TIKISKIP : How to make tiki light, Lamp 101

Ha!

The tiki build vibe hits mostly is the spring and fall after I get all
the house stuff done.
Cold wet spring killed it this year.

Will keep you in mind as I have lots o light parts ready to go.

Thanks!

Love your work, skip. I wish you lived just down the road..

Cold as it is here, I too wish we lived just down the road.
Got some lights to post.
Thanx for lookin.

And hey I have a didgeridoo so I'm ready Mate.

sweet, got the breathing down?

Don't want to mess with your thread, but for anyone interested - here's what ye do.

Easier to practice without a didge - put yer teeth together and loosely ppppppppt yer lips,
when yer breath is getting low - have yer tongue at the back of yer mouth and use it to
push the air out to keep yer lips going while ye take a quick sniff in through yer nose -
while keeping the whole thing going.

It's easy and ye'll soon get the hang of it. :)

p.s. just let me know if ye want this edited out.

[ Edited by: komohana 2016-04-04 07:39 ]

"sweet, got the breathing down?"

I can play it and make cool boing sounds and all, BUT I can't do the circular breathing.

"p.s. just let me know if ye want this edited out."
Heck no, thanx for adding!

Playing a Didgeridoo (David Hudson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlEkeot7HM

Got a boinked barrel?

Here's how you fix it in a few easy steps.
In just a few steps you can save it from the trash.
I would make lights out of the ribs myself.

Sweet
Now fill dat barrel wit rum
:)

Just wanted to say thanks, Skip, for all the info in this thread. It really came in handy when pulling together my own basket swag lamp!

Thanks Bam Bam!
I love that song you did with Pebbles. :)

Pebbles and Bamm Bamm - Let The Sunshine In
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVogUqWScYc

Hey show a pic of your light!

Sure, though it's not been dressed up yet - it's just the base basket and recycled swag chain I found over the weekend. I've been bouncing around ideas of how best to give it a "tiki twist" with materials available around here.

(The light is not actually that bright in person. The camera seems to add 500 lumens)

E: I'm going to document the process, but the plan as it stands is to thin out the strips a bit, paper the interior, and cap off the bottom with a tapa-pattern screen. I would love to find something to serve as a hat-style roof, but they do not appear around here very often.

[ Edited by: Bam Bam 2016-06-06 19:47 ]

Looks good Bam Bam.
You could also flip it and add a hat.
or add a tapa insert to the bottom.

A 40 or 15 watt amber light bulb would look great in there as well.
For me if you can see the bulb it's not as good, you can paper the inside of that basket as well.

Thanx for sharing yer light!
https://www.google.com/search?q=amber+light+bulb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZ2p3WhpbNAhWKOD4KHd7wBPgQsAQIRA&biw=1280&bih=633&dpr=1.5

PS I love the shards of light you got on the ceiling from this light Bam.

Me too. It's why I'm a little reluctant to paper the whole interior. I may have to find a compromise...

I have done paper up to a point and that way you don't see where the paper ends,
but you still have the top open for venting and still get the shards of light.

Many times the top of the light is a hat.
So you get this effect anyway as the hat has the open parts but you don't see the bulb as the angle you look at the light from keeps light bulb out of view.

Win win.

Your comment about angles got me thinking, and I believe I've found a compromise between shade and shards.

After some experimenting with household objects, I found that these cheap polypropelyne cutting mats transmit light fairly well, and are easily rolled into a long, rigid tube.

I used this as a diffuser so that, A) you don't see the bulb, and B) There is now strong orange light coming from throughout the shade. The pattern on the ceiling is diminished, but it's still there - and now in color as well. As a bonus, I still have two more mats in red & green to experiment with.

(as before, don't trust the color that the camera sees. It is much more subdued to the naked eye)

Thankfully, it's yard sale & rummage sale season, so the chances of finding something useable as a hat are at a high.

Skip- u stud

I was good looking for about one week long ago.

Looks good bam Bam.
Now you are getting It!

Like the way you are thinking on how to get parts for your tiki spot!
Keep it up.

Ok have you seen these?

“(New Advanced Edition) Lakes LED Flickering Flame Light Bulb, Multi-function (Live Flame Emulation Mode, Breathing Mode and General Lighting Mode), E26 Medium Edison Screw (MES), Pack of 1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDVBM1V?psc=1

I have seen these and thought they were cool, and I’m an old hate most new things guy.
Going to try these in our Blow mold Christmas candle décor.
Will let ya know.

Could work in tiki room lighting one would think.

Best when you can’t see the bulb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ3LW0HBUac

Not as great when you can see the bulb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucNcn72SHmI

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤ºº¤ø,¸¸,:MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM TIKISKIP!!:º¤ø,¸¸ø¤ºº¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2016-11-30 12:27 ]

Skip, your link to Amazon is not working, can you repost please, unless its just me.

Link should be good now.
Bulb will be here soon and I will give my very biased old man review of it here.

$26.00 bucks is kinda high for this bulb.
That is more than half the price of my cheapest lights.
So that bulb alone would take one of my $40.00 dollar lights up to
$66.00.

The type of light I make that that would work well in would be more than $40.00 bucks.
This style here only bigger.

This light is in Blake's bar and not for sale.

Who knows where this is.

"Post from you know who, "In Three, Two, One..........."

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤ºº¤ø,¸¸,:MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM TIKISKIP!!:º¤ø,¸¸ø¤ºº¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º

Thanks for the great info Skip, just ordered me a couple for future projects.

This bulb would have to go in my Christmas wish list.

Well it came, It came without ribbons!... it came without tags!... but it came just the same as Amazon delivery drags.

I think I got caught up in that Black Friday BS so it did take a bit longer than normal.

So I put these in the Christmas Blow mold candles and it looks good would not say it's awesome but good.
Side note, I rewire these candles to have lights in the top and bottom of the fixture as some only have one light in the top or bottom.

Going to make a light and put them in it after Christmas I think.
This is a big bulb kinda though, this is part of why I like the C7 and C9 Christmas bulbs for my tiki lights.
C7 and C9s are small, not heavy and use low watts.

Over all I think this bulb could be good in your tiki bar lighting plan, but at $26.00 bucks plus delivery it's kinda expensive.
I think Black Friday got me free delivery.
Flicker flame type lights or even those motion lights that spin around slowly are great for any bar I think because it gives the bar a bit of life even if nobody is there, plus you can stare into them and space out.

¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸SNOWMEN SCORE!!!¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸

¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸¨*•.¸¸

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2016-12-07 04:53 ]

Received the Junolux LED flickering bulbs yesterday skip, one big the other smaller, and had a similar reaction...OK, but not great. Not sure whether they remind me of a flame or just an amber colored bulb that is about to expire. I will still use one on a project I have going as the bulb will be hidden but accessible to tiny hands and they do run nice and cool.

Well yeah I knew that the bulb could not be seen for a good effect, heck it's a bunch of dots going on and off.

BUT when I did see it the bulb was in a house light that had a frosted glass hiding bulb.
It looked great in that fixture.

Well I have an update to the “(New Advanced Edition) Lakes LED Flickering Flame Light Bulb.
It looks like this bulb goes in and out of Flickering Flame mode.

I do have it outside in a Blow mold, so it could be the cold, it could be it is heating up trapped in the mold.

Wonder if the "New Advanced Edition" model is a fix to the first one that did not work well.

One can only guess as the only thing in the box is a note asking you to tell everybody how great this bulb is and to let them know of any problems.

THIS is the biggest reason I most times don't like new stuff, it does not work.
Have never had the old type Flickering Flame bulb not work and heck they cost like 10 times less than this bulb does.

But $26.00 bucks for a 5 watt bulb is not a great deal.

Will bring this bulb inside and see if that helps, looks like this bulb goes to no flicker after being turned off but with no instructions don't know if that is a "feature" of this bulb.

Too bad this could be cool.

Wanted to let you know before you run out and get this that this could be a problem.

Skipper
Wish u lived closer
Found a float recently
No rope on it
:(

How big is it?
Basket ball hoop net may work.

8 in
I'll check it out
Thanx

I used a basketball net on an 8 inch float. It works just fine.

Right on

I'd like to know your opinion on repurposing tapa into lampshades or anything else.. I've been buying small scraps when they pop up on eBay which I have no problem using, but over they last couple years I've tracked down tons of tapa on Craigslist and in vintage shops but I have a hang up when iit comes to cutting this stuff up.. I just can't bring myself to do it sometimes. I've now got pieces that are 12 x12 inches and pieces that are 12 x 12 feet. All too beautiful!

Well I too had a hard time doing this but was pleased with what I made out of the Tapa I did end up cutting.
If you think about it cutting it up and using small bits and pieces of it lets you stretch it and use it even more I guess.

Using Tapa makes it easy to make a light as the Tapa says tiki right there, so
it's kinda hard to fail using Tapa.
The only thing better than Tapa is GLOWING lit Tapa.

Have lots of Tapa things in the wings that need to be finished, maybe this will be the year.
Here is a thread I did on Tapa....
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=49260&forum=5&22

Here are a few things I have made using Tapa.
Good luck!!

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2017-02-06 11:21 ]

Really digging the shrunken head lamp! Where did you find the shrunken head?

Thanks Brain.
That light is in fact called Brian, if you knew my family you would know why.

I look for the shrunken heads and other things that will work
all year but Halloween is the best time to find them.
Found that one at one of those pop up Halloween stores.

They do make really cool good ones but they cost $100 bucks and up.

Do have other heads waiting in the wings.

Now is the time to find Bamboo at nursery stores as they buy just a small amt because it cracks and splits thus making it harder to sell.
Once it's gone, it's gone.
At least that's how it works in Ohio.

Good Luck!!

Need to make my new shiny nuts old and black looking.
When I see some cool old looking décor in a tiki bar and then see new shiny hardware on it or a white cord on some old tki light, well it’s like your mother in law calling during sex, unless your mother in law is Christie Brinkley.

Sooo I needed to age the brass I used on this new light.
Here are ways to do that.

1. In a plastic container pour some vinegar, apple cider also works really well, add a tablespoon or two of salt, mix well.
2. Put your pieces in mixture and let them soak for a few minutes or longer.
3. Take them out and dry with paper towel.
4. Place them in either a cookie sheet and put in oven to 350 or put a piece of tin foil over your stove burner (electric) and place pieces over them on med to high heat.
5. Watch them turn dark in a few minutes. Remove (with pliers) and let cool.
6. You can polish the pieces with #0000 steel wool (hardware store) and polish to give desired look.

For brown-black, use a sulphide solution. An easy one used to be selenium toner from KODAK, but thats really hard to find with the decline in photo processing. Another easy source is "Patina Black" by Novacan used by stained glass artists. You should be able to get a small bottle for about 8 bucks.

For Green-white use JAX Green Patina. Produces a permanent antique green finish on Copper, Brass & BronzeMade in the USA.

Tikiskip I really enjoy your sharing your knowledge about lamp making and the ones you make are incredible! But I have a problem, I have a low ceiling in my hut with a recessed canister with a florescent flood light in it. At times I need the light because there are no windows in the room but I plan to use shells to reduce the amount of light when lounging. So my question is how should I attach the shells to each other and a circular wood or bamboo frame? Would a glue gun work, would an epoxy gel work better? Your knowledge will appreciated.

thanks... tikicoma

Hey Skip, Your Lights are the GOLD STANDARD. Thanks for sharing your knowledge! OGR

On 2017-04-19 15:42, Or Got Rum? wrote:
Hey Skip, Your Lights are the GOLD STANDARD. Thanks for sharing your knowledge! OGR

Thanks OGR you are too kind, hope you get better soon!

I did respond to tikicomas question via a PM, did not leave him hanging.

Learned a new term, new to me anyway, that is Equity theory.
This is part of what makes me wonder if adding to and spending so much time
on TC is worth it.

After many years on life support it may be time to add Tiki Central to "The Dead Thread"

Equity theory...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_theory

Skip, you have given a lot of helpful information to this community and I for one appreciate all of it. We might be small in numbers here on TC but we are not dead, hehe. Hope to see you posting soon.

Yep
Love all your creations Skipper
Keep em rollin

I recently bought an IKEA Jassa pendant lamp shade that would be perfect for this process. Another project for the tc do list.

Rick in Texas

I'm new here, but your instructions and pictures make me believe that even I could make passable lamps. I wish that shipping didn't make it a pain to send to Canada.

From a newbie, thank you for your time and inspiration...now I just have to find baskets that fit the part.

Thanks and welcome to TC.

I find sooo much stuff that would work for lights.
My wife is always pointing stuff out to me as well but I don't collect this stuff anymore as I have a ton now and have not made lights for some time.

The hats are what's hard to find, well I find em but damn they want like $20.00 bucks or more these days for a stupid hat.

Will make some lights some day.

Good luck, you can do it.

Hey Tikiskip, just wanted to say mahalo for this thread! I'm about to tackle
my first basket lamp and was crossing my fingers there would be a tutorial on TC.
I'll post a pic if it turns out decent :wink:
Simon

Hey Simon long time no see.

If you have questions ask me here or PM me and I may be able to help you.

I guess the hardest part is finding a good hat to put on your lights.
You can find em but at times these guys want $20.00 or more for them.
Getting harder and harder to find at a good price.

Good luck!

Hey SufferinSimon would like to see your light if you did end up making one.

And I have been making balsa planes as of late.
As I was doing this I remembered making these long ago and the steps needed to finish these.

It came to me that many of the things you do to make these are helpful techniques that you also use in making tiki lights.

Mostly the tissue paper that you add to the outside of the plane, this shows you how to line a basket well.

Then you paint the tissue on the plane with Dope a kind of paint for these planes you can't even find dope in the few hobby stores as so few people do this anymore.

Soooo if you have kids or even you may want to do this to learn a few things yourself it can help you in other ways in your life.

I know not tiki but kind of.