The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

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  • Floor Lamp Base: Poor Planning

    Floor lamp base - cord exit
    Floor lamp base – cord exit

    We have an old floor lamp that’s always been a bit tippy and I finally got around to wondering what’s going on.

    The cord exits through the center of the base, where it passes through a plastic nut that keeps it off the raw metal edge of the central rod holding the lamp together.

    The ruler has 1/16 inch divisions, so the cord requires a bit over half an inch of clearance.

    Floor lamp foot with bumper
    Floor lamp foot with bumper

    Here’s what one of the five molded-in feet look like, with a white rubber bumper that I just added to improve the ground clearance…

    Notice that the foot is barely 1/4 inch tall, so the lamp has always been resting on the cord and two other randomly chosen feet. No wonder the thing was tippy.

    The new rubber feet make it a lot less tippy, but there’s not a lot of clearance under there. When one of those things falls off, I’ll think of something better.

    The lamp was nominally UL approved, of course…