Lamp Gallery

Below are some of the lamp designs created by Repurposed in the past.

Power Drill

Details

A 1950s Black+Decker U-100 sits atop a post wrapped in it’s original electrical cord. The drill chuck was replaced with a standard socket and looks great with a tube-shaped LED or incandescent bulb. The base is a wooden box that once housed Cleveland Drill Bits.

The switches are two red wire nuts. The one on the left pulls forward to turn on the external bulb or backward to turn on an internal LED that shines through the openings in the drill body. The switch on the right is a dimmer switch, that works with both the internal and external lights.

Meat Grinder

Details

We painted this old meat grinder a bold blue—and then, after deciding it was too perfect, scuffed it up a bit. A standard pull-chain socket holds the bulb.

The lamp shade is a colander, held on with a final that was previously a pot lid knob. The lamp sits atop a base that had been a small cheeseboard.

Blenders

Waring Blendor

We love the aesthetic of the old beehive-shaped blenders. This mid-century Waring Blendor (yes, with an "o") model 702A was converted into a accent lamp to add ambiance to any room of your home.

We were able to use the original OFF/LO/HI switch, rather than replace it. On LO, a string of fairy lights in the base of the glass container provide some soft nighttime illumination. On HI, the main bulb inside lights up the room.

Osterizer Hi-Lo

This Osterizer had a HI-LO switch, which meant we had to do more than just on and off.

Flip to HI, and a bulb inside the glass pitcher comes on. We love swirly LEDs as a perfect reminder of an appliance’s former life.

We hid LEDs inside the chrome ring that holds the pitcher in place. You don’t even know they’re there—until you switch to LO.

Antique Toaster

Details

Believe it or not, this is what old electric toasters used to look like. You’d flip open a door on each side, insert your bread, and turn it on. Of course, there was no pop-up feature and if you wanted both sides of the break toasted, you had to flip it yourself.

After removing the guts, we crafted a white translucent acrylic "shade" that mimics the triangular shape of the toaster. A dimmable LED provides the light.

Super-8 Cameras

Revere

The Revere Eight Model 50 Movie Camera was released in the early-1950s, before the advent of battery-operated cameras. To power the spring-activated motor, you had to wind it up using the key on the side, like an antique clockwork toy.

This camera is metal and has some serious heft to it. Unfortunately, the gears inside were plastic, and didn't last as long as the body. We replaced the lens assembly with a knob on/off socket.

The lamp came with a stand made from a thrifted bracket with a ball joint atop a weighted 8mm film canister, but could be removed from the base and used with a tripod or any other device that had the standard mounting screw. 

Keystone

We actively seek out Keystone Super-8 cameras. The lens assembly is the perfect size of a standard light bulb, but a separate viewfinder on some models can be replaced by a smaller, candelabra-size socket.

We wire the camera trigger with a three-way switch that allows you to use only the large bulb, only the small bulb, or both. A weighted 8mm film canister is the ideal base for these lamps.

Kodak Pony 135 Camera