apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time


How To: Make a Slide Lamp

2006_07_07_slidelamp.jpgWe've seen slide lamps in home shops, and thought: cool idea -- but we can do that ourselves, and make one that's more personal in the process.

We've imagined a lamp aglow with slides of Rothko paintings, or, for the baby's room, one that beams the smiling faces of geographically-distant cousins.

If only we knew where to find the little rings...

To: All How To...

 
 

So we were excited to happen upon the recipe while flipping through ReadyMade online. No sources for the rings, but after reading that they are 16-gauge jump rings we realized happily that they can be found at any bead store, or online at a place like this.

What images would you use for a slide light?

Image from IdahoStudios)

Tags

How To...

Related Links

Share

Comments (11)

You can pick up the rings at any Staples or Home Depot in the binder section. They are, literally, called "Binder Rings" (go figure) and they have a hinge on one side and clasp cleanly on the other. You'll want the clasp side out for this project. Hope this helps!!

posted by Claire on 2006-07-11 09:11:19

genius!!
thank u, thank u.
(giving us best of Readymades, i love it.)

bday, xmas gift magic for years to come...

posted by orange ed on 2006-07-11 09:44:01

Alternately, you could use large jewelry-making "jump rings." Binder rings might be a little pricey and rather large. Jump rings require you to bend them with pliers, but they're cheap and come in a variety of sizes and metals.

posted by jessica on 2006-07-11 10:25:54

Oh, I totally failed to read to the bottom. :P

Yes, use jump rings.

posted by jessica on 2006-07-11 10:26:57

I'd use ocean pictures, because they'd be calm and simple.

posted by wondrouspilgrim on 2006-07-11 12:10:56

I'm confused about the shade frame. Where does that come from? Do you rip apart an old shade?

posted by Szig on 2006-07-11 12:29:29

I prefer old Kodachrome color slides from family vacations or events the best. I've made two lamps from lamps that have plastic shades and I used small binder clips to hold the slides in place. Functions like a standing "this is your life" home-movie-esque exhibit. (Beware: not everyone wants that!)

posted by Jen on 2006-07-11 13:28:25

And this can fade old kodachrome slides really quickly, so you might want to have copies made of any precious to you

posted by lesley on 2006-07-11 13:43:08

Funny, my parents just gave me 72 slides of fences that I took for some sort of project. I had no need for them, but I hadn't thrown them out yet. Maybe they would work.

posted by Jon B on 2006-07-11 16:10:49

My sister, brother-in-law, & I made similar slide lamps after reading the tutorial from the ReadyMade magazine. We bought a paper lamp shade from IKEA, ripped the paper off, and used the frame. It was a little difficult taking the paper off the shade, because it was glued onto it, but after soaking it for awhile in soapy water, it came off smoothly. Like mentioned above, we used jump rings to put the slides together. As for the slides, my Dad is an Art professor & his department got rid of a lot of old slides & gave them all to us. So most of the slides on our lamps are of paintings, ceramics, artists, etc. If you click on my name you can see a picture of the lamp that we made.

posted by Vicky on 2006-07-12 09:02:59

It's too bad that ReadyMade does not give credit to the original designer of the lamp, they are now helping to knocking off.... like all good designs end up being.
This style of lamp was first thought of, designed by, a Parisian artist and designer named Philippe Vidalenc. He's part of the clothing design duo CASEY-VIDALENC. He designed the lamp in the mid 1990s. If you come across one of his, it will be signed. His name is printed by him on a Orange that has been photographed, with that slide being a part of the shade. His shades/slides are of only flowers on different color back drops. Also with the shade there will be a diffuser on the inside, so you don't get the glare of the bulb showing through the shade.
In the future I hope ReadyMade will give credit where credit is due.

posted by Give Credit Where It's Due on 2006-12-29 22:44:52

Feeds

RSS icon San Francisco

+ City Feeds