Ye Olde Oaken Bucket
L A M P

Here is the original article straight from
Book No. 4506, PRACTICAL DELTA PROJECTS
NEW & NOVEL THINGS TO MAKE, BOOK 6
DELTA MFG. DIVISION

Ye Olde Oaken Bucket LAMP QUAINTLY portraying the old oaken bucket well of long ago, this little lamp makes an ideal lighting unit for the bedroom. It could readily be elaborated to turn on and off by turning the well handle if a novelty feature of this sort was desired. Maple makes the best construction stock. The base should be made first, turning this on the lathe to the size and shape shown in the drawings. Other lathe work will include the turning of the bucket and the making of the roller and well handle. The rest of the work is largely a matter of straight cuts on the circular saw. If desired, the main upright could be drilled for the wiring instead of being grooved as shown. The grooving operation, however, is somewhat simpler, and, since the back of the lamp is not under inspection, sufficiently neat for average purposes. Similarly, the wiring could be housed inside the top bar instead of being exposed. Note in the sketch how a wooden plug is driven into a hole in the underside of the base in order to hold the wiring tautly in position so that it will not work back through the opening. The plug is not necessary if the upright is drilled for the wiring instead of being grooved as shown.

This novel lamp, imitating an old oaken bucket well, makes an ideal bedside lighting unit. If it is desired to control the light by turning the well handle, the main upright would be drilled to take a standard turn- button canopy switch. The end of the switch would he housed and pinned inside the roller bar. Thus, as the handle of the well was turned around, the light would go on and off. The bucket, in this case, would be mounted with a slip loop around the roller so that it would not climb as the handle was being turned. In the standard method of construction shown, the switch, of course, is the conventional push-button type built directly into the standard , socket which is fitted to the end of, the pipe nipple. A suitable shade should be of the conventional snap-on type which is simply slipped over the bulb.

*********** WARNING***********
Read my page on safety before building this item.