How to Make a Wooden Lamp Pull on a Lathe

I have a pull cord shop light over my work area, and decided to dress it up will a wooden lamp pull made on the Proxxon Woodturning Lathe.

Supplies and Equipment for Making the Lamp Pull

• 7" length of ¾" hard wood dowel
• Proxxon MICRO Woodturning Lathe DB 250
• Sandpaper in varying grits—150, 220, 320, 440
• Paste wax

Instructions for Making the Lamp Pull

1. Mark the center of the dowel rod using a centering square. Make a divot in the rod at the center point.
   
2. Mount the rod in the lathe. Snug the tailstock making sure that the point of the tailstock rests in the center divot.
   
3. Use wood turning chisels and gouges to carve a simple beaded pattern on a 1½" portion of the dowel rod. Finish the lathe work on the lamp pull with the exception of parting off.
4. Release the tailstock and replace it with a drill chuck specially designed for the lathe. Insert a ¼" drill bit in the drill chuck. Center the bit in the divot and drill out the center of the lamp pull.
   
5. Release the drill chuck and replace it with the tailstock. Using increasingly fine sandpapers, sand the lamp pull until it is smooth. Polish with a paste wax.
   
6. Part off the lamp pull. Alternatively, you can remove the rod from the lathe and use a band saw to free the lamp pull.
7. Thread the lamp cord through the pull, and secure with a knot in the cord.
   

Carole