Odd Sized Clamping W/o 4jaw?

Interesting project. You solved your problem, congrats. Still want to see the final final version. A lot of what
I see as "Steampunk" just reminds me of my youth.

Chuck the grumpy old guy
 
OK Grump (and others)... Here's an update!

The "table lamp" got slightly re-classed (thanks to the wife) to a "floor stand lamp" instead. It will set behind a table rather than on it. So... I stopped off at the local junkyard Friday afternoon, in the 100 degree heat. For about $4 in change (about all I had in the truck) the nice lady let me pick out some heavy metal parts for a base. I sweated my ever loving rear off and wasn't dressed for the occasion. Take my advise, sandals are not appropriate footwear for junk picking... One part was a huge engine flywheel that weighs at least 15 pounds. To that, I welded a differential gear and then tacked in a crankshaft sprocket gear in the center of the gear. It was something I had laying around that'd come out of a late model Chevy Trailblazer engine. I'd cannibalized several of them a while back for the pistons to build up a supply of casting ingot material.

Brought the parts home and pressure washed everything. Here's the base all welded up and painted with a new Rust-o-leum pebble finish product that I have come to like. A 30" piece of 3/4" steel pipe provides the main stem.

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I'm still waiting on the 6" steam gauge that I've ordered from an E-bay vendor to round out the look of the piece. In all honesty I've almost exactly copied one that I saw from a vendor's online site at "machine age lamps". He's got some great ideas, but I think the real secret is in his ability to photograph his work! I really liked his #482 offering, but didn't like the price. Rather than use a cast bronze water meter as the center of the piece, I settled on a multi purpose outlet, several inches over the table height... Hadn't seen one of these before, it's one 120v outlet and two USB power ports. Not a whole lot cheaper than a used bronze or brass water meter, but it's functional and will come in handy!

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I'm not sure how to photo the beast with the lights on, at least not without getting a lot of glare. I can't seem to figure out how to get the iPhone to meter on the lights and/or filter out some of the brightness. The wife say's it seems a little "too" industrial, but sitting here typing this, I am really warming up to the hue of "vintage" light, the LED bulbs cast off. I chose them from the orange home improvement store's inventory, They are manufactured by FEIT. I think she'll come around when we finally install the big steam gauge once it arrives, put on Dire Straights "Industrial Disease" and have a martini... I may add a dimmer...

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Lastly I ordered some bulb shades from an asian vendor on Ebay, because the ones I saw at both the orange and the blue home improvement centers, were just way too expensive at $20 each. Since I need 3 I can wait a few weeks. Plus, the ones I ordered are bronze wire as opposed to powder coated steel and they seem to lend a softer appearance

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If I can remember, I'll post one last photo to this thread after all of the online order parts arrive. Until then, thanks for the help on this one!
 
You've made the 'grump' happy. Thanks
Glad the flywheel still had the ring gear attached.

Chuck the grumpy old guy
 
Charles was right. The cages came today. They're anodized steel wire. None the less they look great and complete the project!

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