Materials:
- Vaporproof / Security Ceiling Light (1)
- Edison Bulb (1)
- Flicker Bulbs – E12 Base (4)
- E12 Bulb Socket (4)
- SPST Switch (1)
- 1/2″ Cast Iron 90 Elbow Male to Female (4)
- 1/2″ Cast Iron 45 Male to Female (1)
- 5″x1/2″ Cast Iron Nipple (1)
- Cast Iron Plate Socket (1)
- Wood Block (1)
- 2-part Epoxy
Disclaimer: The above are Amazon affiliate links. If you plan on building this project, and want to help out me or this site, I’d appreciate if you purchase your supplies through them. Cheers! The cast iron pieces can be bought on Amazon as well, but unless you’re making multiples I’d recommend to go to your local hardware store and pick these up.
This Rocketship Lamp isn’t overly difficult if you get the right supplies, but the end result is a lot of fun 🙂
The Build
I used some two part epoxy to hold the candelabra (E12) light sockets into the 1/2″ cast iron fittings. Cutting or grinding off the top metal hanger makes them slide in a little nicer.
I also used the same epoxy on the base to hold the fittings at the optimal angles. The 1/2″ fittings do thread into the screw holes in the security light quite well. Ensure you have the wires from all of the light sockets in the base.
Depending on the epoxy it can take a solid 24 hours to fully cure. Once it was ready, I worked on the electrical. I cut off the end of an AC line cord and fed this up through the cast iron pieces into the base of the vapor light.
The wiring is pretty straight forward. Connect all of the neutral (white) wires together from the four E12 bases and large socket along with the neutral from the mains. Connect hot (black) wire from the AC line cord to one end of the switch. All of the other black wires from the bulb sockets connect to the other end of the switch. The green should be connected to the base of the vapor light.
The switch goes into a little hole I had pre-drilled. Switch voltage needs to be at least the mains supply (120V for me, 240V elsewhere in the world). My switch was 3A / 125V which is well overkill. The entire lamp should be drawing <1A.
Schematic:
In parallel, I had purchased a nice piece of hardwood to use as the base. I drilled a hole big enough to pass the plug through, but not too big it would be seen under the plate. I also drilled a hole in the end so the cord can come out the back but remain hidden. It’s finished with my go-to: Watco Danish Oil.
All I had to do to finish it off was mount the feet on my base, attach the support post and screw in the lamps and case. Here’s a link to a short video of it.
Rocketship Lamp Improvements
Next time, I ‘d probably make a couple of modifications:
- Larger bulb at the center for ‘main engine’
- Dual switches – 1 for the main bulb and 1 for the flicker bulbs
- Add dimmer to the main bulb
This is how I would wire up the dual switches and thus could easily use a dimmer switch for the main bulb only.
Any questions? Feel free to send me a note.