DIY Network

Light Sculpture These lights will spark your creativity. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-405

You'll love what you can do with light.

With a little imagination – and some help from Michele Beschen – you can turn a few light bulbs and sockets into a hip lighting sculpture. Simply cruise down the electrical aisle of any hardware or home improvement store, and you'll find dozens of ways to B. Original with light.

Scroll down for Michele Beschen's easy wiring how-to, and start sculpting with light.

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Light Sculpture

Materials:

assorted light sockets
assorted low-wattage light bulbs
large wood scrap for base
furniture spindles
wood scraps and trimmings
lamp wire
AC power cord with switch
screwdriver
wood or drywall screws
liquid electrical tape
wire cutter/stripper pliers
heavy-duty stapler

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F

• Create a sturdy base for the sculpture; Michele Beschen used a large piece of scrap wood.

• Gather items to use as pedestals for the lights. Use pieces from furniture spindles, table legs, wood cubes or wood scraps. The pedestals should have different heights and shapes.

• Arrange the pedestals on the base as desired. Secure them to the base with wood or drywall screws inserted through the bottom of the base (figure A).

• Attach sockets to the tops of the pedestals. Choose sockets that have contact screws (where the wires will attach) at the top of the socket (figure B).

• Read over any instructions that came with the lamp cord. Standard lamp cord generally has two wires side by side, held together by plastic sheathing. Notice that one of the wires has writing or numbers on the sheathing – this is the hot or positive wire (figure C). The wire without writing is the neutral wire. The key to wiring with this time of cord is to keep all of the hot/positive/writing wires together, and all the neutral/negative/unwritten wires together.

  Safety Alert: Be extremely careful when wiring, especially when wiring a project that will use household current. Mixing up the hot and neutral wires in wiring will cause the circuit to short out and can start a fire. Always check over your wiring job carefully before plugging it in, and never plug in an unfinished wiring job.

• Split the two wires in the lamp cord apart about 3" from the end, either by pulling them apart or cutting the sheathing down the middle. Strip the sheathing/insulation from the wires about 3/4" from the end (figure D).

• Use a screwdriver to slightly loosen the brass and silver screws on the socket. Wrap the positive (printed) wire around the brass screw on the lamp holder and tighten the screw. Wrap the negative wire around the silver screw and tighten down. If the strands of wire are coming apart, twist them together before wrapping them around the screws.

• Determine how much wire will be needed to go from the first socket to the second socket. The wire will extend down the back of the pedestal, then run along the base and up the pedestal for the next socket. Hold the wire in place to determine the length, then add a few inches and cut the wire. On both the cut ends, separate the two wires about 3" up from the end, and strip the insulation 3/4" from the end.

• Twist the two hot/positive wires together, and twist the two neutral/negative wires together. Attach these paired wires to the contact screws on the next socket.

• Continue wiring the sockets in the same way until you reach the final socket. For this socket, wire together the cord from the previous socket and the power cord.

• Secure the lamp cord to the backside of each pedestal with staples.

• Cover all exposed wire to prevent electrical shock. Michele Beschen recommends liquid electrical tape, which is available at hardware or home improvement stores. Brush the material over the exposed connections and let dry (figure E).

• Mix up different sizes and shapes of low-wattage bulbs in the sculpture; just make sure the bulb bases fit their sockets (figure F).