Thanks for the comments, I really dig it and it adds the perfect amount of 'verse
ambience to my table.
Tutorial wise, OK, I'll give it a shot...
I didn't take any pictures during the building phase, but it's pretty easy so I think anyone can pull it off.
Tools:
Dremel
Drill
Hot glue gun
Pliers
Wire nuts (x2)
Hobby saw or sharp(ish) knife
Lamp Making Supplies: (Home Depot)
I spent about $40 overall. Probably could have shaved that a bit but I bought extra stuff in case I frakked something up (like I normally do).
Westinghouse 12 In. All Thread Lamp Pipe Kit (x2) - They're sold in packs of 2, and you need 3 (of course). These will form the legs and upper tray supports of the lamp.
Westinghouse 8 Ft. Cord Set with Polarized Plug (x?) - I bought two so I could use one for wires for the sockets, I only used one.
Westinghouse Feed-Through On/Off Switch (x1) - This isn't really a necessity if you are going to be running the lamp from a switched socket, or just want to unplug it when you're done, but I figured for $1.96, it was a good investment.
Westinghouse 2 In. Keyless Sockets (x2) - These are the light sockets themselves. I went with candelabra (small, night light style) bases and I am glad I did. Need 3, sold in packs of 2
Westinghouse 4 In. White Candelabra Base Socket Covers (x2) - Sold in packs of 2, you need 3. These will cover the ugly cardboard sockets.
7 Watt, Clear, C-7 Bulb, 2-1/8 In. 45 Lumens, 4Pack Night Light Lamp
Yep, 7 massive watts. My first trip to the store had me grabbing 60 watt bulbs that (x3) illuminated my entire gorramn basement. Decided that was a bit TOO shiny and decided to go with lower wattage (also to reduce heat since the lamp is made out of ummmm burnable stuff :lol
Steamer:
I used a Joyce Chen 10" steamer, $14.99 @ Bed Bath and Beyond. Looking at screen caps, the steamer they used on the show was of a different design and probably 12", but I liked the way the Chen steamer looked and well...it was right in front of me rather than having to order, pay shipping.....wait.....blah blah. I went with the Chen.
OK, now that you have all of your supplies, let's build is a shiny lamp. Miss a step, and you're goin again, dong ma?
A word on measurin' - I didn't. In my estimation, this lamp was something that someone on Serenity threw together out of old junk they had lying around. Someone took a worn out old steamer and made something useful out of it. Seems to fit the 'verse to me, and I never saw Kaylee with a micrometer or a protractor, so I just eyed it up. In actuality, it was probably something someone in the prop department threw together in a couple of hours, and looking at the screen caps tells me they definitely didn't do any measurin'.
Legs:
I took three of the threaded lamp pipes and decided to use them as legs. They are not accurate to the show, looking at screen caps, I don't know what the hell they used for the legs of the lamp on the show so I decided these would do. They are threaded, and hence, adjustable which is a plus. Also, they contain all the parts you will need to make functional legs.
The pipes came with these wide coin looking threaded nuts that I decided to use in the inner (visible) portion of the steamer basket. They serve as spacers to keep the tubes a uniform distance away from the steamer wall and also as an upper nut. I used a washer and the little hex nut on the bottom of the steamer, tightened it with pliers and covered it with some hot glue for stability. The pipes come with these little threaded brass tubes that looked good as feet to me, so I threaded them on the bottom of the pipe and put some loctite on the threads to keep them in place.
I toyed with the idea of weathering the legs with some of the leftover bluing solution from my Sidkit Mal gun, but they started to patina nicely just after me handling them, so I decided to let them weather naturally.
Steamer Prep:
I drilled three holes (see diagram) in the bottom of one of the steamer baskets.
Next, I drilled three holes for the sockets closer to the center of the steamer basket. I drilled these in positions to offset the legs so that the legs wouldn't block the lights. Here's a diagram...
I widened the light holes with a dremel until they were large enough to accomodate the white candelabra tubes.
Once the holes are drilled, you can then lightly sand and finish the steamer as desired, and attach the legs.
Lights:
I took the sockets, and using a dremel cutoff wheel, I removed the metal portion from the bottom. You don't need this part as it is designed to let you thread the socket onto a threaded tube. I measured the length of the socket minus the metal part, and cut the smaller diameter white tubes to the same length. The candelabra style sockets will slide perfectly and snugly into the white tubes.
Once the steamer was done, I hot glued the white tubes in place in the holes I made for them from the underside of the steamer.
I wired the sockets up (do we need a tutorial on that?) slid them into place, wee dab o' hot glue to keep them there, then connected their wires to the outlet wire. I did a little hot gluing here and there on the bottom of the steamer basket to keep the wires from moving about unnecessarily.
I inserted the 7watt bulbs, and voila. Purty, shiny light.
The Top:
If you look at screencaps from the show, the top of their lamp just sits on the tops of the legs so that is what I did. The top steamer basket is just inverted and stuck on top of the pipes that form the legs. I trimmed (with a Dremel cutoff wheel) about 2.5 inches off of the top of each leg to shorten the lamp down to about the size of the one on the show.
The Diffusers:
OK, these are not really diffusers or shades, they are more white plastic tubing that is supposed to cover the base of standard size sockets, but they were an ersatz fix that I intend to replace. If you use these, YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL, as even a 7W bulb will heat these things up if they are placed too close to it.
Hope that covers everything, here's a pic of the lamp with flash so you can see some of the details inside the basket. I can provide pics of the other workings if people want them.
