Lamp with recycled CDs, design and DIY are not at odds -. bricoblog

Lamp with recycled CDs, a DIY project totally up to the challenge #RecycledChallege.

The “handmade by oneself”, more commonly known by the anglicism DIY (do it yourslef) or, what is the same, “do it yourself”, is not synonymous with botched, or bad taste, far from it .

You can get very decorative, aesthetic and original objects, as well as functional, made by yourself. Even using waste materials, whose only destination would have been recycling.

Well, in this article, and in the accompanying video, we are going to prove that the above is true. We will make a lamp table lamp made, almost entirely, with recycled materials. We will make the lampshade with recycled CDsand the base is also made with a scrap of methacrylate that we were going to throw away.

As I indicated at the opening of this article, this project is part of the #RecicladoChallenge, in which we find ourselves involved thanks to our friend MªLuz de Brico y Deco. As her name indicates, the theme of her blog and her YouTube channel is precisely DIY and DIY decoration. I advise you to take a look at it, she has very interesting things.

At the end of the article we will reveal to whom we will pass the baton of the challenge. I can only tell you in advance that it is a privilege to have their participation. Of course, without in any way detracting from Brico and Deco, who is a great channel.

Okay! What are we going to!!

Materials and tools for the lamp with recycled CDs

To carry out this project we will need the following materials and tools:

MATERIALS

TOOLS

a good number of CD’s. The more we have, the bigger we can make the lamp. A base. I have made it out of methacrylate, with a scrap that she had. But it can also be made of wood, cement, or any other material you can think of. To give the lamp greater stability, we have given it a slightly larger diameter than the CDs. 3 threaded rods of 6mm diameter. That will be the link between all the CDs and the base. Cap nuts, normal nuts and washers. Electrical components, such as cable, plug, switch, socket, and LED bulb. Template for drilling.

Manual drill or, better yet, column. With the first one, it can be done with the same precision as with the column one, but the process is much slower since the CDs would have to be made one by one. Crown drill. Although there are also other alternative methods such as marquetry saw, or pyrography. But, as in the case of the drill, this mode is slower and heavier.

If you don’t want to complicate your life, searching from one place to another, you can find all these tools and products for DIY online at Bricolemar.

How to make a lamp with recycled CDs

Next we will see, step by step, how to make our lamp with recycled CDs. I will try to be as clear and precise as possible. However, after collecting all the steps, I include a video tutorial in case you have any questions.

Still, you can ask us any question, leaving us a comment at the end of the article or in the comments of the video itself.

1st Step. Drilling of CDs

The first thing we will have to do is drill all the CDs. To do this, you must first indicate where the holes will go. To do this, we are going to use a template that we have made for this purpose. You can use it by downloading it by clicking on the following icon.

This process can be done CD by CD with a hand drill, but to take less time, we will use a drill press and do it in blocks. In 3 or 4 batches, we will have all the CDs perforated.

So, with the template, we mark the 3 points.

We fix the first block of CDs.

And we make the first hole, 6mm in diameter, going through the entire block.

Now we have to immobilize the block so that all the holes are exactly in place. To do this, we turn the block a little, and we insert a screw of the same diameter as the drill bit all the way down. We place the block for the second hole, and we do it.

And the third hole we do exactly the same.

2nd Step. hollowed out CDs

As the diameter of the bulb is greater than that of the central hole of the CDs, we have to enlarge the latter, so that the bulb can fit.

How will we do it?

The first thing is to hold the block of CDs with 3 screws, taking advantage of the holes made.

Once well secured, we will use a 50mm diameter crown bit. The diameter of the drill bit will vary depending on the dimensions of the bulb.

As I pointed out before, we could also have done it, individually, with other methods. For example, cutting with a pyrography, a marquetry saw, a cutter, or any other system with which we obtain the desired objective.

Well, we hollowed out all but one. Later, we will see what we will use it for.

3rd Step. Peeling of CDs

So that the light is projected in all directions, encountering the least possible number of obstacles, that is why we must remove the outer film of the CDs, leaving them transparent. All except the two from before.

However, DVDs have the silver film inside. Therefore, in this case, we have to open them, peeling off both sides with a cutter and very carefully. In the video below, we show you how to do it.

Here is the link to another of our articles, in which we show how to peel CDs quickly, easily and comfortably.

It is not necessary to take too much care either, since practically only the edges will be seen. But, once peeled, you can go over the areas that have any remains with a little solvent or acetone.

4th Step. Preparation of the lamp base

Ok, we are done with the most tedious part. Now, we will go on to prepare the base of our lamp with recycled CDs.

With the same template that we have used for the CDs, we mark the base at the bottom.

With a larger diameter drill bit, in our case we have used an 18mm one, we will make the recess where the nuts will be embedded.

Once the recesses are finished, we make the through holes, which will serve to anchor the CD tower.

We also have to make a hole in the center of the base, where we will fix the bulb socket.

This will be 10mm in diameter, with a larger diameter in the recess for the nut.

Now we anchor the threaded tube, and we make a hole, on the edge of the base, from the end to the center, through which we will pass the cable.

In order not to lengthen too much, the installation of the different elements, such as the switch and the plug, you can see in this other article, assembly of the simplest electrical elements.

5th Step. Lamp Shade Assembly

Well, once we have finished assembling the electrical part of the lamp with recycled CDs, we only have to assemble the CDs.

For this we will use 3 threaded rods of 6mm diameter.

The length will depend on the number of CDs used. The more CDs we use, the higher the lamp will be. In our case, we will give it a length of 50cm.

We fix the three rods on the base, by means of a nut on each side, and we begin to insert the CDs, inserting the washers. That is, we put a CD and a washer, another CD and another washer, and so on.

Why the washers?

Because the plastic would be so compact and thick that it would barely let any light out. So, in this way, we facilitate the passage of light.

For the last CD, we had a different one reserved. Remember that we had left one without hollowing out and with the outer film.

We put it with the silver side up, only for aesthetics

Finally, we fix the entire block of the tulip with some blind nuts.

And, as if it were the icing on the cake, we put three adhesive silicone tears at the bottom of the base, in order not to slide or scratch the furniture on which we have placed it.

Video tutorial to make a lamp with recycled CDs

In order to try to reduce the more doubts the better, and as we are used to doing, below we include the step-by-step video tutorial of making our lamp with recycled CDs.

However, if you have any questions about it, you can send it to us through a comment on this article, or in a video on our YouTube channel.

Photo gallery of our lamp with recycled CDs

We have finished our original lamp, made with recycled materials.

Let’s try it to see how it turns out.

As you can see, this lamp does not give direct light to read a book, but it does help us create a relaxed atmosphere.

To end

As I indicated at the beginning of the article, this tutorial is part of the “#RecicladoChallenge”. So now I have to pass the baton to another DIY channel.

And this channel is, nothing more and nothing less, than BricoCrack, and specifically, our friend Juan Mateos.

Be sure to visit this channel, they have a lot of very interesting DIY teaching material.

Then I leave you the thread of the challenge, that is, a link to the video before this (the one from Brico and Deco), and another to the later one (the one from BricoCrack).

Challenge #RecycledChallenge

previous video – DIY and Deco

this video

next video – Bricocrack

Thus, you can go through the challenge without having to do any search.

Well, I hope you liked it. See you soon in the next tutorial.

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