Lamps, the saga continues

Can you believe it took this much "stuff" to finally get the color I wanted? Well, it did. We have some really nice pieces of mission oak furniture that I tried to mimic as far as color. I think I did a good job. Living in the Japan wilderness makes it kind of hard to go to Lowes and pick a color off the store shelf. So, I had to improvise. The dyes I kept from many years ago. It was fun learning how to use them again.

Well, what do you think? Five coats, but who's counting. I like to sneak up on the color since once it's too dark you're screwed.

Lamp number one is stained and dyed. Four more to go. I think the others will go a lot faster...I hope.

Not to brag, but damn that came out well. 

Notice how the grain stands out. That's because of the dyes. Regular stain mottles the grain. I learned this the hard way.

I kept the night light pattern simple as I don't want to distract from the lamp shade. Colors are still undetermined as I don't know what colors are available in Japan. Please stay tuned for that. I'll be busy with the next four lamps and getting ready for the holiday season. Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

Please excuse that these pictures are not in order. Well, let's start here...the stiles are ready for stain and installation. Hope they fit,

No worries! Nice and snug.

The base is ready to accept the stiles. I lightly drilled the mortises to save a step... chiseling the stiles.

This is how to drill a square hole. Precision required as the mortise need to be snug, not too tight or loose.

Everything seems to fit just fine. No glue required as the rails lock the stiles in place. I couldn't have asked for a better fit.

I had some scrap wood so I made some feet for the lamps. I think it's a nice touch. Not hard to make as long as the blade is sharp and the cut is slow. Be careful not to burn the wood.

About 30 minutes of work.

Feet installed. The base is ready for disassembly, stain, and reassembly.

This is where the project sits currently. I'm mixing and experimenting with stains and dyes to get a reasonable mission oak finish. Stay tuned for that...

Before I end this post, I had a heck of a time figuring out how to replace the night light if it were to burn out. Ah Hah! I installed a couple of screws in the top plate and...

...plugged the holes. The plug is easily removed to access the screw so the lamp can be replaced. Damn, it's almost like I know what I'm doing.

Please stay tuned for the finish of the lamp base and the design for the stained glass for the base.