Filling a Lamp Base

[patlaw]

My daughter loves to buy other people's junk and have me refurbish it. She bought an old floor lamp that I've restored except the base. It's made out of metal, and whatever cement-like material was in it has disintegrated. A picture of the empty base is below. I'd like to fill it with something to add some weight and to shield the sharp edges from my granddaughter. My first thought was epoxy, but that's too expensive, and I've never done it before. My next thought was cement, which I've done once or twice 100 years ago. Would the cement adhere to the metal? Is there another readily available material available locally that I could use to fill this base? It's 10" diameter.

 

[creasman]

What about Plaster of Paris?

 

[patlaw]

What about Plaster of Paris?

That could work. I've never used it before, but it doesn't look to be too difficult. Any tricks?

 

[creasman]

I bought some recently at Ace Hardware. Most any hardware store would carry it, including the Lowe's and Home Depot. It's used in drywall repair.

Nothing special. Just add the amount of water it suggests, pour and wait a day or so for it to fully cure. You can also add sand as a filler but it becomes more grainy when you do.

 

[Mike Davis]

Fit a piece of thin plastic wrap inside, fill with cement with fiberglass fluff for strength, after it is very dry pop it out and then glue it back in without the plastic wrap. Use a good slow dry epoxy to glue it in.

 

[Oka]

I used to sell Chess sets when I was a kid I used modeling clay and buckshot. Heat the slowly until it is a fluid (do not over heat) then mix in the Lead shot. Makes super heavy base. If you want to get tricky you could take some small pieces of wood or metal or plastic and superglue to the side before pouring in the clay mix to assure it never comes free.

 

[patlaw]

Fit a piece of thin plastic wrap inside, fill with cement with fiberglass fluff for strength, after it is very dry pop it out and then glue it back in without the plastic wrap. Use a good slow dry epoxy to glue it in.

Why type of cement has fiberglass fluff in it?

 

[patlaw]

I used to sell Chess sets when I was a kid I used modeling clay and buckshot. Heat the slowly until it is a fluid (do not over heat) then mix in the Lead shot. Makes super heavy base. If you want to get tricky you could take some small pieces of wood or metal or plastic and superglue to the side before pouring in the clay mix to assure it never comes free.

Who sells modeling clay? What about buckshot? This stuff is all new to me, but I'm very interested in learning about all of these suggested solutions.

 

[Mike Davis]

Why type of cement has fiberglass fluff in it?

You have to add it.

Or you could use chicken wire cut to fit.


And you could add lead to the cement, any size or shape, fishing sinkers, tire weights, old solder pieces, etc.

 

[Oka]

Who sells modeling clay? What about buckshot? This stuff is all new to me, but I'm very interested in learning about all of these suggested solutions.

Gun shop or probably even Walmart will sell 10 or 25 lb bags of it. Modeling clay is the kind that does not harden, that you can find at an Art store, Hobby lobby or probably Walmart, Target or toy store

 

[FredP]

Toss the lamp, buy a new one, and tell the daughter how hard it was to fix and how many hours it took.

 

[SteveHall]

Pennies are cheaper and heavier. Metal washers are even heavier, but cost more than $0.01 each.

 

[Mike Davis]

Toss the lamp, buy a new one, and tell the daughter how hard it was to fix and how many hours it took.

Not in my DNA, would work 4 hours to save a $10 lamp or piece of furniture.

 

[Pop Golden]

Having worked with a lamp repair & restorer I learned a great deal about lamp anatomy. I made wood bases, but I got to putter around the shop when I didn't need to be in mine. There are heavy replacement base weights. A lamp supply house can fix you up. DO NOT go to a lamp repair store. They mark everything up 2X or 3X. To find a supply house Google it.

Pop

 

[JNCarr]

Personally I would chose a material that matched the height of the lamp vs its diameter. Plaster of paris has a density of about 700 kg/m^3 and concrete about 2100 kg/m^3. So if its a table lamp, either would be fine, but if a floor lamp I'd go with concrete. A bag is only a few bucks - even though you only need 1/10th of it. Small bags of mortar filler are also sold which would be nearly the same density and less waste.

 

[bob vaughan]

Bar bell weights from a thrift store. Embed that in concrete/mortar.

 

[Berta]

My husband reloads ammo. This means he deals with lead. Lead shot was about $40 for about 25lb, and he hasn’t bought it for quite a while. He primarily makes bullets by melting wheel weights from tire stores. He drives around begging. He pays a small fee I think. He has to melt this outside, it’s LEAD, it’s dirty, greasy, and Stinky. He spends a lot of time skimming it.
Use a small amount of concrete or plaster. It’s easier, and remember, it’s not going to try to get away, it just need enough weight to keep it from tipping over. She is going to want to move it.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

If you use any mixture that includes water, spray the underside of the base with an anti-rust paint or primer before you pour in the mixture.

 

[jlwest]

Bondo is great for this application.

 

[SteveHall]

You could try sand in ziplock bags. Sand is basically rock, the same weight as concrete. In pounds/cubic foot:

62 water
100 gypsum
140 plaster (of Paris)
150 rock, compacted sand, concrete
445 zinc (post-1982 pennies)
490 steel
560 copper (pre-1982 pennies)
708 lead

Nothing beats metals though. I've been researching this a bit lately—my latest woodworking project is actually a ballast / weight testing rig for applying carefully measured load onto fold-down accessible shower seats. It's been quite a challenge to develop a method to place potentially 375 pounds in 14" clearance under a bench in between the supporting struts. The key is high density, thus this research, but in light enough chunks that I can unload/re-load it from my car each time!