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Mission lamp
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This Mission-style lamp with a wooden base and shade has "heirloom" written all over it
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By Michel Roy, photos by Martin Tessler, illustration by Len Churchill
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The arms splay from the base to hold the shade in place. Brass screws join the arms to the rest of the lamp assembly.
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Strong Base
Compared to the shade, the base is a piece of cake. Cut the stock as listed for the four posts and four panels. On two adjacent sides of each post, mill a 1/8"-wide x 3/16"-deep groove for the panels to fit into. On the panels, mill a corresponding rabbet, leaving a 1/8"-wide x 3/16"-deep tongue to fit into the posts.
You can leave the panels as is or add a decorative element with an inlay or a cutout if you like. To make a template of the spade pattern, you can use the grid pattern in the plans or download a template from our website. I used a bandsaw with a fence to saw the straight leg of each cutout, then a jigsaw with a narrow scrolling blade to cut out the top portion.
After cleaning up the inside edges of the cut with sandpaper and files, glue the posts and panels together. I inserted temporary spacers into the vertical stem of the cutouts so that clamp pressure wouldn't close the gaps. Ensure everything is square and flat as you wait for the glue to dry.
The centre of the lamp is capped at the top and bottom by two end pieces. Mark the centre of each post at the top and bottom, then drill holes for 1/4"-diameter dowels, 1/2" deep. To locate the corresponding holes for these dowels, draw diagonal lines from corner to corner and fit dowel-centring pins into the post holes. Line up the outside corners of the posts with the diagonal lines and press down to mark hole locations. Drill them the same size as before.
Add a slight chamfer all around the edges of the top end with a block plane, while the bottom end needs a chamfer only on the top edge.
To create the base piece, you may have to edge-glue wood to get the required 8" x 8" size. Use a chamfering bit in a router, a tilted tablesaw blade or a hand plane to chamfer the top edge as shown in the plans. Glue the bottom piece with the dowel holes you made in the previous step on centre to the base. The top piece with the dowel holes also needs an additional feature. Glue a 1/2"-thick x 3" square of wood to the top surface, centred. Next, drill 3/8"-diameter holes on centre through the top assembly and the base for wires.
At the bottom of the base, countersink a 3/4"-deep pocket using a 1" Forstner bit to make room for a washer and nut. Then drill a hole from one edge of the base to connect with the hole in the bottom so you can thread the lamp cord out one side. To conceal the lamp cord and hold everything together in the base, I used a section of brass pipe that I threaded at the ends to fit standard electrical fittings, like sockets. The pipe threads into the bottom of the socket and runs through the bottom of the base, where a washer and nut secure the whole lamp base together. Alternatively, you could use a section of continuously threaded electrical nipple pipe-and slip an unthreaded sleeve of copper or brass pipe over it-in the post-and-panel section, where it will be visible.
The last pieces you need to make are the arms. Build them according to the plans, but feel free to adjust the design if you like. Just be certain the grain runs lengthwise on the arms for strength. I cut the arms on a bandsaw and used a block plane and chisels to clean them up. Make sure all four are identical.
Drill the base end of each arm for a #6 x 1" screw, and predrill the top block to which they attach. Use regular steel round-headed screws to do a test assembly, checking that the tops of the arms are all aligned in the same plane. Flip the assembly upside down on a flat surface to check-if it rocks, adjust the arms. Glue the arms to the top block and use the same steel screws to attach them. When the glue has dried and the finishing steps are complete, replace the steel screws with brass ones.
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