I'm Making The World's Largest Articulating Lamp. (Part 5)

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My name is Alec Steele and I am a 24 year old blacksmith. We make videos about making interesting things, learning about craft and appreciating the joy of creativity. Great to have you here following along!
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Alec Steele Blacksmith 2022

[@____7460]

loving the lamp series. You should continue and make other giant desk items like a massive pencil sharpener

[@tonyheath626]

Those old school wall mounted ones with the hand crank

[@boomer1658]

I am down for the idea but at that point I would call it a log or pole sharpener

[@liambohl]

Work with Pentel or Staedtler to make an eraser the size of a ream of paper

[@natsterjam]

Don't wanna be a party pooper BUT,,,,,,, You'd need a giant pencil! 😁

[@tonyheath626]

@@natsterjam good thing trees exist lol

[@Admitting_tulip]

A while ago I saw a video of you both reacting to one of your old videos and saying that the older videos were way too long. I enjoy a bit longer videos, I believe a video doesn't have to be only building stuff, I like the mix of banter and chatting of you two in between. Additionally, I believe your audience arent the short attention span people you would see on tiktok. Personally, I love this project and I would enjoy it even more if the videos were a bit longer. Keep up the good work guys!!

[@saginawdan]

Agree 👍

[@peterfyffe6457]

Agree 100% I enjoy longer too +/- 20 min but understand there is a give n take between length of video and X Part of a series. Been loving the increase in banter but missing the length

[@JamiePopple]

To be honest we don’t purposefully decide the length, they just end up being what they end up being once we figure we’ve filmed enough progress over a few days. Most of the lamp videos have been 3 days in the workshop. I also understand some people like the banter and others don’t, so I try to limit that so the silliness stays a much lower percent than ‘serious’ stuff.

[@saginawdan]

@JamiePopple When you enjoy something, it's only natural to want more. If you subtract the time for a sponsor pitch (which I'm ok with), the video has become much shorter in length...but you know that. 😉

[@dragonwing4ever]

i definitely prefer the older longer multi part videos. i miss the sword and knifemaking projects that alec seems to have stepped away from

[@dukewilliam1st]

you should add a counterweight somewhere in the cone to bring back the center of gravity of the lamp in alignment with the axis of the bolts

[@bdl91983]

Yes, my thought would be a ring plate around where the wire comes out from the back so that the longer lever would reduce the counter weight needed and then could layer until balance is achieved. 1000 alternative ways options though

[@RyanYoxo]

Did you not watch the end? It was perfectly balanced at the 12:55 mark

[@jussiikola3521]

​@@RyanYoxo I think it was only because Alec tightend the nuts on the lamp so it wouldn't wiggle

[@housevollmer9106]

Add a big giant twist KNOB switch to turn it on and off hanging off the back of the shade to balance the center point

[@Beansswtf]

I feel like you need to make a giant custom glass blown light bulb. Get that company you worked with before on board and try make one!! Don't disappoint us Alec!

[@uniqueYouTubeCreatorHandle]

I was actually thinking plastic to save weight, but yes, exactly! A giant lamp deserves a giant bulb.

[@shibby4389]

Round balers (hay/straw balers) have very large springs for balancing a very heavy door which opens quite a lot as well as springs for tensioning the belts. Might be worth a look. Also a small tweak away from exact proportions may be allowable in order to increase the leverage somewhat on the main arm.

[@gavinli1368]

Ah yes. A fellow farmer. You must also know the springs that tension belts and rollers can can be a BITCH to take on and off sometimes. I’ve got a straw chopper that likes to eat belts so they need to be replaced far too often.

[@DasGanon]

Fun fact, gels were originally made out of gelatin (hence the name). A common prank on newbies was "cleaning the gels" since sitting up on fixtures for dozens to hundreds of shows they'd get dusty. Being told to do so specifically with hot water and soap. Hot water dissolves gelatin.

[@oliverer3]

Reminds me of the classic asking the new hire to get some acetone in a styrofoam cup.

[@Volt64bolt]

Or the tin of striped/spotted paint, especially when your in cahoots with the paint guy so they just add some stripes then shake it

[@8ACCraftworks]

The old left-handed hammer/screwdriver.

[@arloames4517]

Metric crescent wrench.

[@Zelmel]

@@8ACCraftworksIt's like that except also the poor newbie is getting in trouble for destroying production equipment :P

[@joshrepik]

Alec - add a counterweight on the top of the light fixture. Putting the cone tip that the smaller lamp has would probably do most of it.

[@mdewcool]

He could put it inside in the back so it's not visible on the outside

[@joshrepik]

@@mdewcoolpretty much exactly what I thought

[@spila123]

Of course, like balancing a car wheel

[@Lynkah]

Omfg the "you have a square-space sponsorship" was so well executed and funny.

[@MrLalala44]

best transition ever

[@Mitrasmit]

That drum solo montage is worth a like in itself

[@jort93z]

You can put two springs in series to double the movement with the same amount of force.

[@cornonjacob]

Two springs in series weakens the force though, like with the same extension they'd pull back with half the force; putting them in parallel does the opposite. Edit I commented this before watching, I see now two springs in parallel is exactly what they want, the new springs are too strong, lol, my bad

[@carazy123_]

I second this

[@wiresmith2398]

@@carazy123_ You can put two comments in series to double the movement with the same amount of force.

[@barabolak]

it would spread the load across 2 springs and result in even less of a stretch

[@fabianstahlberg6808]

​@@barabolakno, your thinking of springs in parallel, in series they behave like the original commenter said

[@theteenageengineer]

I’m liking this series a lot. Next project should be building your own power hammer. Building a little 25 pound mechanical or pneumatic hammer would be pretty cool. You certainly have the tools to do it.

[@GeekusKhaniCAs]

I'm waiting for when he attempts to start AlecSteeleCo Rocketry division! Though might want to invest in, idk, a sheet metal roller (or *hint* build one >:) )

[@SuperKohlslaw]

loving this era of footage and editing! it is so wholesome and fund and makes me feel like im right there with them

[@NoHartsHere]

The edit on this one was extra crisp Jamie

[@c6q3a24]

Drilling good holes in thin sheet is EASY - just clamp it between two pieces of scrap wood. The top piece becomes a drill guide, the bottom piece prevents blowout, and the clamping prevents warping, twisting, and deformation. For super accurate holes pre-drill the guide piece.

[@duncanbradbury8276]

Use your crane scale to measure the force being applied by your lever, then measure how far it needs to stretch. With that you can calculate your spring constant and order the correct springs.

[@ToolsandTime]

Kind of looks like a mini booster for the Satrun5 rocket! Nice job Alec--look forward to seeing the next one.

[@DJVanIersel]

I love the background music made on the lamp. Would be fun to see you make an instrument from steel once

[@sam1812seal]

Loving the spring! After a lot of questions on its safety, Alec decides to stick his family jewels next to it and ride it like a pogo stick! FFS 😂😂😂

[@Eyes0penNoFear]

"Are you not entertained?!"

[@GalacticWoodsman]

Enjoying every minute of this series, the laughs you guys have hanging out in the shop are infectious and this lamp is gonna be so very cool when you’re done!

[@chandlerhorton7286]

i really love the series. i do want to warn you as a professional fabricator that gloves and grinders only go together on paper - gloves and long sleeves will get caught in rotating parts and suck your hand into the grinder, where with bare hands you’re more likely to get away relatively unscathed. keep up the awesome work i cant wait to see more

[@silmarian]

This has been a super fun series to watch. Engineering and figuring stuff out is so satisfying.

[@briandaniels6233]

You should make a Cam used for climbing. That’s be right up your alley

[@SquareOneForge]

This is great. The music edit with the welding and the banging on the lamp, that was real good.

[@HeyV63]

Just find a way to add a bit of weight to the top end to fix the balance point issue. (Maybe weld a thread and then grind it flush so you can screw some weights on the inside.) Also it's so very fun to watch these series about ludicrous endeavours and you figuring it out. It really keeps it entertaining! Good job man as always!

[@paulwilson2204]

If you can't find a spring that expands far enough while also being strong enough, you may have to go with a smaller/weaker version of that spring Jaime got and give it a reverse mechanical advantage pulley system where the spring is the load (mechanical disadvantage?). This will allow the spring to effectively expand further while also allowing you to adjust the opposing spring tension via the lines (like those wire fence tensioners that screw toward the centre). This also requires a bunch of engineering so more than one part.

[@kill3st]

KZbin needs a 'superlike' button just for this channel!

[@Blaquer17]

Alex's drum solo was excellent. Thanks for that.

[@lukethebest2598]

That was a fire ad transition ❤

[@HMS1Blake]

Excellent series. While testing the clay pigeon launcher spring, you managed to get the anvil and stand bouncing at the comedy bonking frequency. Strong Carry On movie vibes.

[@ViceAdmiralMcNugget]

I hope this thing gets put in the centre of the workshop and becomes a regular character.

[@brittanieoconnell5570]

Now this is the Alec Steele we know and love! So many parts to the series making super cool stuff! Can’t wait for more.

[@rosemarshall1219]

This series is so good!

[@irencsak]

I came into this thinking this was a silly project that I'll let pass by. Here we are on part 5 and I'm fully invested lol

[@peterfyffe6457]

Making a regular size shop pencil sharpener seems like a nice challenge that’s functional and would appear in every succeeding video!

[@server642]

I got invested way too early (since part 1). The cliffhangers between episodes are killing me!

[@Kavouraki_]

Alec and Jaimes dynamic is the most entertaining thing on youtube. Love watching this !

[@nutamaximilian3741]

Its nice to have a assistant around to keep you in check :D good job guys cant wait to see how it turns out

[@Mrdogedog]

You should move the gel out to the front of the lampshade and put a polished reflector at about the middle of the outer cone for more even light distribution(like the inside of a modern car headlight).that will ensure there is not a bright hotspot in the middle of the lighted area and a sharp cutoff into shadow, you could also use a piece of sandblasted acrylic instead of pre made sheets of frosted gels.

[@cleverusername9369]

I really enjoyed Alec providing his own music

[@EdSkiZm]

I like the way Jamie was waitin for the rest of the burn barrel story,he was like, yeah and then……

[@joshoconnell2104]

A massive stapler or hole punch next would be awesome! 😁 Love the series!

[@richardprince2510]

Yo! Steele i just gotta say. The amount you try to put everything on beat for any compilation or timelapse. It is something that make my brain so happy. Keep being a fellow cool brit. With love. A fan :)

[@blindsniper4517]

This is a ridiculous channel, you’re a blacksmith and you’re making a giant articulating desk lamp… I love it.

[@Yodagami]

Feels great to be back in a long multipart series! Reminds me back to the good old (wikingsword)-times. 😊

[@kensmith8832]

If you have a rolling door company in your area, you can find spring engineers that can find the right spring solution for your needs. A rolling door is a commercial of industrial door that rolls up over head. I would think the wire diameter needs to be about .375" in diameter with at least a 5" to 6" coil diameter and about 3 feet long. My experience is with torsion springs, so I am only guessing with the extension spring solution. What you need to define is the weight, the balance point (weight), and length of travel. The balance point is the hardest value to find. We use software to find this but we have to add a 5% to 10% fudge factor to be sure to not build the spring too small. If you can find a company that winds springs, a shot peened spring can handle greater weight with a smaller wire.

[@vq35deALTIMA]

2:30 beautiful music montage You're killing me. Thought this was gonna be final video. Well played

[@SchysCraftCo.]

It’s going well so far. Can’t wait to see more updates and projects and many more videos so. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge On. Fab On. Weld On. Keep Making God bless.

[@martylawson1638]

Regarding springs. First, put your scale and chain hoist on the lamp in place of the spring. Use the hoist to move the lamp and graph how much force it takes in each position. If you draw a line that "fits" all the points, the slope of this line is the spring-rate that you need. Next you need to get springs that list a spring rate. It's easiest to find stock compression springs, so look at a screen door spring and make a set of forks to pull on a push spring. Die springs, bike springs, and motorcycle springs are good candidates.

[@carazy123_]

I think the spring you tested could still work. Put 2-3 of them in series and just move the anchor point closer to the pivot if it’s still not moving enough. There should be a sweet spot

[@krisbookham5629]

Love the musical beat section, nice editing Jamie. and one of the funnier episodes thanks guys

[@donalddparker]

Great stuff. Love the idea you've got going here!

[@jasonscott8844]

" I think we will have it finished in the next episode. " OH NO Alex.... You didn't.... Oh well. I don't mind 6 more lamp episodes. Lolol

[@SamuraiPipotchi]

That segue into the sponsorship was a good one

[@BraxxJuventa]

Good progress Alec. Well(d) done man! 😁👍🏼😁👍🏼

[@r0llinguphill483]

The lamp doesn't need to be heavier. The three springs in an angle poise balance the lamp and each other out. You need to take the springs off your actual lamp and see what the relative strength is between them as a starting point. But your size scale up doesn't necessarily mean the force scaled up correctly. You might want to talk to a mechanical engineer to see if you can get some good solid numbers on your needs.

[@theyarenthere]

Drums sounded good! Nice work.

[@garrettshadbolt6443]

Ideas for the spring tension: perhaps a closed hydraulic system (long pistons connected to each other and under fluid pressure) or long pieces of spring steel kind of a leaf spring action. Good luck!

[@thibni_]

I love how the dog almost snarled in derision at Alec's mention of building a gigantic lamp. The timing of it was gold 🤣 Someone should make a meme out of it!

[@TheZohan907]

I love the musical part of this video :) very creative you guys

[@potatopotato2181]

i absolutely loved your drum session. keep up the amazing work.

[@TheDutchRevert]

Bro the little beat bit was actually sick you should make that a regular thing and then do popular songs

[@Astrolab.insights]

Seriously loved the impromptu metal drums

[@TimothyHall13]

Oh yeah!!! Thanks Alec!!!

[@GeekBatman]

Krigsgaldr reference then with the steel drums? Loved it!!

[@Mr-Blitz]

that transition to the square spaced sponsorship had me dead!! amazing lol

[@weakestkeebs1944]

love the musical edit

[@joshb2492]

Bro🤯 that drum edit was sick!

[@BrandonW2220]

Loved the drum solo.

[@cronicmonster4327]

You could try the springs that help keep the hood up on a pickup, they seem fairly strong. Enjoying the project very much.

[@chrislindsey5877]

Sounds like Jamie has another career path with being a music producer!

[@phazerave]

I couldn't have been more surprised that jamie didnt know what gels were instantaneously. tisk tisk jamie.

[@somethingthatpops]

That segue into the sponsorship was phenomenal

[@davidcanoy8579]

This is very cool. I would also like to see you make a pantographic folding knife. Smaller project and i might get to watch some cool patterns 🎉

[@ConnorSinclairCavin]

Im just so glad that someone else dreamt of making one of these haha

[@hazboy1000]

I remember when Alec was obsessed with safety... now he bends sheet metal and drills holes, jumps on a stiff heavily loaded spring, and in his words 'Who wants to see me break my new tool?!... Oh my Gosh!! That was very nearly a serious face accident for both of us!' Keep up the entertainment Alec. Always look forward to seeing you have fun and muck around with crazy projects like this! To hell with safety!!!

[@kermitthorson9719]

even tho the past had a pogo stick with a literal gun load in it that would fire off with more force than most peoples' ankles. but this still feels more dangerous

[@dfgaJK]

4:32 I love it 🤣

[@samfletcher93]

Beggining to become suspicious of Alec's percussive abilities... Is this man a drummmer?!

[@Phootaba]

And so it came to pass, that the life long dream of Alec to turn into the Pixar Lamp happened, and he blinded poor Jamie with his radiance!

[@Daniel-uj1nu]

Love this guy 💯

[@SuePerb]

Really enjoyed that drum sequence

[@musachi5999]

I'm impressed he lifted that whole thing at the end, wow!

[@tonyheath626]

What about agriculture tractor springs? Like for their pull behind armatures to raise and lower their boom arms?

[@theteenageengineer]

Gels are generally cheap and easy to get your hands on. They aren’t usually made out of acrylic though, usually it’s a very flame resistant plastic. Not exactly sure the type it’s made out of but it’s usually really thin, flexible, soft and flame resistant. If you’re using LED lights them being heat resistant isn’t that big of a deal. Gels aren’t really used anymore in LED fixtures because they tend to be color changing themselves with over 5 million colors possible. Gels are used in older halogen fixtures because they aren’t color changing. Halogen theater lighting fixtures tend to be anywhere from 300 to 1500 watts and most of that is converted into heat so gels have to be heat resistant so they don’t melt.

[@ChrisDoll44]

looking amazing.

[@Tw33zD]

That sponsor input was nicely done

[@DJ_Taylor24]

You should definitely polish the inside of the conical shade to a mirror or frosted mirror finish!!

[@ryancomfy]

Best segue ever!! Expert level!! It really was very good :)

[@unogazzy84]

3:36 That recallection was so jellicle.

[@tonybowers9490]

at 12:50 "I am LAMP MAN. Fear me." That is some very impressive work for a couple of guys.

[@jakobrosenqvist4691]

You can hook up multiple springs after eachother to get the same strenght over a longer powerstroke.

[@lethPointer]

loooved that drum part

[@pixlstixx]

the segue to the ad was unreal

[@joel.rundle]

When you started to put it together I was reminded of Wallace and Gromit’s space ship

[@8_BitKing]

Was waiting for this, great!

[@sudo_nym]

Crazy is gorgeous!

[@Mad.Man.Marine]

If you want that bender to do stuff a little thicker you can space the bottom wheels farther apart. Just a couple holes. It really helps. It’s like the swag off road kit you can get for the cheap harbor freight pipe rollers. It adds wings to the roller so it bends pipe easier.

[@Andys12169]

Wow, just wow!

[@EpicNexusStudios]

Need some more of that "LIGHT" Drumming.

[@eliabeck689]

You guys are so blessedly, wonderfully insane, and I love every second of it!