| All you need to convert an old bottle
into a lamp is a bottle adapter lamp kit which you can find at your local
hardware / lighting store, and a lamp shade. The easiest method is to leave
the lamp cord running from the socket instead of being concealed in the
base.
Your kit should include drilled corks in different sizes, a spindle,
harp, sock with cover, lamp cord with plug, and nuts and washers to put
them all together. If the bottle is tall and slender you'll want to fill
it with marbles, small stones, shells, sand, etc., to give it some ballast.
Another option is to detach the harp from the socket assembly and use
a lamp shade that will snap directly over the light bulb. That will
the lamp's center of gravity.
Select the drilled cork that fits your bottle neck. Insert the spindle
and secure washers and knurled nuts on both ends. Then twist the cork
into the bottle.
Place the harp cradle over the spindle. Screw the socket base over the
spindle and tighten the setscrew. Insert the cord through the socket base
and strip the ends.
Attach the wire ends to the socket connections, wrapping clockwise before
tightening the terminal screws. Install the socket cover and snap the
assembly into the socket base.
Unscrew the finial on the harp, place a shade over the spindle, and
replace the finial.
To hide the cord inside the bottle:
With a hacksaw, cut a 4" length from the threaded part of the spindle.
Screw it into the hole in the metal arm attached to the socket, leaving
enough room for the wires that will pass through.
Push the bottom of the spindle through a 1" washer, the drilled
cork, and another washer. Secure with a nut.
Drill a hole in the base of the bottle. Push the sripped end of the
electric cord through the hole and up through the neck of the bottle,
then through bottom of the spindle and out the top. Connect the wires
to the screws on the socket. Pull the wire taut and replace the socket
cover.
HOW TO CUT GLASS WITHOUT A DIAMOND CUTTER:
Method 1: Dip a piece of common string in alcohol or kerosene
and squeeze dry or as dry as it will get without dripping. This string
should then be placed on the already marked glass and tied tight. Light
the string and let it burn off. Immediately, while the glass is still
hot, plunge it into cold water. Be sure the container of water is large
enough to let the glass go completely under as well as your arm up to
the elbow, so as to deaden the vibration when you strike the glass. Strike
the glass with your other hand outside the line of cutting using a stick
of wood and hitting a sharp stroke. This quick, sharp stroke will break
the glass where it has been weakened by the burning string into a clean
cut as if done by a regular glass cutter. This method may be used to cut
bottles in any shape and to make vases and to perform many such cuttings
on glass.
Method 2: Here is a method that rarely fails to break the glass
clean in the place you want it broke. First, scratch the glass with the
corner of a file or sharp graver. Have a piece of wire bent to the desired
shape you want to cut the glass. Heat the wire red hot and lay it upon
the scratch. Sink the glass into cold water just deep enough to come on
a level with the wire, not quite covering it. The glass will break clean.
HOW TO CUT GLASS WITH SCISSORS: To do this you must
place the glass under water completely, then with a pair of ordinary scissors,
proceed to cut the glass as you would paper or cloth. This method is,
of course, not as smooth as job as the methods described above. The edges
will not be as smooth, but for getting a piece of glass down to size and
where the edges are not needed to be smooth, this method is satisfactory.
HOW TO DRILL GLASS: Get a piece of steel wire and file to shape
of drill. This must be tempered as follows: Heat the end of the drill
on a flame until it is dull red, then place it in metallic mercury. This
drill, tempered in this manner will bore through glass as easily as through
soft metal. When using in glass, always use oil of turpentine with a little
camphor added to lubricate the drill. As you drill, be careful not to
drill clear through from one side as you will break the glass this way.
Drill partly, or almost through, then start from the opposite side and
finish the hole. Or, if you cannot do this, as when you are drilling bottles,
etc.. fill this bottle with water or place the glass in water. CAUTION:
When you make the drill, do not make the cutting edges so sharp or too
acute. The drill will cut slowly but you will have better holes with less
breakage.
Note*
Color It!
Rainbow colors for bottles, vases, etc: Use floating art
colors obtainable from most paint stores. Take a pail and fill it with
water and drop a few drops of several different colors on top of the water.
Now, take any article you wish colored and dip down through the colors,
slowly back and forth. You now have a rainbow colored article. You can
color bottles, vases, and many articles this way. |
