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Lumsdonia Railway

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A ‘How to’ guide to making LED lamps with shades

Industrial Enamel Lamp Shades Guide

Industrial Lighting

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Economy

Of all the model manufactures, few actually make LED lamps of this variety.

The following is a guide, to show how to make your own very simply and inexpensively. All that is needed is some either white (mercury type lamp) or yellow (sodium type lamp) 3mm LED's that can be had for as little as £2.99 for 100 and some 3mm (8mm OD) white cable grommets, also available for as little as 99p for 100!

Example sources are LED and Grommet








An anatomy

Industrial lamps with an enamelled shade have been produced for nearly as long as the light bulb and used throughout industry ever since. They adorned factories, commercial premises and public road and transport services up until the 1960's when aluminium reflectors started to usurp them.


Available with a range of size/diameters in White, Black, Green and silver (grey) exterior, but always with a white interior, their robust nature stood up well to the elements and time.

By connecting in series, a higher voltage can be applied, but singularly, each will need a resister appropriate for the LED forward voltage and the voltage of the supply. I usually use a 1K resistor for 12V supply, but if 3 are in series, the resistor can be reduced (or omitted), it depends on LED forward voltages.


LED Calculator

Instructions

Use fine wire cutters (1a & 1B), with the flush side cut to one side of the inner ring, to cut off one side dome (2), if you don’t posses precision flush cutters, you can also achieve the same result with a sharp knife (scalpel), just be careful not to cut your fingers. The trick is to squish it flat and ensure you get as close as you can to the inside edge. Do the same to the other side (3) to get a second dome and throw the remaining ring away (4). {You just got two shades for the price of one grommet!} Slide the dome onto the LED (4) and apply superglue to two sides (5).

Now paint the outside of the shade and the top of the LED and half way up the LED leads with Matt black paint (6) {good idea to give it two coats}. This will stop the light leaking through the top. Once dry, apply the colour of our choice in gloss. Ensure you don't get any paint on the round end of the LED or bottom (flat) part of the shade. As the components are so cheap, its easy to manufacture many in one batch (6) for 'stock'.

6

1a

1b

2

3

4

5

7

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For O gauge use 5mm Grommet and 5mm LED

For G gauge use 10mm Grommet and 10mm LED