The Woodstock Model Railroad Club invites you to come along with as together we build an empire. Stay tuned for progress updates, tips and techniques. All comments are welcome. Email ljbrinker@yahoo.ca

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Homemade gooseneck pole/door lights.

Very easy and inexpensive  way to build your own gooseneck lights. I bought a pack of 8 mm flat pad post w/clutch ear ring findings at Hobby Lobby, well I got my wife to buy them, less stares that way. Only cost $3.00 for over 14 of them, it says, mine had about 20 pairs.

Next you make a punch out of a piece of 3/8" dowel. I chucked it in my drill and held it against a bench belt sander, until it had a rounded end. For the die I used a scrap piece of oak and drilled 2 3/8" holes in it. A 1/16" hole was then drilled through the middle of each hole to accept the post. With the punch still in the drill, I held a piece of sandpaper over the die hole add pushed the punch into the sandpaper and hole and spun it a few times, moving the sandpaper each time, until the shape of the punch matched the hole in the die.
If you also drill a 1/16" hole in the rounded end of the punch you can also make umbrellas. Simple place the ear ring stud in the hole and punch it into a concave shape. Make sure the post doesn't stick out of the other side of the die. If it does you will have to add another piece of wood with a matching hole under it. Next, just past the keeper ring area on the post, on the pad side, make a 90 degree bend. If you bend it in the keeper ring groove area, it will break. Moving a bit closer to the pad end of the post, with the previous bend up, bend a half circle in the post with a wire bending pliers,  the type with the round jaws.
Should look something like the one on the left.
Mount them on the adhesive side of a piece of masking tape mounted on a piece of scrap and spray paint them.
They should look like this, if you use green paint. I will add a white bead to represent the bulb as in the 1 on it's side.

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