Manufacture

You will be given 2 blocks of hardwood timber. One has been filled with resin and then smaller piece has a groove already cut out from it - this is where the circuit board will sit with the super bright LED's that will shine upwards. You will need to drill a hole at the front of the smaller block for the On/Off switch to be inserted. See Step 5

You need to sketch your design onto a piece of paper. Cut the rectangle out and glue the paper template to your wooden block from the Front view.

Glue your template to the hardwood block

You can now Cut and Shape the hardwood block to your design using a Coping Saw, Hegner (Scroll Saw), or Tenon Saw.

Hardwood block initial cutting. Only cut and shape the top of your hardwood block. Do not shape the sides at this point.

Hardwood block initial cutting, ready to be shaped / filed.

File your cut hardwood block to smooth and remove the saw cuts and get the shape that you have designed.

File your cut hardwood block to smooth and remove the saw cuts and get the shape that you have designed.

Using Glasspaper sand your work smooth. Remove the file marks / cut marks. Works through the grades of Glasspaper

Using Glasspaper remove the file marks from your hardwood block. Try to achieve a really good finish that shows all of the wood grain. Ensure that it is super smooth.

You will need to 'gently' sand, using the sanding machine, the width of your hardwood block so that it perfectly fits into the mould.

Place your hardwood block in the mould. Mix your resin together and prepare your dyes and any objects you wish to embed into the resin. Make sure you clean out any dust from the mould.

You will pour the resin in '2 pours'. This is because the heat of the resin will cause it to turn lumpy if too much is poured.

You need to measure out approximately 200gms of Resin

Weigh out approximately 100gms of the Hardener.

Mix together the two parts of the resin. Do this for about 1 minute. It will probably turn a little 'cloudy'

Pour the mixed resin into the mould. This should fill the mould with about 20mm of resin.

This video shows the resin being poured.

After you have added the resin STOP and quickly use the blow torch to remove any air bubbles that appear on the surface.

Now add your coloured dyes and any object(s) that you want encapsulated in the resin.

After you have added the colour(s) you may need to use the Blowtorch again to remove any additional air bubbles.

It now needs to dry overnight before a second pour can be done.

Ideally this needs to be done on Monday lunchtime.

Look carefully at how much resin you will need. For the 2nd pour I mixed 250gms and 125gms to esnure that I filled the mould.

You now need to pour the resin until you reach the height of the front of your hardwood block. Add any more dyes or objects into the resin. Wait a couple of minutes and then use the blowtorch again to remove any bubbles.

Now that you have your shaped hardwood base encapsulated in the resin you are ready to drill the holes for the switch and then shape your lamp from the Side view. The resin can be cut with a Junior Hacksaw or a Hegner / Scroll saw to shape. You can also use a range of files to ensure that you get a smooth shape.

Please wear a dust mask.

You can use the Sanding Machine (Linisher - 60 Grit) to remove and straighten sides. You can also use it to add a Chamfered edge onto your work if you wish.

Please wear a dust mask.

You tube video

You need to drill a hole for the switch. The hole should be the middle of the horizontal width of the small block and 20 mm vertically down from the top edge.

Once you have comleted the shaping of the resin poured lamp you are now ready to 'finish' the resin and hardwood. This will take some time as you have to work through many grades of Glasspaper and Wet and Dry paper to get all of the scratch marks out and a completely clear result.

Soldering

Use a cloth and the 'scratch remover' liquid to remove any visible small scratches.

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step 20 - polish

Finally you will add a little polish onto a cloth to rub into the resin and make it shine bu using the polishing wheel.

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step 21 - polish

Add some Brasso to a cloth and now rub this in hard onto the resin. The harder you rub, the more friction you will generate and this heat will result in a shine.

Solder the On/Off switch to the two wires and insert the switch into the hardwood block base of your lamp. Plug in the USB and switch on. Photograph your Lamp.