Hey everyone! I wanted to share my two most recent projects. I wanted to freshen up my living room decor a bit so I came up with a couple ideas.
First project was a birch plywood pendant light, I used a .220” piece of acrylic to highlight the layered theme.
The second project was a wooden flag, the X-Carve came in handy to carve the stars out. This was my first time using color on one of my flags. I love it!
Let me know what you guys think!
Here are some of the photos from the build process.
i really like that light. cool idea. can you give a little more detail on the light used and execution of that?
Thanks for the compliment!
So the light started as an off the shelf track light pendant kit from Home Depot. It was intended to be used with various glass and metal pendant shades they sell in their stores. I used it like that for awhile but really wanted something different, something I hadn’t seen before.
My design uses 11 layers of .75” birch plywood. 10 of the layers are simply rings that are stacked. There is an acrylic ring added in 3 layers from the bottom. The 11th layer of ply is the same OD as the rings but has a 1.5” hole in the center on the interior. This layer is what interfaces with the light kit. This allowed its threaded base to protrude through and then be secured with the stock shoulder nut.
Glued up like any other wood project except for the acrylic layer, I used an epoxy to secure that. Sanded from 80 grit upto 220 and then coated with shellac.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer.
No, that was a good write up. I’ve been looking at something similar for my entry way. It’s an open 2-story entry, so i would probably do a cluster of them or something to get more light coverage. i figured that was the light you used, just wasn’t positive. again, well done.
That sounds like an awesome project. I was already thinking of variations on this version, maybe switching the shape or placement of the acrylic. Can’t wait to see what you come up with. Thanks again for the compliment.
since i have such a large area to light up, i was thinking acrylic every other ring or something. also though about a square design, and rotate every layer just a little to get a spiral pattern. not sure yet. need to see how long those pendant lights are first.
I once saw a pic of chandelier that was all acrylic and strips of LED were on circular rings and rings were held via slots in vertical pieces. That’s about the best I can do verbalizing the picture in my head. Let me know if you all come across a design like that.
Thanks
Munawar
Might i ask of the OD & ID of the regular pieces? I’m drawing up a couple ideas right now, be handy to have a rough go-by for now. I haven’t gone to look at the pendants in person yet, but it says there’s a bunch in stock right now across the street.
Hey sorry for the delay, the OD is 4.5" and the ID is 3.6875".
I appreciate the compliment, I have already started sketching other variations of this style to construct for other fixtures. Thanks again!
Awesome, thanks. Here’s my concern: any other shape than a circle will have dark spots on the wood due to material thickness changes. if you use a square, wouldn’t the corners not have the same “glow” as the sides? same with a hexagon or something. or would it not be that big of a deal? especially if i put more layers of acrylic.
Make it a feature, not a flaw 
Well played, sir
Your thinking is correct, I agree that the shape would definitely impact the amount of light that is seen through the wood. One way to possibly counter that and even out the light would be to play around with a variable wall thickness. For example on a square, in the corners perhaps you can make the wall thinner to allow that glow to shine through.
Alternatively I think if you increase the amount of acrylic as mentioned that would draw attention away from any unevenness in the glow.
I created another light in this style, not with the xcarve though. I’d be happy to share it if it will help your idea process.
i’m almost convinced that it won’t matter as much if i use more acrylic. like i said, i need to light up a large area. maybe 5 lights in total, different lengths so they are staggered.might work. just need to go look at that pendant light piece to make sure it’s long enough. website says 55" max. 4-1/2 feet down from a 20 foot ceiling might not be enough.
Will each fixture be hardwired into a junction box, or are you going to use track light with the fixtures suspended from that?
That’s the other tricky part. it’s an open beam ceiling. Wiring it in the first place will be interesting because i’m going to be going from a small (and horribly outdated) wall sconce. Basically I want to replace the wall sconce with this new lighting feature. I’ll try to remember to take a picture when i get home from work today.
I’m thinking of making a large plate to act as a bracket in between the light and the ceiling. Only thing with those pendant lights is that base plate. Might look weird to have 5 of those in a cluster.
i could try something like this. and separate them and maybe wrap the cord so it doesn’t look so plain.
