How To Build A Lamp Out Of Rocks

A lamp out of rocks?…Am I crazy? Actually, I have been doing this for a few years now and when done correctly, the final product is beautiful and extremely unique. If you decide to take this venture on, be prepared for your family and friends to be in awe of your new wonderful creation. A stone lamp fits wonderfully in that cabin of yours in the woods or can be placed in that special rustic corner in your traditional home.

Let’s get started with the tools and parts you will need. These tools are essential for getting this project done correctly and may require a little bit of a financial investment to get started.

1. A drill press. The press does not have to be a large, floor model…it can be a bench top type for now. It does have to have a setting on it that will enable the drill to go fairly slowly through the rock. A setting of around 200-300 rounds per minute is best.
2. A 3/8” mortise bit. The mortise bit for this purpose only has to be around 5” long. DO NOT buy a carbide-coated bit, as these seem to not work as well. Home Depot or Lowe’s both carry a standard 3/8” mortise bit for around $5.00.
3. A lamp kit with a harp included. These lamp kits are easy to use and will come with everything you need to put your lamp together. You will want to make sure the kit comes with a harp also if you are planning on using a shade that requires a harp. These sell for around $8.00 at most hardware stores.
4. A 3/8” thread rod around 10 inches long. This rod can be bought along with your lamp kit in the hardware’s lighting section. Usually, the lengths come in 24” to 36” and cost around $4.00. After you put the lamp together, you will want to cut the rod to length and I will explain how to do that.
5. A hack saw for cutting the 3/8” rod to length.
6. A good strong epoxy glue that sets within 30 minutes.
7. An angle grinder with a wheel suitable to grind rock.

Your Rock

The best place to get your rock for your lamp is to find a dried up riverbed. Rocks from dried riverbeds tend to be easier to drill and lend themselves more easily to making a lamp. Please note: We don’t want to disturb riverbeds that are in use by our natural rivers and streams but picking up rock from dried up sources poses no harm to the environment. You will need a base to start with. Look around for a fairly flat base that when set down on a table, it won’t rock back and forth but will sit stable. For this project, your base should be about 8 inches square and about 1 inch to 2 inches thick or thereabouts (any variation is ok as long it is fairly flat). After you have found your base, look for smaller rocks of different shapes and sizes and choose ones that are fairly flat on both sides too. This will make it easier to drill and fit together on your lamp. These should be around ½ “ thick or so. You will need about 6 of these smaller rocks.

Drilling The Rock

Now that you have gathered your choice rock for your lamp, it is time to drill. Place the base of the rock on your drill press and roughly find the center of the rock. (You do not have to be exactly perfect in finding the center as this is a rustic lamp and if you are a little off, it only makes it more rustic and interesting). You should make sure that where you are going to drill is relatively flat so the drill bit does not dance around on you. (Before you drill, make sure you have a little water on hand to either spray the drill bit or splash some on to it as the drill bit can get very hot and could break if not kept cool). Begin drilling slowly, around 200 to 300 rounds per minute, and continue until you are completely through. Yeah….you did it! Now, repeat these steps with your remaining smaller rock until all are drilled and ready to put together.

Pre-Assembly

Take your length of 3/8” rod and cut it down to about 10” or so. Place the rod into the larger base and start stacking the smaller rock on top. Since none of these rocks are exactly flat, you may have to move them around a little to make sure they fit together snuggly so that the inner rod does not show. After you have completed this process you will most likely have extra rod on top that needs to be cut off. Taking your lamp parts into consideration, you will have to leave enough rod to hold your coupler, your piece that holds your harp, and your actual lamp fixture base. Usually, this means leaving about 1 inch or so above the last stacked rock. You can test this by getting all your lamp parts out, putting them one by one on the top of the extra rod, and then making a mark just under the first piece (coupler) to see how extra rod you need to leave protruding out. Mark your rod where you need to cut it, pull off the rock one by one keeping them in order and cut your rod to length.

Final Assembly

Put your pre-cut rod back into the base and put some of your epoxy glue around the hole where the rod fits into and around a small area where your first small rock is going to sit. Take your first small rock and slide it down over the rod and put it on top of the glued area on your base. (It is important to keep your glue area small so it is not seen after the rocks are placed together). Continue this process until all the rocks are places tightly together on the rod. Make sure the inside of your rod is clear all the way through the center without any obstructions so you can slide your lamp cord through it in the next step. You have now completed the most difficult part of making this lamp. Let your lamp sit for a couple of hours or so to let the glue set up.

Using the directions on your lamp kit box, assemble the rest of the lamp parts as shown. You will have to push your cord all the way through from the bottom of the base. (Sometimes, depending on the rock base, your cord will not sit correctly under the base and may cause the base to rock a little. This is where you will need your angle grinder with a wheel suitable to grind rock. Turn your lamp upside down and take your angle grinder and dig a small indentation from the middle of the rock where the rod is towards the back of the lamp. Just make sure the groove is deep enough to hold the lamp cord).

Finally, spray the lamp with a satin or semi-gloss clear lacquer to seal the rock and to bring out the natural colors of the stone. Apply two or three coats of the lacquer. After the lacquer is dry, you may want to put a piece of felt on the bottom of your lamp so it will not scratch the table it sits on.

Congratulations, you have now made a beautiful rustic stone lamp!

Mike Powers is an internet marketer and craftsman. Mike's website, Clearwater Cabin Living, offers a variety of tools to equip you along the way in creating the cabin and outdoor lifestyle you desire. We offer articles on building and decorating your dream cabin, great trails to hike, camping tips, the best ways to hook a rainbow trout, outdoor cooking and much, much more. http://www.clearwatercabinliving.com/

Smoking Salmon…A Quick Guide

Have you ever tried to smoke a fish? (I know, it is hard to get them lit!) Anyway, I have here a great recipe for smoking salmon and trout that is simple but very tasty. In a minute, I will give you the recipe but first a little story about how this recipe came about.

Years ago, my uncle Bob along with his 2 sons and his father-in-law decided they would like to start fishing for the small Kokanee salmon, (commonly called bluebacks), at a couple North Idaho lakes namely Lake Coeur d’Alene and Lake Pend Oreille. My uncle came up with this special bait he figured would catch those fish like crazy so they all decided to give it a try. Back in those days, maybe 30 or more years ago, both these lakes had commercial fishing available on them with limits from 125 to 250 fish a day per person for the small Kokanee salmon. On a good day, a group of four could really bring in the fish. My uncle and his crew all purchased commercial licenses and began fishing with his new discovered bait.

It took only a few hours on their first trip out to discover that my uncle’s bait was indeed amazing and that all of a sudden they had caught a whole slew of fish. When they returned to shore and counted their first bounty, they discovered that they had brought in a total of 650 fish! What were they going to do with all these slimy creatures? Well, they put their minds together and they decided that smoking them would be the best way to not only preserve them for a length of time but also maybe they could make some extra money selling them to the local stores.

So, to make this story readable and not bore you with all the details, they did start a little smoked fish business and began distributing their fish around the local town. Before I give you the recipe for this incredible smoked fish, there are some essentials you must have to get started.

A good quality smoker is needed to begin with. I don’t believe you have to pay $100’s of dollars for one either. I have a small little smoker I purchased from Home Depot for around $75.00 and it does very well. An electric smoker is preferred because you don’t have to tend the fire as often and it cooks much more evenly.

As far as the wood you need I would recommend apple, cherry or hickory wood chunks (not chips if possible). The wood chunks last much longer and burn slower. Slow, cool smoke is what you are after and the wood chips tend to burn too quickly. Before you start your smoking, soak the wood chunks overnight in water so they will burn slow and not catch fire so easily.

Now, here is what you have been waiting for, the recipe.

*1 Cup Non-Iodized Salt (it must be non-iodized).
*1 Cup Brown Sugar
*2 Gallons of Water
*1/8 Cup of Pepper if preferred.
*Soak your fish overnight (12 hours) in the above mixture and take out and leave at room temperature for an hour before putting the fish in the smoker.

That’s It!! I know it looks simple and it is. Many recipes ask for seasonings, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and other things but this recipe is simple and the very best.

Your fish should be filleted if possible but not completely necessary as the meat will pull away from the bone easily after smoking. It is important to leave the skin on the filets as it keeps the fish from sticking to the grill. Use good quality salmon or trout when smoking. Fish with white meats do not do well and tend to dry out, as they do not have the oil in the meat like the salmon family does.

Place your wood chips in your smoker and put your fish on the grates. Depending on the temperature outside, it could take a couple of hours to several to smoke your fish. Test the fish after an hour or so to see how the texture looks. You can taste test the salmon as it is getting done to get the required texture you desire. I like my salmon fairly moist but others may like it drier. The choice is up to you.
It may take a time or two until you get this smoking thing down but after you have perfected this recipe, you will be smoking fish on a regular basis.


Mike Powers is an internet marketer and craftsman. Mike's website, Clearwater Cabin Living, offers a variety of tools to equip you along the way in creating the cabin and outdoor lifestyle you desire. We offer articles on building and decorating your dream cabin, great trails to hike, camping tips, the best ways to hook a rainbow trout, outdoor cooking and much, much more. http://www.clearwatercabinliving.com/

Attack Of The Bear

She talked about it; she dreamed about it, she never let it go. This was how a friend of mine regarded her fear of coming across a bear when we would go hiking in the wilderness areas of Idaho. Her character is strong in all other ways. She is kind, hard working, intelligent, prosperous and loving. But when the word “bear” crosses those ears of hers, she turns to Jell-O. In other words, her life is somewhat Un-Bear-Able!

We were hiking last spring in the Coeur d’Alene mountains going for a 10 mile excursion to visit one of the beautiful alpine lakes that are plentiful through out this part of Idaho. We packed a lunch, threw on our backpacks and set off for a glorious day of exercise and becoming one with nature. My friend, however, was nervous and carried a canister of bear spray (kind of like pepper spray only for bears) with her just in case. I assured her that bears were harmless in this area. Only black bears roamed the woods here…no grizzlies I told her. Yet she was set out to believe that a bear was a bear and in her mind, they were all very very bad.

After about an hour of vigorous hiking we sat down for a minute to take a drink of our water and take in the natural beauty that surrounded us. SNAP! went a tree branch just up the trail and there it was…everything she ever imagined in her worst nightmares was in front of her. It was, you guessed it, a big black 10 foot growling snarling bear! Actually, that is how she remembers it. It was actually a small female black bear just crossing the path about 50 yards in front of us. My good friend screamed, grabbed a hold of me and started to shake. I joined in with the screaming part because the first thing you do when you come across a bear is make a lot of noise to scare it off. So I figured, what the heck, I might as well scream too to make her feel better.

Well, the bear scurried off, my friend almost fainted and I laughed till I cried. I gave her a few minutes for her heart to slow down from it’s 160 beats a minute and then I calmly and gently said to her, “You see, bears are not going to hurt you”. She calmly said to me, “We got lucky this time buster”. Well, needless to say, this experience did not help her fear of bears but only increased the intensity of her phobia.

We still go on hikes together and now my friend is more at peace in the wilderness like never before. No, she did not get over her extreme terror of bears. No, her dreams have not stopped. No, she has not made peace with this precious animal. When we returned to our city dwellings after that last hike, my dear loveable sweet caring friend immediately called up a shooting gallery, enrolled in a class to learn how to shoot a gun, and now carries a pistol on her side whenever we roam the hills and valleys of bear country (just in case, she says). My friend feels less nervous and seems to enjoy our hikes like never before. Me, I feel sorry for the poor bear.

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http://www.clearwatercabinliving.com/