Make this cool diy swing arm wall lamp
Step by step tutorial on how to make your own diy swing arm wall lamp. These lamps cost hundreds. Get your own for way less!
Many people, even diy fans, don’t want to get involved with electricity. Let’s face it electricity is scary. Making this diy swing arm wall lamp, though, is easy peasy. I promise. I mean, if I can do it, you can do it too, believe me.
Electricity can be dangerous but wiring a light socket or connecting to cables is NOT. The worst thing that can happen is that if you don’t do it right, this diy swing arm wall lamp won’t work and you’ll have to connect the cables again. So, not much of a risk at all in exchange for having one of these beauties.
I absolutely love swing arm wall lamps, especially the Serge Mouille ones. They look great in a living room, in a bedroom, in a dining room, in a workspace… they fit in with a traditional or a modern decor. They’re so fantastic that I think we can safely say they go with everything and anything.
SOME EXAMPLES OF SWING ARM WALL LAMPS THAT’LL MAKE YOU DROOL
One of the originals, by originals, by Mouille, which cost a small fortune. Photo: Blueberry Modern
Photo: Apartment Therapy
Photo: Coco Lapine
I like them so much that I even have an entire Pinterest board full of them.
When I was changing my small living room decor on a budget, I set my heart on of one of these swing arm lamps but, hey, did I say that I was on a budget? A tiny budget too, so there was no way I could afford one of these lamps. If I wanted one, I needed to make my own…so I did! Here then is how to make your own diy swing arm wall lamp.
DIY SWING ARM WALL LAMP
Materials
- 1 x Copper pipe 1/2 in diameter and 6.5 feet long
- 1 x Adjustable friction swivel (female x female)
- 1 x Tapered swivel (female x male)
- 2 x Threaded hollow tube 1/8 in diameter and 4 in long
- 1 x Cable 6.5 feet long
- 1 x Cable with plug and switch
- 1 x Lamp socket
- 1 x Phenolic threaded socket ring
- 1 x Parabolic shade (I recycled an Ikea Försa lamp shade)
- Insulating tape
- Black spray paint
- Glue (optional)
- Pipe straps
Tools
- Pipe bender
- Tubing cutter
- Screwdriver
- Cable stripping tool
Step 1. Cut the pipe
Using the tubing cutter, cut the copper pipe in two pieces: one should be 2 feet long and the other 4.5 feet long. In this diy copper coffe table post I explain how to use this tool. It is veeeery easy.
Step 2. Bend the pipe
Bend the 2 feet long pipe right in the middle. Copper is a very soft metal so bending it won’t be hard, though the better the tool you use is, the easier it’ll be. Whatever tool you use, make sure it’s suitable for a 1/8 diameter pipe.
Step 3. Spray paint
Spray paint the pipes and shade black.
Step 4. Join the two cables together
It drives me up the wall every time I see a woman asking her husband/boyfriend to do this job. It’s so easy! You don’t need to be an electrician and certainly you don’t need to be a man.
The best way to do this is using a screw terminal but in this case we can’t use one because it won’t fit into the pipe, so we’ll use insulating tape.
Strip 3/4 inches off the wires. Twist the end of the blue wire around the other blue wire, and vice versa. Do the same with the brown ones. Then wrap each joint in tape making sure the wires are completely covered. Then wrap both joints together.
Step 5. Put the cable through the pipes
Put the cable through the 4.5 feet long pipe, leaving the joint inside it. If you’ve done this right, you’ll have a cable with a switch and a plug (cable A) coming out one end and the other cable (cable B) coming out the other end.
Put cable B through the threaded hollow tube and screw the tube into the pipe. Even if the copper pipe is not threaded, the tube will fit perfectly in and it won’t fall out. You can add a bit of glue if you want but it won’t be necessary.
Step 6. Put the cable through the rest of the parts
Put the different parts together in this order: friction swivel, threaded hollow tube, the 2 feet long copper pipe and tapered swivel putting the cable through each one of them.
Step 7. Wire the lamp socket
Lamp sockets are normally divided into three parts. One piece that will screw into the tapered swivel, another part that is connected to the wire and one that you screw the bulb into. Take the first bit and screw it to the tapered swivel.
At this point the cable coming out may be too long. Leave 2 inches and cut off the rest. Strip 3/4 inches off the cable. Unscrew the little screws on the second part of lamp socket and put the wire through the little holes. Screw the little screws back in and make them as tight as possible.
Put the piece of the socket lamp left in place.
Step 8. Place the shade
Fix the shade on to the lamp socket using the threaded socket ring.
Step 9. Screw the swing arm lamp onto the wall
Use the pipe straps to screw your beautiful diy swing arm wall lamp onto the wall.
CUSTOMIZE YOUR DIY SWING ARM WALL LAMP
If you want a longer swing arm, just cut the pipe according to your wishes. It’s that easy.
If you’ve enjoyed this, you’ll probable like this diy brass lamp or this diy modern ceiling light. I love them both!
Would this diy swing arm wall lamp fit in with your decor?
