Another birthday and so another project, once more with something of a vintage feel!

For the recipient sewing was an enjoyable past time, this gave me an idea ‘why not upcycle an old sewing machine and make it into a lamp’? I’ve seen plenty of people using old paraffin blow lamps and jamming bulbs in the ends of them which isn’t quite my cup of tea however I thought the natural shape of the sewing machine lends itself well to being an actual lamp as well as providing a quirky hidden compartment for a special message (more on that to come later)!

Before continuing I’ll mention no fully working sewing machines have been used in my project. If it works as is, I don’t see the point in breaking something that works perfectly fine for its intended use to then butcher and use as something else. So only sewing machines destined for the recycling centre have been used.

The first part of the journey was to remove the old wooden base. This was just a couple of nuts and bolts on hinges. Some of the more stubborn nuts required 10 minutes after a squirt of wd40. I then began removing the internals from the base/bed of the main casting which reduced some of the weight of the unit but the next step reduced it vastly, separating part of the horizontal arm . This sounds quite drastic but as you’ll see this is where it instantly begins to look more lamp like (and it gave me another small side project which I’ll write up at a later date).

Using a long bladed hacksaw it took me approx 15 mins to cut through the casting though I now have a handy portable band saw which would make short work of the task. I also filed down the rough edges which in future I’ll use my Dremel.

Weight reduced, it was easier to clean the unit up and polish some of the silver accents. With the arm separated I was also able to test fit an E12 bulb fitting. In keeping with the vintage vibe I bought some braided wiring with a switch rated specifically for lighting. I fed this through the main stem and wired it up. A quick test to see all was safe and working so I turned my attention to a frame. Simple pine I had kicking around, slightly/artificially aged with the use of a little heat.

I predrilled some small holes for screws as I didn’t wish to split the wood. It also ensured I didn’t go off centre and with the length of the screws used this could have easily happened. Due to the weight I think I used 3″ wood screws as well as strong wood glue to keep the frame tight around the bed. Actually the good thing about most old sewing machines is the underside of the bed tends to have its own frame from the cast, suitable to butt upto the wood. In some areas I also joined the base to the wooden frame so its not just a snug fit holding everything in position.

On the outside edge of the frame I used two screws either side, top and bottom of the frame to ensure its held together well. Thinking about the orientation of the lamp and how a sewing machine sits normally I thought it would look good on a desk however space is always a commodity and more importantly when I first came up with the design I imagined it wall mounted and it was imagining it on a wall with a tear drop shaped Edison bulb that motivated me to make it because I liked it so much, I just hoped the recipient would too! As the lamp was intended for a wall I once again insisted on using some good long screws, neatly complementing the brass heads with solid brass cup washers as the screw heads would be forward facing. The only job left to do on the frame was to apply some furniture wax.

After all this it was a case of mixing some strong epoxy to keep the bulb fitting secure. It allowed me a little down time whilst the epoxy set so I wired up the plug and checked again for any issues.

Onto the hidden compartment! To the sewing enthusiasts it wont come as a surprise that I used the slide plates around the throat plate to install a temporary birthday message inside. Initially I was going to use a copper plate and stamp it with the message but I ran out of time however its something I may do on a future lamp. I could certainly see a number of these in a room with a vintage theme as décor and as a functional piece.

Overall I’m pleased with how it turned out and the recipient of the lamp was very pleased too however my only two regrets were 1) not finishing off the message in copper and 2) not finding a way of using the balance wheel to extend and retract the main bulb unit as an additional feature. I really wanted to get those done however it took most nights over a week and a full weekend just to complete as you see here. I’ll probably produce a few more and I may make them available in the shop and yes, all will be pat tested before going on sale if they do. Keep an eye out for future updates to see what I used the off cut for!