The Pinecone Lamp

Pinecone Encounter

During a study abroad trip to Denmark in college, my girlfriend Barna and I went to visit the Lego House in Billund. On our way back to Copenhagen we stopped at a cafe in Odense for a bite. Once entering, we noticed that the ceiling was dotted with these whimsical pinecone chandelier . They were extraordinary. Fun, modern, while still feeling cozy, the design was just so Danish. And I had to have one just like it.

I did a bit of research and found some online. Unfortunately, they were expensive. At least, too expensive for me at the time. Fortunately, I was just about to start my job at Texas Inventionworks, a makerspace where one can build almost anything. I started looking in to how to make my own.

Reverse Engineering

As one might expect, the cafe in Odense was not the only place in the world to have this idea. I actually encountered a lot of pinecone lamps while looking for one like I saw in Denmark. Eventually I came across a smaller, slightly more organic model that I prefered. Even better, there were some sellers online that would sell you a kit for one. All parts included, some assembly required.

Wait a minute. That looks a lot like cut plywood with some fasteners. If I could make a template for each prickle of the pinecone, I could very easily laser cut these in the lab. I even found an image with each of the 7 variants laid out on a table, labeled with their corresponding orders.

So I got to work. I cracked open GIMP, my image editing software, and started trying to make the designs. My plan was to cut each of the 7 templates out from the image and then convert those to svg files, which I could cut with a laser. This was just not in the cards for me. After a couple of hours and very little progress, I went looking for some more help.

Etsy to the Rescue

It is always so disappointing to find out you gave up just before you were about to be successful. Turns out, there was an etsy seller who would sell you the files for this exact pinecone for about $7. All you needed to do was to cut and assemble. Fortunately, that was exactly the part I wanted to do. Three clicks and an email later, I had my files.

Batteries Included

Because a professional packed up the vector files, this was about as simple of a cut as one could make. About $4 of plywood and I was out of there in 20 minutes. Once the parts were cut, I fastened them together using some thick electrical wire I had around. Originally, I had hoped to us screws to assemble the pieces, but each part was too stiff to bend into place with screws. I picked up a cheap lamp from Ikea for the base, and had a lamp.

Look at it! I think that is so fun. The bulb under it is low wattage, so it gives off a warm glow at night. Not enough to use it as a stand-alone lamp, but it really creates a cozy atmosphere.

Lesson Learned

I thought this project was worth a writeup for two reasons.

1. I wanted to brag about my cool lamp.
2. A lesson for DIY-ers like me.

Now that I am done gloating about my sweet home decor, perhaps some reflection. For many creators, there is a strong impulse to create everything. With some experience, you will begin to walk around and start pondering how everyday objects were made. On occasion, you might come across something you like and think “I could make that!”.

And, most likely, you are right. With enough time, effort, and the correct tools you can make lots of things. Once you have this thought, stop and yourself if you should make it. Should you do all of the parts of the project yourself? Are there shortcuts you can take?

In my case, I could have saved myself several hours of trial-and-error had I just decided to buy the design files and implement them myself. There is no shame in getting some parts off the shelf. Especially, as in my case, you don’t think you can realistically improve on them. If you find yourself just trying to emulate some part of a creative work and the cost is not prohibitive, consider saving yourself the time and buying the part.