Jellyfish LED Lamp

Jellyfish LED Accent Lamp

At the beach last week, my wife and I were browsing through a local store and saw these jellyfish-inspired air plants made with sea urchin shells. Of course, I immediately started thinking about how to create a jellyfish project of my own in the woodshop.

I started planning in earnest once I got back to the shop. I decided on maple burl for the base. The piece I used looks like coral or a rocky sea floor and adds some atmosphere to the finished lamp. The head is made from Osage Orange and rounded to a graceful curve. To connect the two, I used a rod made of amber acrylic, which was turned down to size, sanded, and then bent using a propane torch to carefully soften the middle section. Again, I was trying to obtain an organic feel, so a gradual curve is important

The tentacles are made from myrtle wood that I carved on the bandsaw and shaped using an oscillating spindle sander. I made several more intricate inner tentacles using the lathe to cut a spiral shape.

The lamp itself consists of LEDs recessed into the maple base. LEDs are ideal for this because they are small, require little power, and do not generate as much heat as fluorescent or incandescent lights. The acrylic tube helps transmit the light up through the piece and illuminates the tentacles from behind. A piece of blue acrylic sheet cut into a circle acts as a diffuser for the lights in the base while also concealing them from view.