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Copper pipe lamp

TUTORIAL

the pipe collapsing, and there are a few tools out

there for the job, but that’s beyond the scope of

this article.

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You can get creative with the design – the only

restriction is that you can actually thread the flex

through the design.

We’ve gone for a three-pointed base, for the

simple reason that three legs can’t wobble, but four

or more can. Copper is a bit forgiving though. If you

do opt for more legs and there’s a little wobble,

you can bend copper slightly by hand to correct

any misalignment.

Above this, we’ve got a vertical pipe with two 90

degree bends that end up hanging the bulb down.

Originally, we had both of these corners as soldered

joints, but we couldn’t thread the flex, so we had to

cut one out and replace it with a compression joint.

We could have replaced either one, but elected to

do the outside one. We’ve also got a compression

T-joint on the upright which gives us a place for our

cable to escape.

The exact measurements don’t have to be

precise – ours is about 30 cm high and 20 cm wide,

but we didn’t even use a tape-measure, and just

cut it by eye where it looked about right. It’s useful

to have a bulb with you when cutting the lengths

out so you can picture how it will look when it’s all

fitted together.

Typically, bulb holders end in a 10 mm thread,

and you’ll also need a pipe end stop with a 10 mm

threaded hole that you can attach to the end of your

lamp. You can join these two fittings with a 10 mm

hollow threaded rod, and through this the cable will

get from the bulb holder into the body of the lamp.

onto the joint with the olive between. As the two

parts are forced together, there’s enough pressure

on the olive to deform it and create a solid joint.

These are bulkier and this affects the look of the

lamp, but they have two advantages: they don’t

require a blow-torch, and they can be done after the

flex is threaded through the lamp, so there’s not a

problem creating complex shapes.

There are a couple of other options that would join

the pipes together but that we can’t recommend.

There are plastic pressure-fit connectors and you

can secure the solderable joints with glue rather

than solder. The reason we can’t recommend these

is because they don’t make electrically conductive

joints. This means that you can’t easily earth the

entire metal body of the lamp, so if the live cable

frayed in an unearthed part of the lamp, you could

have a dangerous object.

You can bend copper pipes to create interesting

shapes. The challenge is to create a bend without

Right

A soldered copper

T-joint. The ridges

around each edge

hold the solder

that’s heated to seal

the joint

Below

Our bulb holder

with the live and

neutral going into the

fixture, and the earth

secured in the base