Old Tin Lamp Tutorial Part 1: Using Nipples Vesus Pipes

I had a couple people ask me about putting together lamps from unusual materials.  Without revealing the types of lamps they are creating, I thought I would give a generic tutorial on making lamps with containers.  In this case, I’ll be using an old sugar tin that I have painted.  I’m doing this purely for a demonstration.  This lamp can be put together using several different configurations of raw materials.  I’m just going to show two different configurations, one with legs and one without.

Before I start, I need to explain the difference between a nipple and a pipe and the two methods I’m demonstrating.  Nipples are shorter than pipes and are generally completely threaded.  A pipe is longer, usually going completely through the base of the lamp.  A pipe can be fully threaded, but often it is just threaded on the top and bottom.  Pipes and nipples can be made of brass or steel.  A brass pipe that isn’t fully threaded can be exposed…that would be a different demo.

If I were to make my Old Tin Lamp without legs, I could use two nipples, one to attach the tin to the base, the other to attach the lamp neck to the tin lid. If I used a pipe, I would choose a pipe long enough to pass all the way through the tin and out the base. The pipe must not stick out the end of the base. When I put together the lamp in the second part of this tutorial, I’ll show the ideal length of pipe.

Above is an example of a lamp that uses a nipple through the lid of the canister.  You can see that the cord comes out the back of the lamp.

You can see that the nipple just passes through the lid and not through the whole base (canister).

In this view you can see the cord coming through the nipple and down the back of the canister.

I didn’t want to pass the pipe down through my container because I had a miniature scene inside my canister.  If I were to put a pipe down the center of the canister, I would have to include the pipe as part of my miniature scene.  My canister (above) has a false back to hide the cord.

Now I’m ready to start my tutorial.  Using an old sugar tin, I’m stacking up my lamp parts to see how I would like my lamp to look. 

I have a sugar tin and a wood base that I’m going to recycle and make into a lamp.  One of my options is to place the tin onto the base and push the cord out the back of the tin.  Notice that I have placed a brass neck on top of my tin.  I want bottom of my shade to be above the tin, so I need a little space between the tin and the socket.   In this case I’m using a two part socket that screws together.  You can use a metal two piece socket that presses together.  I’m using the screw together type, so I can easily take my socket apart to demo both assembly options.

I added some beads with spacers on the bottom to pass the cord underneath the base.  I need to add legs high enough to allow the cord plenty of room to pass underneath.

I am using a recycled wood base.  The base was previously painted white.  I’ve sanded it.  I drilled a hole to put a 1/8 IP pipe or nipple through the base.

On the back of the base, I drilled a 1 inch hole part way through the base.  It’s just deep enough to accomodate a couple nuts.  This wooden plaque has some knots so I had to be careful to make sure my holes didn’t go through a knot.

We’ve now stacked everything up and we’re ready to assemble the lamp.   I’ll be doing assembly today and publishing Part 2 tomorrow.