Greg's Musical Instrument Lamps

Like clarinets, flutes are fairly easy to assemble into lamps, but flutes are longer and thinner, making them a bit less stable than their single-reed cousins.

Flute Lamp #1 ... Beverly bought me a wood lathe for Christmas 2006, so it seemed appropriate that the first thing I made on it would be for her.  She played flute in high school, so I decided to make her a flute lamp ... and purple is her favorite color, so I turned the base out of a chunk of purpleheart ... gorgeous stuff (the photos show the natural color of the wood, I only applied a clear lacquer finish).  It's on her nightstand next to our bed.  (Note: the shade color is a bit deeper than it appears in the photo.)

Flute Lamp #2 ... I made this lamp in Feb 2009 for my sister to give to a friend of hers ... she has asked me to make it over a year earlier, so I appreciate her patience!  The base is a very cool wood called Bocote and is shown in its natural color.  She provided the shade and finial, so I don't have a photo of them.

Flute Lamp #3 ... This lamp was made in Dec 2009 for a very nice (and very patient, as you'll learn if you keep reading) lady in Texas, using a flute she sent me ... it was a present for her daughter ... I started with a very nice piece of Quebracho for the base, but when I had the lamp all complete and was preparing the final assembly and packing, I saw some small cracks in both sides (see 3rd photo) ... they weren't very noticeable at first, but the next day they had gotten worse ... I tried for several weeks to bring them under control, but finally had to give up and start over, this time with a very cool piece of Makore ... but when that base was nearing completion I started having the same problem with that piece! ... then a piece of Mahogany, and another crack! ... to bring an already long story to an end, my second piece of Mahogany turned out great, and while I am very pleased with the final result, I feel badly that it took SO long to get this lamp to the lady ... it arrived Dec 23 with barely a moment to spare!  So I was very pleased to receive this e-mail from her that evening: 

"I just received the lamp and it is gorgeous. She is going to be so surprised when she gets here tomorrow. I can hardly wait. Thank you so much for all your hard work ..."

This is an example of why I have always had to turn down folks who are on a tight schedule!  (Note: the shade is one of my stock shades that I put on it just for the photo, and wasn't purchased with the lamp.)