The Moisture Vaporator Desk Lamp

Hey Marvin3242 ! I'm glad my suggestion is working for you! It also looks like you'll have less sanding to do on those freshly mitered dowels!l

Looking forward to seeing your final lamp in action.

That's a terrific project. Depending on the size, it would look great on a desk near a Hasbro black series Luke figure. Make a floor version, and you can had the Hot Toys Luke standing next to it.

Hi everyone! Quick question before my next update. What is the consensus on the number of posts on a moisture vaporator? I've seen 4 and I've seen 3, and I'm not sure which to go with.


I'm leaning towards three, for both screen accuracy and aesthetic reasons. Do y'all agree?

Hey Marvin3242 ! In that top pic (Prequel Trilogy behind the scenes?), Left to Right, I'd say: 1, Should be 4, Definitely 3, Sure looks like 4 at the bottom but suggests 3 at the top. And there's a bunch of pics from modern Tunisia with people taking their photos with 3-armed Moisture Vaporators.


From these images...



This one looks like it could be 3, but the shadows suggest 4, and that 4th arm could be just barely hidden by the main body in this angle.





This one however, from a different angle, and assuming it's the exact same moisture vaporator photographed at a different time of day with Luke and the Droid in different positions too, shows without question that it's just 3 arms.

I like 3, but 4's not bad. Make one of each for each end table on either side of your sofa!!!

Progress! More updates soon!
Also no clue how to fix the orientaition:confused

Hey @Marvin3242 ! Where's that little Glow-In-The-Dark green "V" coming from on the base? Is that cast light from the bulb, or some kind paint on the base?

Weird on the pic's orientation, it opens correctly when you click on it.

Try double clicking on the image in the post editor and see if you've selected a display size for the photo. I know you can display different sizes and select which side of the page the pic aligns to, but I don't see anything for rotation. Sometimes I get images saved on the computer that won't display properly in Windows Viewer, and I have to open them up in Paint or Photoshop and resave them to get them to display properly. Maybe you could try that. Sometimes it's just that the width x height numbers get reversed somehow.

Great to see this at the "IT WORKS!" stage! How are you going to attach your lamp shade?

Ridire Firean said:

Hey @Marvin3242 ! Where's that little Glow-In-The-Dark green "V" coming from on the base? Is that cast light from the bulb, or some kind paint on the base?

Weird on the pic's orientation, it opens correctly when you click on it.

Try double clicking on the image in the post editor and see if you've selected a display size for the photo. I know you can display different sizes and select which side of the page the pic aligns to, but I don't see anything for rotation. Sometimes I get images saved on the computer that won't display properly in Windows Viewer, and I have to open them up in Paint or Photoshop and resave them to get them to display properly. Maybe you could try that. Sometimes it's just that the width x height numbers get reversed somehow.

Great to see this at the "IT WORKS!" stage! How are you going to attach your lamp shade?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback! The V is just a weirdly placed lens flare from the light bulb. As for the shade, I intend to use a slip type lamp shade that clamps on to the bulb. The entire build is based around a 1/4" aluminum tube and a candelabra socket was the only thing i could find to slip into such a small opening. I could use a traditional spider socket/shade, but I'd have to scale everything up so that it could be based around a larger diameter tube to accommodate the larger cord. I'll have more info soon!

She's almost done! First lets get up to date with the build log.



Ive got all the pieces together from the newly cut dowels, drilled and all. Plus I was pretty happy with the square part from the prototype, so I decided to keep that.



I then hit assembled it and hit it with a coat of automotive filler primer, to take down some of the wood grain.


Which was then sanded down. At this point I decided it would be smart to tackle the base, so I went out to Michael's and bought this round piece from the hobby wood section for $0.99


I also went ahead and attached one of the poles, using it as a reference for how I would attach the other two.

Once I got it to wear I was happy and loosely mounted in the base, I had to tackle the light socket. I didn't take pictures, mostly because I botched it and had to go buy a new one, but its pretty simple. Simply remove the switch from the cord and cut the cord where the switch was. Then use a marker to mark which wire is ground and which wire is hot. Now thread the section of cord with the plug on it through the base and up the tube to the top. Pull some excess through and make your solder connection to the part with the socket on it. I had to actually offset my solder joints in order to get them to fit back through the tube. Once your connection is solid and well shielded, pull the wire back down towards the base until the socket is resting on the top of the tube.



If anyone wants to do this and is confused I have a diagram made.

After this I went ahead and hit the entire thing with a coat of regular primer.



Its worth noting that I didn't attach all 3 posts because 1 I wasn't quite sure of the placement yet and 2 I wanted to get maximum coverage on the main body of the vaporator.



I then spent a lot of time sanding the base and all the rough spots around the top. I wasn't to concerned because I wanted some texture to stand out and look like it had been sitting under the blazing tatooine suns, so I just focused on removing any "fuzz" around the edges and making everything look smooth-ish.

I then attached the other 3 posts and started coats of rustoleum flat white.



Which got me to here


I then used some of the Agrax Shades left over from my last blaster build, thinned out with some windex
















I'm thinking about putting some sand on the base. What do y'all think?

Marvin3242 said:

I'm thinking about putting some sand on the base. What do y'all think?

Click to expand...

Maybe a little stippled paint (like rusty water was dripping down off of the sides of the 3 posts or something), but I think sand might make it look kitschy.

That or go a little darker sandy-tan/brown with the base to make it look like it isn't supposed to be part of the moisture vaporator.

It'd be fun to see if you could get a chunk of lava rock and use that as the base! Paint it tan and dirty it up a bit, and you'd have texture like crazy!!

Of course, cutting lava rock flat on the bottom might be a challenge, but it certainly would... stand out. Pun intended.

This next idea might be a bit silly, and might look awful, but... what about attaching 2 transparent circles, one yellow and one orange, to the inside of the shade? You'd only see them faintly when the light was on, and not at all when it was off.



Get it? Might be cool, or at least fun to try.

Ridire Firean said:

Maybe a little stippled paint (like rusty water was dripping down off of the sides of the 3 posts or something), but I think sand might make it look kitschy.

That or go a little darker sandy-tan/brown with the base to make it look like it isn't supposed to be part of the moisture vaporator.

It'd be fun to see if you could get a chunk of lava rock and use that as the base! Paint it tan and dirty it up a bit, and you'd have texture like crazy!!

Of course, cutting lava rock flat on the bottom might be a challenge, but it certainly would... stand out. Pun intended.

This next idea might be a bit silly, and might look awful, but... what about attaching 2 transparent circles, one yellow and one orange, to the inside of the shade? You'd only see them faintly when the light was on, and not at all when it was off.

Get it? Might be cool, or at least fun to try.

Click to expand...

Okay I definitely want to give the binary sunset idea a shot! Maybe later down the road...

Anyways, here's the final pic dump after clear coating with a satin finish. I'm considering making a few to sell, more details soon.