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Which X-Carve is Right for You? Learn More.

Cameo Silhouette Lamp

105 likes
481 opens
162 copies
986 downloads 3 comments
Joe Whittaker

Project by

Joe Whittaker
Wolverhampton, UK

General Information

I’ve been wanting to make this lamp for a long time now. Using the X-Carve made the whole process very easy.

The lamp is made from Walnut and I used an Edison style spiral filament light bulb.

I really hope you like the project.

Like this project Open in Easel®
Material Description Price
Walnut

Walnut (×6)

6" × 12" × 3/4" Walnut

$68.58

$68.58
from Inventables

File Description Unit Price

Woman Lamp 30cm.svg

Lamp Vector

$0

Download Zip

$0
from Inventables

1

Prepare The Walnut

I decided to cut the lamp shapes from one large glued up piece of Walnut. Of course you can use any material you like to create this lamp, perhaps a different type of wood, MDF, Plywood or even plastic, you could really change the look by using different materials.

I already had a panel of walnut glued up that was big enough to cut two lamps from. It was made up of 5 × 700mm x 150mm x 23mm boards. Each lamp shape measures 327.66mm x 300mm. So I could cut 4 shapes out which I can glue together to make 2 lamps.

I secured the walnut panel down to the X-Carve waste board with screws and I used some hardboard underneath to protect the wasteboard from the bit when it cuts through.

2

Cut The Pieces Using The X-Carve

120 minutes

Once the walnut was secure and I had a 3mm bit installed in the spindle I could connect the X-Carve to my computer and open my file in Easel.

Like I said before I was able to cut 4 so copied my 2 shapes and rearanged them. (There is just the 2 shapes in my easel project link. You can copy and paste to create as many as you like from one piece of material.)

I added a shallow groove to 1 of the shapes to give room for the wire from the lamp holder to be threaded through later. I also added 3 holes to recieve wooden dowels to help with alignment when gluing up. You wont need to worry about this as they are already added in the easel link.

If you have the X-Carve will know how easy the next step of clicking carve is. Just confirm all the settings and hit carve.

3

Glue Up Lamp

5 minutes

After the X-Carve has done its thing you just need to glue the 2 halves together.

I added a dab of glue into each hole and inserted a wooden dowel into one side. I then spread an even layer of glue all over and sandwhiched the 2 pieces together, making sure the dowels line up with the mating holes. These stop the pieces from sliding round when I added clamps and they helped to keep them aligned correctly.

I let the glue dry over night.

4

Create Base For Lamp & Sand

120 minutes

After the glue had dried I could measure the footprint of the bottom of the lamp. This would give me the size of the poclet I needed to create in the base.

I then headed over to easel to create my base. I used the rectangle tool and made a rectagle the measurement of the lamp bottom plus 2mm on each axis. This gave me some wiggle room to make assembly easier.

I could then create a second rectangle that was 40mm larger than the first on both axis. This gave me a 20mm edge all the way round after I centred the rectagles.

I set the X-Carve to cut the outer rectagle all the way through the outline. I set the depth of the inner rectangle to be cut 12mm deep on the fill setting. This will create the ‘pocket’ I need to fit the lamp shape into the base.

While the X-Carve was carving out the base I sanded the glued up lamp I made earlier. I use my spindle sander for the outer edges and my random orbital sander for the faces. I eased the edges with some hand sandpaper.

5

Make Space For The Wire & Glue Up

30 minutes

Now that I have the base and the lamp body I can make sure the wire will fit.

I used a drill to create an easier curve for the wire to exit the back of the lamp body. I also drilled a hole through the base so the wire can exit the lamp cleanly.

There was a small piece of plastic at the base of my lamp holder that I needed to hide inside the Hand section of the lamp. Again I used my drill the widen the hole so it would fit.

I ran the wire through to make sure everything lined up and fit correctly. I could then add some glue to the ‘pocket’ in the base and glue the lamp body into place. I glued up the lamp with the wire in place because it would have been too hard to try and thread the wire through later.

I let that dry overnight.

6

Spray Polyurethane

10 minutes

I decided to use spray polyurethane as a finish for the lamp. So I masked off the lamp holder and wire and then gave the lamp 3-4 coats of spray polyurethane, sanding with 240 grit paper between coats.

7

Secure Lamp Holder & Wire

20 minutes

To fix the lamp holder and wire into place I used some Epoxy Putty. It comes in 2 parts that you mix together in equal quantaties.

I could then put the puty into the hole where the lamp holder will be and into the hole at the base of lamp where the wire exits. It doesnt take a lot to hold them in place but I added some more to the outside to make it look neater.

Again I let it set overnight. The epoxy putty sets like stone.

8

Add Felt Baize To The Base

5 minutes

I wanted to use felt baize on the base so it wouldnt scratch any surface it was put on.

To attach the felt to the base I used extra strong spray adhesive. Its more than strong enough for this purpose. I cut the felt oversized, sprayed an even layer of adhesive on and fixed it to the base of the lamp. I trimmed the extra off with a pair of scissors.

9

Add The Bulb

1 minute

I chose an Edison style light bulb with a spiral filament. It looks a whole lot better than your standard bulb.

Sam Sonta
I will buy my own house and make this
Sam Sonta
Christopher Drake
I had the same desire
Christopher Drake
Praveen
I made a version to make on Carvey https://www.inventables.com/projects/woman-silhouette-lamp-carvey-version
Praveen