Made By HtA

Plywood can be cut into any shape that you can think of. And I liked the idea of having an angular desk lamp – shaped a bit like Batman’s, The Dark Knight Tumbler.

While plywood can be shaped to make the lamp stand, concrete is easy to use and can be shaped into a base. Then all that is left is a strip of LED lights – I got mine at IKEA.

TOOLS

• Jigsaw

The one I have cost $25 from IKEA and is ideal for cutting different shapes from plywood

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• Plywood

I used 3/4 inch thick plywood

• LED Light

The one I used is the basic DIODER light from IKEA. You can also get strips of flexible LED lights from Amazon.com if you want to create a more curved shaped lamp.

• Concrete and Rubber Gloves

I just used a normal bag of concrete, and had another bag of sand. You can also use Quikrete Concrete Mix which is already mixed – so all you need to do is add water.

• Wood Glue

• Spray Paint

This is if you want to paint your lamp – mine is black.

• Clamps

I cut out 3 sheets of plywood and glued them together – so they needed to be clamped

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Creating a template

There is no real science here. I knew I wanted an angular lamp, a bit like Batman’s Tumbler. So I doodled it out until I got decent shape. Then I started drawing it to scale – changing the angles and lengths until it looked right. Here are 2 things to keep in mind when creating your own template:

1) Make sure that where your LEDs will go, will be high enough off the ground to be a good light source. Too low and you won’t get much light out of the lamp. Too high (if it is a desk lamp) and the direct view of the LEDs can be blinding and off putting.

2) The bottom of my template, the base, will be stuck in cement. So the angled shape is to help it stay secured in the cement. Cut your plywood so the base has some parts sticking out to keep it secure in the cement.

STEP 2: Cutting the plywood

I used tape to stick the template onto the plywood, then traced it, and cut it. I wanted a thick lamp so I cut two pieces which will be glued together.

STEP 3: The middle piece

I wanted there to be a middle section where the LED lights could sit inside – hidden away. So I took my template and cut a 1cm off from the underside. Then made the cut from plywood.

STEP 4: Glueing the pieces together

Take the wood glue and spread it across the plywood. The block of plywood will then need to be clamped down until the glue dries – which takes 30 minutes.

STEP 5: Turning it black

Using an IKEA bag, I placed the block of plywood on top of a piece of scrap plywood and spray painted it black. 2 coats were applied to all sides.

STEP 6: Creating the box for the cement base

This is another place where you get to play around to get the shape that you want. I took a piece of paper and traced the bottom of the lamp base onto it. I then added 1 inch to all of the sides. Then I folded the paper up to get the height of the box I wanted.

After cutting this cross shape out, I then minus 1cm from all of the corner edges and drew a line from the base to create an angle.

STEP 7: Cutting out the cement box aka the formwork

The box template was traced onto a thick piece of cardboard. You going to need to use thick cardboard since the cement will want to bulge out. Then cut out the template.

Next, I used a box cutter and went along the inside lines – not all the way through. This scores the cardboard creating clean groves to fold the cardboard.

STEP 8: Waterproofing the cardboard

Tape the inside section of the box to waterproof it.

STEP 9: Taping the box together

You want to make sure that you tape the sides together well – so that it holds together when the cement gets poured in.

STEP 10: Mixing the conrete

Wear rubber gloves for this next step. I’ve had cement burns while building in the Philippines, and it hurts.

Follow the directions on your concrete bag – whether you need to mix in sand and water or if you just mix in water. I cut the top of a water bottle to help me scoop up the concrete powder and it was later used when pouring the cement into the box.

STEP 11: Pouring the floor

I poured in a layer that was 1/2inch to 1inch first, to create a bottom layer. Shake the cardboard box around a bit to flatten out the cement.

STEP 12: Inserting the lamp stand

Now that there is a bottom layer, the lamp stand can be put inside of the box. I used a paint tin and some scrap pieces of wood to hold up the lamp.

STEP 13: Pouring the cement

As you pour in the cement, take a thin stick and poke the cement all the way around. This helps release the air bubbles inside. And once you have poured in the cement to the top, use your finger to tap on the sides of the cardboard box – this also helps with the air bubbles.

STEP 14: Let it dry

I left it to dry for a day and a half before removing the cardboard box.

STEP 15: Respraying

The plywood got a bit dirty from the cement pouring. So I taped up the cement base and spray painted it again.

STEP 16: Adding the LED lights

The last step was supergluing the LED light strip into the groove.

Email me at jacob@hometreeatlas.com with photos if you make your own, or if you have any questions.

For more DIY projects and ideas, visit The Mill @ Home Tree Atlas

I saw the FADO table lamp in IKEA and thought that it would make for a interesting, almost mystical, floor lamp.

TOOLS

• Drill

A battery or corded drill will do – this is used to screw the dowels together

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• 3 Wooden Dowels

I was able to find some dark ones which I liked

• IKEA FADO Lamp

A glossy white globe table lamp available here from Amazon

• String

This is used to cover up the screws connecting the dowels. I would of preferred to of used leather, and might change it up one day.

• Screws

2 screws are needed to connect the dowels together

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Marking out the dowels

Take the 3 dowels and stand them up. See at which point is best for them to be connected – and mark it. In my case, it was just above half way.

STEP 2: Drilling the dowels

Lay 2 of the dowels on the workbench, aligned at the bottom. Clamp them down using a scrap piece of wood. And use a drill bit slightly smaller than the size of your screw to make a pilot hole

STEP 3: Screwing the dowels together

Once the pilot hole is made, you can then screw the two dowels together

STEP 4: Connecting the last dowel

Now do the same with the 3rd dowel, screwing it slight lower than where the other 2 are connected

STEP 5: Wrapping the poles

Using string, wrap the poles where the screws are. This is to hide the screws and to keep the dowels in place.

STEP 6 OPTIONAL: Braiding the string

Just for an added touch, I braided some string to wrap around the center. This is done by cutting 3 long pieces of string the same length. Tie them together at the top to create a knot. Tape the knot down onto your workbench. To braid them you take the first string to the left and go over the second one, and then under the third one. Now take the first string to the left, and go over the second one, and under the third one. Keep repeating this – making sure that when you go over and under that the string gets tight at the top where it is being braided.

STEP 7: Adding the light

The FADO lamp has these holes in the base that make it easy to mount to the top of the dowels. You can also slide the lamp in-between the dowels.

Email me at jacob@hometreeatlas.com with photos if you make your own, or if you have any questions.

Turn pieces of scrap plywood you have laying around into some handmade coasters. If you’ve never tried woodworking before, this is a great project to get you started.

TOOLS

• Jigsaw

I’m using one that I bought at IKEA for $25.

• Optional: Corded Drill

A corded drill was used, along with an inexpensive sanding disk attachment, to sand down the cut pieces of wood. This can also be done by hand with sandpaper.

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• Plywood

3/4 inch plywood. You can use thinner or thicker pieces – since they will be glued together to create the width of your coasters.

• Scrap Wood

I used some dark scrap wood to create the borders of the coasters

• Wood Glue

• Clamps

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Taking measurements and cutting

Here is the cut list:

• The plywood is 3/4inch thick. So 4 strips of plywood at 7.5cm long by 1.5cm wide
• The wood for the border is 1cm / 0.39inch thick. So 2 strips at 10cm long and 1.5cm wide
• 2 border pieces 7.5cm long and 1.5cm wide

To get these measurements, I measured a coaster I had which was 10 cm by 10 cm.  Now I needed to create a square out of plywood and the border wood as close to 10cm as possible.

Measuring out the plywood thickness plus the thickness of the border pieces, I found out how many pieces of plywood I would need to get to 3.9 inches / 10cm. That is the width of the coaster – so the height needs to be the same.

When cutting the border pieces I measured a little extra ( a few millimetres) so that they can be sanded down and made even with the plywood later.

STEP 2: Glue and clamp the plywood strips

The plywood pieces were then glued together and clamped down in place.

STEP 3: Sand down the ends

Once the wood glue has dried (it takes 30 minutes) the next step is to sand down the ends of the plywood – it needs to be completely flat so we can glue the border pieces.

Put a piece of scrap wood on top of the plywood block, and clamp it down to the table (the scrap wood protects the plywood from getting damaged). Sand down the ends so they are flat.

Also sand the top and bottom of the block if the plywood pieces are uneven.

STEP 4: Glue the short ends first

Glue the short border pieces first to the ends of the plywood and clamp them in place.

STEP 5: Sanding down the boarder pieces

Once it has dried, sand down the 2 boarder pieces even with the plywood pieces

STEP 6: Glue the long boarder pieces

Glue the long border pieces to the sides of the plywood block and clamp them in place

STEP 7: Sand down the new boarder sides and the top and bottom

Once the glue has dried, sand down the long border pieces so they are flat with the short border pieces. Then sand down the top and bottom of the coasters to make them flat.

A good way to clamp the coaster down to sand the top and bottom, is to clamp a scrap piece of wood to the table, then clamp another piece of scrap wood sideways against the coaster (like in the picture below)

STEP 8: Adding a shine with polyurethane

Next cover the coasters with 2 coats of polyurethane, waiting the right amount of time in-between coats – for me that was 3 hours. And use a fine grit sandpaper to sand the coaster in-between coats of polyurethane.

Email me at jacob@hometreeatlas.com with photos if you make your own, or if you have any questions.

For more DIY projects and ideas, visit The Mill @ Home Tree Atlas

Drilling all of the holes did take some time, but in the end I was left with a unique decor piece. The beauty of this project, is that you can take any illustration and turn it into a unique art board.

TOOLS

• Drill

I used a corded drill, but you could use a battery one if you use a thinner piece of plywood.

• Different Sized Drill Bits

I ended up only using 3 sizes of normal drill bits to create the design

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• Plywood

You need a sheet of plywood, cut to the size of your printed piece – in my case this is A1 size.

• Illustration

I wanted to create a design with a lion, so i searched for ‘Lion Illustration’ on google. Search for illustrations, since you want a simple black and white design to work with.

• Printed Piece

You can get really cheap large prints by going down to your local printers and asking for a Blueprint/Plotter/Engineer print – which will cost you about $5 for a huge A1 size black and white print.

• Tape

This is used to stick the print onto the plywood

• Fine grit sandpaper

• Polyurethane

I gave my final piece 2 coats of polyurethane to give it a slight gloss

OPTIONAL

• IKEA DIODER LED lights

To give the decor piece an added dimension at night

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Setting up the board

Once you have the plywood the same size as the illustration, glue the print to the plywood.

STEP 2: Start drilling

Clamp down your board so half of it hangs over the table.

I had three different sized drill bits in total, and started with the biggest drill bit first. I just went for it, and drilled where I thought best. The biggest drill bit was used on the thickest areas of the illustration. Then I moved onto the medium sized drill bit.

I left the most important and defining details (the eyes, mouth and nose) mostly for the smallest drill bit. This way I could get more details to show through.

STEP 3: Touching up

It took a while to drill all of the holes.

I took a paper clip to poke through all of the holes to get rid of any saw dust. Next, I took some fine grit sandpaper to clear of any tear in the plywood.

STEP 4: Adding a little gloss

Two coats of Polyurethane were added to give it a slight gloss and to seal the plywood.

OPTIONAL

I glued on a strip of LED lights, IKEA’s DIODER, to the back of the board. Now at night the board also acts as subtle ambient lighting in the room.

Email me at jacob@hometreeatlas.com with photos if you make your own, or if you have any questions.

For more DIY projects and ideas, visit The Mill @ Home Tree Atlas