DIY Swing Arm Sconce Wall Lamp
Save money on interior lighting with this fun DIY brass swing arm wall lamp! Great as a bedroom or living room piece to accent a gallery wall or brighten up the bedside! Make this high end looking piece on a budget with the full tutorial below.
Materials you’ll need to build a swing arm wall lamp:
- Drill
- 3/8 inch forstner drill bit
- 5/16 inch forstner drill bit
- Wood block (walnut used here)
- 3/8 inch threaded brass pipe
- Tubing bender
- Brass swivel with rotation piece
- Brass socket piece
- Ceramic socket
- Wire clippers
- Cord
- Plug
- Small phillips screw driver
- Router
- Sandpaper
- Wood finish (oil or polyurethane as desired)
Instructions step by step for the wall lamp with cord:
Step 1: Drilling process
Using a handheld drill, use the 3/8″ drill bit to drill down into one side of the rectangular block (vertically). Drill about 3/4 of the way down the block.
Step 2: Continue drilling
Switch over to the 5/16″ drill bit and drill the rest of the way through the block.
Step 3: Sandpaper
Use sandpaper to sand the edges of the block and finish the wood block with oil or polyurethane as desired.
Step 4: add cord to pipe
Gather the rest of your supplies and thread your cord through the pipe.
Step 5: pipe and swivel
Thread your pipe around the brass swivel rotation piece.
Step 6: prepare the cord
Pull out the cord through the swivel rotation piece (strip the fabric off the cord if needed depending on the diameter of the cord you use).
Step 7: Wire clippers
Use the wire clippers to strip the outside of the cord off of the interior wires to expose your wire. Clip off the green wire.
Step 8: Exposed wires
Strip the black and white cords of the plastic until only the wire is exposed.
Step 9: socket
Thread on the brass socket cup.
Step 10: Wire and ceramic socket
Attach the exposed wires to the ceramic socket. Match up the white to the silver connector point and screw in place with your screwdriver. Match the black wire to the other connection point.
Step 11: Bottom cord
Pull the cord from the bottom of the pipe so that the brass socket cover is pulled tight enough to screw into the brass swivel connector piece and the ceramic socket fits tightly in the cup.
Step 12: Tubing blender
Use your tubing bender to put a slight 45 degree bend in the brass pipe towards the bottom of the piping.
Step 13: The more professional touch
Use a router to place 2 keyholes in the back of your wood. If you don’t have a router then you can just screw the wood directly into the wall once the light if finished.
Step 14: Attach to the wood block
Thread the cord of your light and your brass pipe into your wood piece (thread through the side with the larger hole first so that the brass piece slides into the wood and rests inside, you should be able to pull the cord through the bottom hole).
Step 15: stripping wire
Add a plug to the bottom of the cord by stripping the wire and attaching to the plug piece.
Hang your lamp on the wall (place 2 screws into the wall and hang the wood on the screws if you chose to put key holes into the wood or screw screw through the wood and directly into the wall). Plug the light in to let it shine!