DIY Plywood Desk Light – Prototype

So before I get too far into this I’m calling it a prototype because I’m not exactly thrilled with the way the fixture is sitting in the cage and there’s a few other little things I know I can improve on… this was more a proof of concept than anything else.

And with that being said it’s pretty straightforward and I’ll have the build video up in a day or three depending on if my interwebs will cooperate or not… taking forever to upload the monitor riser build.

I made it from 1/4″ and 1/2″ plywood as well as a light fixture I salvaged from a thrift store for a whopping $1.99 and I already have the bulb which was free from Home Depot a while back. It’s one of those cool Phillips Hue bulbs you can control with your smartphone using the Wiz app.

So the idea came from a lot of videos on YouTube and I wanted something to compliment the style of the new wooden desk. I also love the way that expensive plywood looks on the edges when sanded and given a quick coat of Danish Oil.

It measures about 4″ per side and is like 14″ tall. The stack is made from two pieces of plywood alternated so each side is staggered. I started off with the top plate and started gluing and using the nail gun to speed things along as I layered it up to the desired height.

The big problem I rant into was that the bulb is rather oddly shaped so doesn’t exactly fit in there well and I had to force it some. That will be corrected on the next one in addition to recessing the fixture further into the base so it’s not as visible.

All said and done it took me about 3 hours to get this completed. Lot of repetitive work here before giving things a good sanding and final touches. Still a few rough spots but like I said, it’s more a proof of concept than a finished piece. Anyhow, here it is…