Making Electric Lamps

Approx. €102 / 107 US$

What is the course about?

You’re a maker in your favoured medium – ceramics, wood, metal, glass or whatever and you want to make electric lamps.

This course will tell you everything you need to know beyond using your existing skills in making the lamp base – design considerations; bulbs, bulb holders and lampshades; wiring; testing; and all the standards and regulations that you need to conform to (covering UK and EU requirements).

The course does not cover US lighting standards or requirements, or the differences from running off 110V supplies. Whilst much of the course is relevant to all lamp design and making, you will need to check these issues out for yourself.

Note that although I am a potter, the course is not centered round the use of ceramics (or any other material) in making your lamp base. 

Self-Paced or Live Online?

You can choose to tale the self-paced version of the course, starting whenever you want to suit your schedule, or the live online version, which is run periodically on a given start date with weekly sessions.

Both courses have the same content, and are structured into weekly modules (though with the self-paced version you can time things to suit yourself). You’re also encouraged to ask me questions about the course content and your practices during the course, either by email or (for the live online version) during each week’s session. I also hold monthly online sessions for all students currently doing a course, and my Patreon supporters, where people can bring up anything they want to.

If you want to do the live course, don’t worry if you can’t make every session. They’re all recorded and put up on the course page, so you can watch any sessions that you’ve missed, or watch it again, as you wish.

The course is run over five weekly sessions – four teaching sessions and then a discussion session at the end.
19:00 – 20:30 UK time / 20:00 – 21:30 CET / 2 p.m. – 3.30 p.m. EDT

You have access to the course material for 9 weeks – from your booking date for self-paced courses or from the course start date for the live courses. After that, you can have access whenever you want by supporting me on Patreon for the cost of buying me a cup of coffee each month. 

What will we cover?

Lamp proportions and design considerations; basics of lighting; bulbs and bulb holders, switches and lampshades; electrical considerations and wiring up your lamp; testing your lamp; standards and regulations (for the EU and UK)

What will I achieve?

By the end of this course you should be able to…

• Be familiar with the design proportions and considerations for different types of lamp, e.g. bedside, desktop, floor standing, wall or ceiling
• Be familiar with the various options for light bulbs, bulb holders and switches
• Understand the pros and cons of making a lamp that runs directly off the mains, or that uses a transformer
• Be able to select the necessary components, and wire up, a lamp
• Know how to test your lamps, what instrumentation is needed, and how manufacturing tests differ from PAT testing
• Understand the standards and requirements and how they affect the design of your lamp
• Be able to produce the necessary documentation to accompany your lamp, and know how to make it eligible to use the required CE / UKCA mark
• Understand the principles behind WEEE, and the requirements this imposes on the maker and the retailer

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

Intermediate. You should have the skills to make the lamp base in your preferred material, as that is not covered in the course though obviously necessary to make a lamp. 

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

The course is primarily run through the weekly online sessions, which are a live lecture where you can also ask questions or get a discussion going. These are recorded and put on the course web page for those who cannot make the course times due to time zones or other commitments, or for those who want to replay them.

Additional material that you may wish to explore is on the course website. This will help you go deeper into the subject matter, should you wish to do so.

There will also be a discussion session at the end of the course, where we can discuss any of the course material or any more general questions you may have. 

For those with an imperfect knowledge of English, all session recordings now have subtitles in the languages of all attendees. This uses computer translation, so isn’t guaranteed to be perfect, but should help you in following the sessions.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

No other costs, and nothing else to bring.

What do I get?

• Four live teaching sessions with questions and discussions, lasting about 90 minutes each week
• Recordings of all sessions for later viewing during the course, with subtitles in all attendees’ languages
• Additional optional online course material, giving background info and greater depth
• A discussion session where you can ask anything related to the course or related matters
• Downloadable PDFs of all presentations
• Premium level access to the Tech part of my web site, containing much more information, references etc.
• Course completion certificate

Note that the session recordings and premium level site access are included at no cost until 4 weeks after the end of the course. After that, continued access is available for the cost of buying me a coffee every month.

Feedback from students

Tim’s Lamp making course was excellent, very well researched with a real depth of knowledge apparent. The ability to access recordings after each session and view additional resources through the website ‘portal’ was really useful.
Amanda
Hertfordshire, UK 

A very thorough and well presented course. An absolute must for anyone even thinking of making table lamps. a lot of the content will also be pertinent to other products.
David
Essex, UK

Tim is a very thorough and professional support in his field. I can only offer him, do not miss his courses! Nandor from Győr, Hungary
Nandor
Győr, Hungary