Vintage Coffee Grinders turned into Lamps

And yet another great commission, yay! The customer asked me if I could turn these two German vintage coffee grinders bought in El Rastro (famous flea market in Madrid) into a pair of lamps they would use in their bedside tables. And sure I could!

It was of course a little bit difficult to find two lamp tubes that would be slightly bent -as they would have to be inserted in one corner of the top surface of the grinders, but got the perfect pair, once I dismantled a couple of halogen desk lamps from the 80s found in a second hand shop. The top part is a flexible neck!
I also managed to adapt the curvy, white shades of an illuminated bathroom mirror from the 70s; and then the customer chose a bright blue cotton cord that not only looks nice with the colours of the coffee grinders -blue and orange- but also matches the bedroom decoration. the plugs are transparent with blue highlights, and both the bulb sockets and switches are white.

There: a cheerful, rather original pair of lamps, highly decorative but of course practical as well... even the drawer still opens up, ready to keep small treasures!

Measures: 50cm high in the average position, 28cm wide. The coffee grinders are 11.5 x 11.5 cm, 22cm high.

BLUE COFFEE GRINDER LAMP

This coffee grinder had been heavily used and needed a little restoration in the drawer and upper lid. I also polished the metallic bits, as the original blue paint was quite chipped.

The wooden knob in the handle, the top of the box and the drawer front are painted in white, then distressed to match the general look and white shade on top.

The front with the lovely vintage round label (Leinbrock's Ideal feinmahlendes Stahlmahlwerk) and other wooden parts were of course left intact, just cleaned and varnished with the rest, then polished to get a smooth, satin finish.

ORANGE COFFEE GRINDER LAMP

This coffee grinder was in mint condition, just needed a cleaning, really. I also polished the metallic bits.

Like its twin brother the blue grinder, the wooden knob in the handle, the top of the box and the drawer front are painted in white, then distressed to match the general look and white shade on top.

The front with the vintage diamond-shaped label (also Leinbrock's Ideal feinmahlendes Stahlmahlwerk) and other wooden parts were of course left intact, just cleaned and varnished with the rest, then polished to get a smooth, satin finish.

THE MAKING PROCESS

The main parts used to build the lamps -on the right, check up of the blue coffee grinder: the drawer and top need fixing

 Repairing the drawer, and drilling the top holes on which the lamp pipes will be fitted.

Drilling the back holes to let the cord out -Sanding the parts that will be painted.

Painting the drawer fronts, the top surfaces of the coffee grinders and the handle pulls, then distressing those areas to match the rest.

Polishing the iron parts, and finally varnishing all the wooden areas.

Mounting the bulb sockets inside the shades (not shown) and the lamp poles to the coffee grinders. Wiring the lamps.

Reattaching the bottom boards and wiring the plugs.

I had to adapt the switches to the cotton cord wide diameter. Finally, testing: all fine!