Cold Lamps

COLD LAMPIN #1 Yo! COLD LAMPIN #1 Yo!

mrhgalactic — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:11:35 +0000

This is “Cold Lampin I”, my first full on boombox lamp. It’s made from a Viking boombox. I cut out the speaker grills and put Cherry veneer in their place, removed the circuit board and speakers, threw in 4 light sockets, wired in a dimmer that’s worked by the volume knob and presto chango it’s a lamp! It also doubles as a wedding present for the beautiful Erin & Dustin.

Better pictures coming soon.

Natural Selection

mrhgalactic — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:32:56 +0000

This is the first of the Cold Lamps namesake “Cold Lampin Shorty 1″. He’s made out of an old Zenith radio, with Birch veneer behind the speaker grill and a strip of Cherry veneer inlaid into the plastic next to the frequency selector.

I wired the volume knob as a dimmer. Shorty 1 was a Christmas present for my brother.

Making Fire!

mrhgalactic — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:13:06 +0000

These are my galactic fleet of Battlestar lamps, “Battlestar Left” and “Battlestar Right.” They were commissioned by the lovely Miss Speare. Being direct descendents of JFK005 (see next post) they incorporate the form and function of the same three elements of , hand made veneer shade, recycled automobile break light and a video game controller.

The three ring veneer shade is made of Birch with a Cherry overlay. The cut outs in the overlay are of Mack, my last name, and strawberries which Miss Speare loves. The Atari Paddleball controller is a dimmer for the upper lamp and the red button on the side turns the big red break light on and off. I was never able to figure what car the break lights came from. But I do know they are sweet lookin and they remind me of the engines on the Battlestar Galactica. Here are a few more pics. Enjoy!

Walking Upright

mrhgalactic — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:25:44 +0000

This is JFK005. At its inception in 2005, the JFK005 was my most advanced prototype. Rough around the edges, but a successful bridge of function and Beauty. JFK005′s break light assembly comes from the same model of car John F Kennedy was assassinated in, a 1961 Lincoln Continental. Along with the recycled break light base, the hand made Cherry veneer shade brings the lamp into the land of function. Shinning chrome and glowing wood, a match made in heaven. Like a monkey and long legs to run with. Bringing it together is an old Sega Genesis video game controller. I wired the A button as the power switch, the B Button as the primary light switch and the C Button as the break light switch. Here are some more pics for you.

Climbing out of the water

mrhgalactic — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:58:13 +0000

This is “Lampy,” my first custom lamp made from car parts. Back in 2005 I went into the primordial soup, the Memory Lane junkyard in Sun Valley, Ca, looking for anything I could give new life to as lighting for my desk at work. In the back of a pickup was a pile of old head and tail light assemblies. Just a bunch of pitted chrome and broken plastic in the most gorgeous shapes I could imagine. Lampy is made from one head light shell and one break light assembly. The two sockets at the top are put together from different outdoor house light pieces. He has a cord dimmer that works the whole piece.

I love Lampy for his beauty, but his functionality aint too hot. If he is turned up enough to illuminate, you need sunglasses. Not good. Beauty FOLLOWS form/function, a key lesson from Lampy. Along with, bulbs need a shade…