Denette 845 Report post Posted February 5 I got The Why and How of Woodworking for Christmas and quickly contracted kumiko fever. I hit a brief lull between projects and realized that I hadn't made anything for my own house since 2017, which is just unacceptable. I decided to make a kumiko lamp to replace a sad little Walmart lamp my wife and I have had ever since we got married. I started by making the jigs: Two jigs with a simple screwed-in stop in the right position. Snug enough on the sides to hold the kumiko piece in place. The kumiko is primarily ash, but the thinner pieces are white oak. It just happened that way with the scrap I had. I think it looks nice. Things were going great until I got a little TOO in the groove and a piece of white oak snagged on my chisel, and the chisel jerked out of place. Had to get four stitches in my left index finger. Not actually that bad of a cut, but it was weirdly shaped and I did not want it getting infected. I've cut my fingers before, and the wounds never seem to close up right without help. So at that point I took a week off. After it healed up, I got back on it! I decided I wanted a walnut frame. I had some walnut leftovers from my last project, so I The walnut is just simple mortise-and-tenon joinery. Super simple with a dado blade and hollow-chisel mortiser. The rails have a very slight rabbet that receives the kumiko panel. Not pictured is how I added a border to the outside of the kumiko so there is a nice border of light-colored ash around the edges. The top is not going to stay like that - I'll have to make something to hold it in place. Next up is to sand the kumiko panels until they're pretty. I'm also looking forward to getting to apply the rice paper to the inside of the panels. I'm going to use a thin double-sided carpet tape between the rice paper and the kumiko. I think it'll look pretty sharp! I still want to trim the legs a bit shorter, and I still want to put some sort of curve on the legs - something kind of like what Cremona did on his son's twin-size log bed's legs, if you remember that thing. Other than that, I have got a SWEET idea for the light installation. I bought some remote-controlled RGB LED strips that I'm going to adhere to a cylinder to basically create my own intense, huge, super-bright light LED light bulb. The rice paper should diffuse it enough that it will look incredible. This thing is going to be really cool. 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chet 3,419 Report post Posted February 5 8 minutes ago, Denette said: Had to get four stitches in my left index finger. No CA glue in the shop? 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chestnut 2,728 Report post Posted February 5 Yikes. I got myself with a chisel once as well. They glued me back together instead of stitching. Still the cheapest urgent care visit I've ever had at $60. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denette 845 Report post Posted February 5 27 minutes ago, Chet said: No CA glue in the shop? Yes, but I didn't want to risk it. My wife is NOT a fan of DIY wound repair. And it was in a spot that moves a lot and gets wet a lot, which is exactly the condition in which CA glue would fail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woodbutcher 145 Report post Posted February 5 Lamp looks awesome. Ive been wanting to make myself a kumiko lamp much like yours. The kumiko bug bites pretty hard. I like using it in the lids of my small boxes now. Ive gone so far as making a dedicated table saw sled for cutting the little half laps. Not sure if anyone around here follows Matt Kenney, but im pretty sure kumiko is all he makes anymore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pkinneb 1,791 Report post Posted February 5 Lamp looks very nice!! Regarding the stitches...how about a little heads up for us with weak stomachs next time...sorry had to go throw up...LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denette 845 Report post Posted February 10 Got to work on it a little more today! Spent most of the time sanding the centers of the kumiko flush before adding the outer border. It’s not the “right” way of doing it, but it’s how it worked out this time. Anyway, after that I cut the inset into the legs and rails that will accept the panels from behind but not let them fall out. Each side panel is more or less held in place by a 1/16” rabblet lip that runs around the whole thing. I also put a coat of spray shellac on the first panel to dry up and then used double-sides tape to attach the rice paper. I cut off the excess tape and paper with a knife, and then got to work on the light bulb. The light bulb is... different. I got a 12 foot self-adhesive RGBW LED light, like is often used under kitchen cabinets. I then made a plus-shaped “bulb” out of a 4” wide piece of plywood. I half-lapped it over an identical piece to give it a 3D form, just like what they use inside LED light bulbs if you’ve ever taken one apart. I spoiled the lights around carefully, and tested them out. I’m getting excited about this thing, it’s going to be very custom and very cool. The light set comes with a remote to control color and brightness. There’s also a selection of modes which cycle the colors, which is also awesome! as fun as the LED lights are, I’m not putting all my money on that horse. The plywood of the “bulb” will be screwed into place and easily replaceable if these lights end up not being great in the lamp. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
K Cooper 5,546 Report post Posted February 10 Really cool looking! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pkinneb 1,791 Report post Posted February 11 That turned out really Denette!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wtnhighlander 5,550 Report post Posted February 11 I'm digging this lamp, Russel. Looks like a design that could scale out to be a coffee or end table with accent lighting. How durable do you think the rice paper will be? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denette 845 Report post Posted Sunday at 08:45 PM I got the whole thing pretty well together. It took a little fiddling with the fit of the panels, and took a bit of creativity to get the homemade LED strip bulb mounted in such a way that would still allow me to retrofit a regular bulb later on if I so choose, but I got it! Disassembled it, put a ⅛” chamfer on all the edges, and then set out to figure out the solution to the last bit of this puzzle: how the heck to install that top panel. Due to the fact that I’ve kind of been winging it, the top ended up being a casualty. It’s a good bit too small. The square kumiko panel can’t work as is, so I am going to have to either remake it or modify it. It’s currently fudged into place on top of a larger kumiko frame that is large enough to rest on top of the rails. It’s not going anywhere right away, anyway. I’ve got to figure something out, though. So, for now, the project is on a hard pause. Since this project is for my own house, I have dry-assembled and pre-finished the entire lamp. For a lamp that will never be touched, the joinery alone is plenty to hold it together. I’m doing this because I’m uncertain about those legs. Are they too tall? I’m unsure. I’m also not even about to let that top be this lame when I call this one complete. So it gets to perch in the living room this week, looking finished but secretly still devoid of glue in the frame. I’ll mull it over. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wtnhighlander 5,550 Report post Posted Monday at 05:05 AM I think the leg proportions are great. Is that the intended final location? Seems a shame to hide 2 sides in the corner. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Byrdie 306 Report post Posted Monday at 03:45 PM I agree with highlander - I think the proportions of the legs are just fine. I also don't mind the elevated look and fit of the top. I'd glue it up if it were me and stop pointing out the "errors." Also agree that is seems a shame to hide two sides of it. Hope that's not its final resting place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
