BulbCollector Forums
BULB DISCUSSION BOARDS => Antique Bulb Discussion => Topic started by: Tim on July 30, 2000, 07:14:00 pm
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(http://www.bulbcollector.com/photos/base1.jpg)
Here's another idea for displaying your favorite bulbs in the upright position. My bulbs are held in a lighted display case, many of which lay flat on the shelves and are free to roll all over, plus it can be hard to view them. I found a cheap and good looking solution to display the bulbs upright in my favorite old sockets. I've mounted some spare sockets of different varieties to round wood bases as shown in the picture here. The wood bases really compliment the brass sockets and I think it makes a great looking display. The best part is 1) they are extremely cheap to make and 2) they can be assembled in minutes. Lacking woodworking equipment, I paid a visit to the local Hobby Lobby (a crafts and hobby chain store) and went into the wood craft department where I found some wooden toy wagon wheels. The wheels come in various sizes and cost around 50 cents each. The wheels I bought already came pre-drilled in the center (3/8" hole) and are also dished out in the center on one side. Typically old lamp sockets have a female thread (1/8-IP) on the bottom which allowed me to thread a piece of standard threaded lamp pipe (again 1/8-IP thread size, or around 3/8" O.D.) into it. Now the socket with the threaded pipe can be inserted into the wooden wheel. The 3/8" hole in wheel varied in size slightly, some I could thread the lamp pipe right into the wood for a secure fit, while others I had to use a nut on the lamp pipe to secure the socket tight. The wheel can be flipped over when using a nut so the nut is recessed into the dished out area - see picture below to see how I fastened them. If you don't have any lamp pipe laying around (I salvaged mine from some old light fixtures) then you could buy small 1" pieces at your local hardware or easily use a machine screw and nut as I did on one shown below. Before I assembled the sockets to the wheels, I stained the wood with an oak stain, to give it some color and to bring the wood grain out. This was a fun and simple little project and I think the wooden "wheels" make great little sturdy display bases. Let me know what you think!
(http://www.bulbcollector.com/photos/base2.jpg)
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-Tim
[This message has been edited by tim (edited July 30, 2000).]
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Looks very nice Tim. Good idea and a very nice way to show the lamps.
Jerry
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Hey Tim,
I'm impressed at how great that looks, and how well it works ! For that price there's no way you can lose !