Experimental, DIY, floor lamp from a log

I had a sour orange tree log laying around and I decided to make a floor lamp with it.

I begun by cutting some extra branches with a hand saw. I then Trimmed a few parts of the log with an axe.

I removed the bark of the log with a sharp chisel and a mallet. 

The log was two old and had a few worms in it.

I wanted the cord of the lamp to go through the log. In order to to that I had to split the log in half.

I made a starting point with a hand saw. I then used wedges two split the log. I also used my axe as a hammer.

When the log was split, I used my router with a straight bit, to create a groove for the lamp’s wire.

I used a big carving gouge to clean up the groove a little bit.

I glued the log back together using clamps and glue. 

The hand saw created a gap. To fill that, I cut a few splines on my table saw. I fine tuned the splines with a chisel and glued them in place. I flush trimmed them using my flush trim saw.

I used my chisel to round over a few edges and carved out some worm marks. 

I used wood filler to fill the remaining gaps on the log.

I trimmed the legs with my circular saw and a hand saw.

I used a sanding disc on my angle grinder and sanded the log. I finished sanding with regular 120 grit sandpaper.

I marked the area for my lamp on the end grain of the log. I used my router to open up the hole.

I applied a coat of wood preservative to kill any remaining worms.

I then applied three coats of walnut wood stain while sanding between coats.

To create the lamp’s hat, I used a balloon as a mold. I mixed wood glue and water in a container and dipped a twine ball in it. I wrapped the twine around the balloon and when the glue was dry I had my hat. I was also careful not to cover the holes on the two ends of the balloon. This way I can add the lamp’s base and a light bulb when I have to.

For the electrical parts, I used wire, a socket with an on off switch and a light bulb base with two collars. I assembled everything with a screw driver. I have also soldered the wire with the on off switch end cable.

I glued the lamp’s hat with the log base with hot glue.

I really enjoyed this build. I learned many thing making that lamp. I will probably fine tune a few things on it in the future.