Every winter we get hit with a stretch of really cold weather in which I look for a project that will keep me indoors. One of my little projects this year was to make up a new light for our dining room to replace the 1970’s monstrosity that was there when we moved in.
I’ve had an idea for a new light that I’ve been batting around for a while now, but I was waiting until I found the perfect lightbulb. And then I found it.
An Edison-style LED bulb. All the style (well, at least 95% of the style) of the old-school Edison-style bulbs, without all the energy-wasting incandescent filament. It seems like every restaurant you go into these days is just filthy with the vintage Edison-style lightbulbs, and for good reason. They look really cool.
So with a few cool lightbulbs in hand, I grabbed the old yoke I found in the barn and got busy. The yoke needed a good pressure-washing and oiling, but after that it all went together pretty easy.
It looked pretty good, but it was still missing something. The light was pretty harsh and the whole thing looked a bit spindly and insubstantial.
Fortunately, I had just discovered the cheap and easy light shade. After installing a LED compatible dimmer switch it’s all done.
Much to my annoyance the LED bulb + LED dimmer combo still buzzes audibly. Apparently this is an industry-wide problem and I’ve got to live with a little buzzing until somebody figures it all out.