Plywood Pendant Lamp
I saw a wood pendant lamp passing a storefront window, and I liked the look of it. It was made from a bunch of bent lamination parts to form sort of a globe.
So I started fiddling with the idea of trying to cut it out of a sheet of plywood, and put it together sort of like a 3D puzzle.
9mm baltic birch plywood seemed to be a good place to start.
I drew up some shapes in Cad and fired up the cnc for my first attempt.
![](https://i1.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Capture3.jpg?fit=604%2C424&ssl=1)
The slots and pockets was cut with an 1/8″ 2 flute downcut spiral bit. This left a small enough radius in the slots to not needing any more modifications.
![](https://i2.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-05-17.43.27-scaled.jpg?fit=576%2C1024&ssl=1)
I assembled it, but was not happy with how long the “neck” was. So I redrew the Cad drawing and ran it again.
![](https://i1.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-05-20.14.04-scaled.jpg?fit=604%2C340&ssl=1)
This time i shortened the length of the neck, and also made the curve a little bigger, as I was going for a larger “bulb”
![](https://i1.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Capture-2.jpg?fit=604%2C303&ssl=1)
Here are some close ups of the cut parts.
![](https://i2.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-07-12.25.07-scaled.jpg?fit=604%2C340&ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-07-12.25.13-scaled.jpg?fit=604%2C340&ssl=1)
To “free” all the parts, I ran it through the table saw on both sides.
Then it was off to assemble the puzzle.
The sticks was only glued with CA glue and accelerator. And I was trying to space the sticks in such a way that they had an equal distance between them. It was kinda fun to do this glue-up.
![](https://i0.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-07-16.40.25-scaled.jpg?fit=604%2C340&ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-07-16.40.28-scaled.jpg?fit=576%2C1024&ssl=1)
To keep all the “sticks” equally spaced, and make the globe a little more rigid, a 4mm plywood ring was sketched. It has recesses the same size as the birch ply “sticks”. This also stiffens up the hole globe.
![](https://i0.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Capture2.jpg?fit=604%2C427&ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/zoom.jpg?fit=604%2C285&ssl=1)
The 2 lamps side by side (PS, the top of the one on the right has not been sanded straight yet in this image :))
![](https://i1.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-07-20.14.40-scaled.jpg?fit=604%2C340&ssl=1)
I chose to finish it with some Chinese oil.
![](https://i1.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-07-21.20.52-scaled.jpg?fit=576%2C1024&ssl=1)
This is how it came out after installation.
![](https://i0.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20170114_193221-scaled.jpg?fit=576%2C1024&ssl=1)
I did make a modification to the design after it was installed. Due to the effect of being” behind bars”, caused by the shadows from the sticks, I decided to recess the bulb, and also replace it with a halogen spot light bulb with a more narrow light casting angle.
![](https://i1.wp.com/bellevuewoodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017-01-14-20.21.05-scaled.jpg?fit=576%2C1024&ssl=1)
I also drilled some ventilation holes in the top for some heat to escape.