci-Fi piece of art was awesome. I think if there was a market to sell these things, I'd start a little side craft business and merrily putter away out in the garage.
Once the lamp was completely soldered together, wiped down, and cooling, I prepared other pieces to match the aged, battered look I was going for. I'd bought a cheap pressure gauge, which looked way too pristine for this project. I scuffed up the transparent front with sandpaper, effectively fogging it to simulate the wear and tear of age. I also sanded the glossy exterior of the gauge and the brass lamp socket parts before giving them a quick squirt of metallic, copper spray paint.
While those parts dried, I drilled a 3/8" hole in the base of my lamp. The hole was positioned beneath the main vertical shaft so I could feed the wiring directly upward. I pre-drilled a tiny pilot hole first, to keep the bigger bit from wandering. This needs to be done nice and slow to keep control.
The hole needs to be de-burred and sanded smooth to keep the wiring safe from nicks and cuts that could cause a short.
The lamp kit I'd purchased included a standard, two wire cord. It was flexible, but too stiff to feed all the way through the back-to-back elbows at the top of the lamp. I dropped a small washer tied to a length of string into the hole and let it tumble through the tube until it came out the other side.
I taped the string to the new electrical cord and gently tugged it through while feeding the cord in.
The lamp kit came with three different inserts, designed to make lamps from bottles. One of them fit perfectly in the 1/2" female elbow end at the top of the lamp. I trimmed it slightly, as well as the hollow threaded rod that would accept the socket.
The socket screws on easily and secures in place with a Phillip's head set-screw.
To keep the cord from getting accidentally pulled, stressing the electrical connections, I tied a simple knot, bigger than the interior of the threaded rod channel.
I attached the individual conductors to the screw terminals on the inner socket. The neutral landed on the silver screw and the "hot" landed on the brass screw. This cable is all one color, so you can identify the neutral by a slight ridge along the entire length of the cable. The wire should wrap clockwise around the screw terminals, so it pulls inward when the screw is tightened. No strands of wire should hang out. Nice and neat.
This particular lamp kit's socket popped together, no additional screws.
I screwed the gauge into a 1/4" threaded piece I'd soldered on earlier. The new paint was too pretty looking, so I scuffed it up a little with sandpaper, letting a hint of the original black finish peek through.
I couldn't just thread a modern-looking light bulb into this Steampunk masterpiece, could I? I found a vintage, Edison-style lamp, with those beefy-looking, old, exposed filaments. The best part is that it's truly, a modern, energy efficient LED lamp. It just looks old-school.
I also cleaned the modern writing off the rubber valve handle. Don't tell my wife I raided her stuff again. After all, nail polish remover does have magical DIY applications. After I cleaned it, it was too shiny, so I scuffed it up with sandpaper as well.
Let there be light!
Plug it in for a bench test, and the project complete!
The lamp made the living room look like it was bathed in candlelight. It was a cool look, sitting on a battered, antique side table.
Alas, it was not fated to welcome visitors at the entrance to our home; it was previously promised to adorn our son's desk. From the moment he saw it take shape, our Fallout playing teen needed it for his homework / gaming station.
This is a sponsored post. I am a proud to be a Bernzomatic Torch Bearer, though all opinions expressed are 100% my own. I won't recommend products I don't believe in.
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