These started life as very inexpensive real oil lamps.
The lamps were intentionally purchased unfinished so they would rust and become a bit more rustic looking. The only modification was pulling the cotton wick out.
In the final LED converted version, the clear glass shades have been sprayed on the inside with an acrylic frost.
Basic 1 1/2″ PVC pipe is used as a core in the lamps to support the LED strips.
The PVC is cut to length and tapered holes are drilled at the ends to allow the wires to pass through.
This particular lamp uses standard LED strips. The lamps hanging in unprotected areas use ip65 waterproof strips.
The power leads are brought to the center of the PVC where they can run up and out of the lamp.
The strips are attached to the PVC with the 2-sided tape that strips usually already have but the end of the strip is additionally secured with a dab of silicone for extra security.
The finished core is placed in the glass shade (with the LED section towards the bottom) and over the wick port and that’s it.
Here are two of the lamps. The one on the right is outside so much more weathered. Each lamp is hanging from very simple unfinished iron hooks for an added rustic quality. Because of the copper color of the strips used in the left lamp, the color of the light is a bit more golden. The white waterproof strips can benefit from the addition of some amber or color temperature warming gel.
