A Clockwork Orange (Table Lamp)

What do a gigant orange glass ball and a discontinued geared hub have in common? Obvious: the Clockwork Orange Table Lamp!


The glass ball is a vintage shade from the 60's, in perfect condition and absolutely gorgeous in size (23cm diameter),  and colour (deep juicy orange). No need to 'alter' it at all, I just turned it upside down for better fitting with the design of the lamp.

As for the Internal Geared Hub, well, I didn't know much about it when I got it, but I was fascinated by that sultry piece of machinery and knew it would inspire many creations. Then I googled "Sachs Super 7" and discovered that it is a 7 speed hub, very good quality  (it shows!), discontinued since 1997 (several desperated bike users were looking for parts in some forums!).


There are A LOT of fabulous pieces inside a geared hub; of course I didn't know until I dismantled it -so thrilling! And extremely sticky, 'cause the components are greased up, I even noticed two different kinds of lubricant.. so there was loads of washing and rubbing involved in this recycling... for this lamp, in case you are interessed to know, I have used parts no. 5 and no. 36. Would have loved to crown it all with the incredible thinggie with the three dented wheels spinning inside (shows a little in the picture, it's no.9), but it was too heavy, so I'll use it another time.

The other main part is the base and switch mechanism, a 'touch-dimmer' one (three positions: sweet!), recycled from a thrift store lamp. An halogen bulb should be used here, to get full potential of these light effects. Inside the -now empty- hub there is a lamp pipe, ending in a base cap and the lamp socket. Nothing 'weird' there, haha.
And then, as usual, loads of small details to add up to the general design: washers, rubber brims and even an almost hidden wire coated in plastic that has the same orange colour as the glass, to accentuate the lower part of the 'neck' of the lamp. See it in the detail pictures below, along with gearbox's part no.36 (lamp light off and on):


The top part of the shade has a 'lid'.  It is not attached so it can be removed for getting more light or easyly changing the bulb. It also has a rubber brim and it is made out of a sieve of a food mill, washers, an inox tiny door knob and a big orange resin bead from India.


The Clockwork Orange table lamp measures 45cm high, the diameter of the base is 14cm and that of the glass shade, as said before, 23cm. It switches on and off by touching any of its metallic parts, and has three levels of light intensity, so it is perfect for create a warm yet classy atmosphere!.

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