"Parasitic" floor lamp

RossL said:

Intro

The movie "Parasite" was full of eye candy for those that gravitate towards a modern, minimalist style. One piece of set dressing that caught my eye was the tripod floor lamp that was in the living room of the Park house.

The light it gave-off was more atmospheric than illuminating, and I couldn't quite make out how the light box was constructed to shape the light like it did. It took some googling to track down more photos of the lamp designed and built by the Korean artist Bahk Jong Sun. Among other sites, 1stdibs.com had some good images that revealed louvers that were used to adjust the light.

In the spirit of the movie, I decided that I'd be a parasite and make a copy of the lamp. I used it as an opportunity to get some experience with Sketchup. I didn't fully model the lamp, but it did help to work out the size and proportions.

In homage to the movie, here's what I came up with.

I started with the turret, which I'll describe next.

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Intro

The movie "Parasite" was full of eye candy for those that gravitate towards a modern, minimalist style. One piece of set dressing that caught my eye was the tripod floor lamp that was in the living room of the Park house.

The light it gave-off was more atmospheric than illuminating, and I couldn't quite make out how the light box was constructed to shape the light like it did. It took some googling to track down more photos of the lamp designed and built by the Korean artist Bahk Jong Sun. Among other sites, 1stdibs.com had some good images that revealed louvers that were used to adjust the light.

In the spirit of the movie, I decided that I'd be a parasite and make a copy of the lamp. I used it as an opportunity to get some experience with Sketchup. I didn't fully model the lamp, but it did help to work out the size and proportions.

In homage to the movie, here's what I came up with.

I started with the turret, which I'll describe next.

Click to expand...

I am a big fan of Parasite but must admit that I missed that lamp. Interesting concept, definitiely, as you write, more athmosphere than lighting. Looking forward to follow along!

- kaerlighedsbamsen

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Intro

The movie "Parasite" was full of eye candy for those that gravitate towards a modern, minimalist style. One piece of set dressing that caught my eye was the tripod floor lamp that was in the living room of the Park house.

The light it gave-off was more atmospheric than illuminating, and I couldn't quite make out how the light box was constructed to shape the light like it did. It took some googling to track down more photos of the lamp designed and built by the Korean artist Bahk Jong Sun. Among other sites, 1stdibs.com had some good images that revealed louvers that were used to adjust the light.

In the spirit of the movie, I decided that I'd be a parasite and make a copy of the lamp. I used it as an opportunity to get some experience with Sketchup. I didn't fully model the lamp, but it did help to work out the size and proportions.

In homage to the movie, here's what I came up with.

I started with the turret, which I'll describe next.

Click to expand...

It s sculpture masquerading as lighting.

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Center turret

I'm assuming that the circular turret on the original lamp allows the light box to be rotated. In the original, the turret and arms were made of brass. And since I'm not a metalworker (yet, anyway), I'm making this component from wood.

For the prototype, I'll be using wood that I have on-hand. Given the dimensions needed and my stock, that leaves me with just cherry for the turret, turret arms, and legs. If the initial build goes well, I may shop for some more interesting options for a 2nd one.

The turret bottom has a hollowed top that fits a matching lipped cap, with enough of a gap between to fit a small lazy-susan bearing set to allow the cap to rotate freely.

Here is the bearing set - it's about 4" across on the diagonals.

The turret top and bottom were cut on the CNC, and I included a well in each piece to capture the bearing.

With the bearing seated, there's about a 1/16" gap showing between the top and bottom pieces.

The bearing will sit loose, staying centered by the recess it sits in. The cap will receive a T-nut in its center to receive a bolt through the entire turret assembly that will hold the cap in place. With a little bit of thread-lock, I hope I can get enough compression to hold the cap in place without play, but still allow it to rotate. If this doesn't work, I'll scheme a different plan.

To spread the joy of sanding throughout the project rather than saving it to the end, I spent some time sanding the turret parts. Luckily, I don't need to worry about the interior surfaces.

Next up are the turret arms that will provide joints for the legs to attach. (Connecting arms to legs doesn't sound quite right, but I couldn't come up with a better descriptor than "arms".)

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Center turret

I'm assuming that the circular turret on the original lamp allows the light box to be rotated. In the original, the turret and arms were made of brass. And since I'm not a metalworker (yet, anyway), I'm making this component from wood.

For the prototype, I'll be using wood that I have on-hand. Given the dimensions needed and my stock, that leaves me with just cherry for the turret, turret arms, and legs. If the initial build goes well, I may shop for some more interesting options for a 2nd one.

The turret bottom has a hollowed top that fits a matching lipped cap, with enough of a gap between to fit a small lazy-susan bearing set to allow the cap to rotate freely.

Here is the bearing set - it's about 4" across on the diagonals.

The turret top and bottom were cut on the CNC, and I included a well in each piece to capture the bearing.

With the bearing seated, there's about a 1/16" gap showing between the top and bottom pieces.

The bearing will sit loose, staying centered by the recess it sits in. The cap will receive a T-nut in its center to receive a bolt through the entire turret assembly that will hold the cap in place. With a little bit of thread-lock, I hope I can get enough compression to hold the cap in place without play, but still allow it to rotate. If this doesn't work, I'll scheme a different plan.

To spread the joy of sanding throughout the project rather than saving it to the end, I spent some time sanding the turret parts. Luckily, I don't need to worry about the interior surfaces.

Next up are the turret arms that will provide joints for the legs to attach. (Connecting arms to legs doesn't sound quite right, but I couldn't come up with a better descriptor than "arms".)

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Center turret

I'm assuming that the circular turret on the original lamp allows the light box to be rotated. In the original, the turret and arms were made of brass. And since I'm not a metalworker (yet, anyway), I'm making this component from wood.

For the prototype, I'll be using wood that I have on-hand. Given the dimensions needed and my stock, that leaves me with just cherry for the turret, turret arms, and legs. If the initial build goes well, I may shop for some more interesting options for a 2nd one.

The turret bottom has a hollowed top that fits a matching lipped cap, with enough of a gap between to fit a small lazy-susan bearing set to allow the cap to rotate freely.

Here is the bearing set - it's about 4" across on the diagonals.

The turret top and bottom were cut on the CNC, and I included a well in each piece to capture the bearing.

With the bearing seated, there's about a 1/16" gap showing between the top and bottom pieces.

The bearing will sit loose, staying centered by the recess it sits in. The cap will receive a T-nut in its center to receive a bolt through the entire turret assembly that will hold the cap in place. With a little bit of thread-lock, I hope I can get enough compression to hold the cap in place without play, but still allow it to rotate. If this doesn't work, I'll scheme a different plan.

To spread the joy of sanding throughout the project rather than saving it to the end, I spent some time sanding the turret parts. Luckily, I don't need to worry about the interior surfaces.

Next up are the turret arms that will provide joints for the legs to attach. (Connecting arms to legs doesn't sound quite right, but I couldn't come up with a better descriptor than "arms".)

Click to expand...

I like that you look into the background of movies. I find myself looking more at the furnishings than the characters. looking for ideas.
- splintergroup

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Leg shaping

I would do some things differently if I were starting this step over. I started by creating a template for the curved leg profile.

Mistake 1: I second-guessed myself on the shape/width of the leg profile. I drew the lines manually with a flexible batten just based on a few measurements from the Sketchup model. The result looked too narrow, so I widened it a bit. However, once I had the first leg cut out from the template, the proportions were wrong, so I had to re-work the template and re-trim the leg. I should have trusted the model.

Mistake 2: Using the template to flush-trim the leg on the router table. The narrow work was difficult to keep perfectly flat on the router table, which resulted in some indents when it rocked a little. I had to plane the edges afterwards, so I might as well have just used the template to transfer the profile to the work, cut it roughly on the bandsaw, and then planed down to the line.

At this stage, the legs were too beefy, and I ended-up planing them down a good bit.

While the legs still had two parallel sides, I cut out the notch (kind of a mortise?) at the top that will receive a contrasting spline (tenon?), which will have the pivot point for the leg. I cut these out on the bandsaw, leaving a little material to chisel out later.

Mistake 3: I forgot to tighten the blade guard on the bandsaw, and the blade wandered a bit. Oops.

I'll clean this up later.

I then created a flexible template to mark the tapered sides of the leg. I had some 1/16" basswood sheets that worked great for this.

Mistake 4: I didn't create the template with an aggressive enough taper to start with, so once I did a rough cut on the bandsaw, I ended up with a lot more planing to arrive at the final shape.

These are only partially shaped. The lower half of the legs got planed quite a bit more after this. Once I'm totally happy with the shape and proportions, I'll take one of the legs and update the templates for next time.

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Leg shaping

I would do some things differently if I were starting this step over. I started by creating a template for the curved leg profile.

Mistake 1: I second-guessed myself on the shape/width of the leg profile. I drew the lines manually with a flexible batten just based on a few measurements from the Sketchup model. The result looked too narrow, so I widened it a bit. However, once I had the first leg cut out from the template, the proportions were wrong, so I had to re-work the template and re-trim the leg. I should have trusted the model.

Mistake 2: Using the template to flush-trim the leg on the router table. The narrow work was difficult to keep perfectly flat on the router table, which resulted in some indents when it rocked a little. I had to plane the edges afterwards, so I might as well have just used the template to transfer the profile to the work, cut it roughly on the bandsaw, and then planed down to the line.

At this stage, the legs were too beefy, and I ended-up planing them down a good bit.

While the legs still had two parallel sides, I cut out the notch (kind of a mortise?) at the top that will receive a contrasting spline (tenon?), which will have the pivot point for the leg. I cut these out on the bandsaw, leaving a little material to chisel out later.

Mistake 3: I forgot to tighten the blade guard on the bandsaw, and the blade wandered a bit. Oops.

I'll clean this up later.

I then created a flexible template to mark the tapered sides of the leg. I had some 1/16" basswood sheets that worked great for this.

Mistake 4: I didn't create the template with an aggressive enough taper to start with, so once I did a rough cut on the bandsaw, I ended up with a lot more planing to arrive at the final shape.

These are only partially shaped. The lower half of the legs got planed quite a bit more after this. Once I'm totally happy with the shape and proportions, I'll take one of the legs and update the templates for next time.

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Leg shaping

I would do some things differently if I were starting this step over. I started by creating a template for the curved leg profile.

Mistake 1: I second-guessed myself on the shape/width of the leg profile. I drew the lines manually with a flexible batten just based on a few measurements from the Sketchup model. The result looked too narrow, so I widened it a bit. However, once I had the first leg cut out from the template, the proportions were wrong, so I had to re-work the template and re-trim the leg. I should have trusted the model.

Mistake 2: Using the template to flush-trim the leg on the router table. The narrow work was difficult to keep perfectly flat on the router table, which resulted in some indents when it rocked a little. I had to plane the edges afterwards, so I might as well have just used the template to transfer the profile to the work, cut it roughly on the bandsaw, and then planed down to the line.

At this stage, the legs were too beefy, and I ended-up planing them down a good bit.

While the legs still had two parallel sides, I cut out the notch (kind of a mortise?) at the top that will receive a contrasting spline (tenon?), which will have the pivot point for the leg. I cut these out on the bandsaw, leaving a little material to chisel out later.

Mistake 3: I forgot to tighten the blade guard on the bandsaw, and the blade wandered a bit. Oops.

I'll clean this up later.

I then created a flexible template to mark the tapered sides of the leg. I had some 1/16" basswood sheets that worked great for this.

Mistake 4: I didn't create the template with an aggressive enough taper to start with, so once I did a rough cut on the bandsaw, I ended up with a lot more planing to arrive at the final shape.

These are only partially shaped. The lower half of the legs got planed quite a bit more after this. Once I'm totally happy with the shape and proportions, I'll take one of the legs and update the templates for next time.

Click to expand...

I find long, slender curves difficoult to get right. Think you did well despite som errors along the way

- kaerlighedsbamsen

Click to expand...

-"I might as well have just used the template to transfer the profile to the work, cut it roughly on the bandsaw, and then planed down to the line."

I am finding more and more that the simpler approach is the better one. Bandsaw and handplane is far more satisfying that trying to work with jigs and routers. Millimeter-level accuracy is unnecessary for most applications, including this one.

I am enjoying your postings. Thanks for sharing.

- John

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Leg shaping

I would do some things differently if I were starting this step over. I started by creating a template for the curved leg profile.

Mistake 1: I second-guessed myself on the shape/width of the leg profile. I drew the lines manually with a flexible batten just based on a few measurements from the Sketchup model. The result looked too narrow, so I widened it a bit. However, once I had the first leg cut out from the template, the proportions were wrong, so I had to re-work the template and re-trim the leg. I should have trusted the model.

Mistake 2: Using the template to flush-trim the leg on the router table. The narrow work was difficult to keep perfectly flat on the router table, which resulted in some indents when it rocked a little. I had to plane the edges afterwards, so I might as well have just used the template to transfer the profile to the work, cut it roughly on the bandsaw, and then planed down to the line.

At this stage, the legs were too beefy, and I ended-up planing them down a good bit.

While the legs still had two parallel sides, I cut out the notch (kind of a mortise?) at the top that will receive a contrasting spline (tenon?), which will have the pivot point for the leg. I cut these out on the bandsaw, leaving a little material to chisel out later.

Mistake 3: I forgot to tighten the blade guard on the bandsaw, and the blade wandered a bit. Oops.

I'll clean this up later.

I then created a flexible template to mark the tapered sides of the leg. I had some 1/16" basswood sheets that worked great for this.

Mistake 4: I didn't create the template with an aggressive enough taper to start with, so once I did a rough cut on the bandsaw, I ended up with a lot more planing to arrive at the final shape.

These are only partially shaped. The lower half of the legs got planed quite a bit more after this. Once I'm totally happy with the shape and proportions, I'll take one of the legs and update the templates for next time.

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Hinge joint

I'm using furniture connector bolts to fasten the spline to the leg, and another for the pivot for the joint. I would have liked to have found an alternative that had a smaller diameter head that was still shallow, but I wasn't able to locate any other options. I think these will be fine for this build, though.

I then proceeded to drill the counterbore on all the pieces to recess the head and then the 5/16" shank holes.

Next up was the spline that would become part of the joint. I worked out the exact length with a scrap of maple first.

Once I was happy with the fit of the test spline, I cut three of gaboon ebony.

I had enough completed to do a test assembly to get a sense of how it would look. I'm pleased with how it's coming along.

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Hinge joint

I'm using furniture connector bolts to fasten the spline to the leg, and another for the pivot for the joint. I would have liked to have found an alternative that had a smaller diameter head that was still shallow, but I wasn't able to locate any other options. I think these will be fine for this build, though.

I then proceeded to drill the counterbore on all the pieces to recess the head and then the 5/16" shank holes.

Next up was the spline that would become part of the joint. I worked out the exact length with a scrap of maple first.

Once I was happy with the fit of the test spline, I cut three of gaboon ebony.

I had enough completed to do a test assembly to get a sense of how it would look. I'm pleased with how it's coming along.

Click to expand...

I m enjoying following along on this one.

- sras

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Hinge joint

I'm using furniture connector bolts to fasten the spline to the leg, and another for the pivot for the joint. I would have liked to have found an alternative that had a smaller diameter head that was still shallow, but I wasn't able to locate any other options. I think these will be fine for this build, though.

I then proceeded to drill the counterbore on all the pieces to recess the head and then the 5/16" shank holes.

Next up was the spline that would become part of the joint. I worked out the exact length with a scrap of maple first.

Once I was happy with the fit of the test spline, I cut three of gaboon ebony.

I had enough completed to do a test assembly to get a sense of how it would look. I'm pleased with how it's coming along.

Click to expand...

RossL said:

Hinge joint

I'm using furniture connector bolts to fasten the spline to the leg, and another for the pivot for the joint. I would have liked to have found an alternative that had a smaller diameter head that was still shallow, but I wasn't able to locate any other options. I think these will be fine for this build, though.

I then proceeded to drill the counterbore on all the pieces to recess the head and then the 5/16" shank holes.

Next up was the spline that would become part of the joint. I worked out the exact length with a scrap of maple first.

Once I was happy with the fit of the test spline, I cut three of gaboon ebony.

I had enough completed to do a test assembly to get a sense of how it would look. I'm pleased with how it's coming along.

Click to expand...

Elegant.
Best thoughts,
Mads

- mafe

Click to expand...