Tiki build-along, pt. 12

Apologies in advance--this installment of my tiki build-along isn't going to be a thorough as I normally like. My intentions were good, it's just that this particular project--despite it's comparatively small scope--has dragged out over the past 6 months or so, and the start-and-stop nature has resulted in my forgetting to pull out the camera on multiple occasions. Hopefully, there's still enough to show my general process, if you fill in the blanks yourself.

One element that is crucial to either a home or commercial tiki bar is the lighting. Tiki bars are intended to be escapist, creating the illusion of being in some exotic, far-away paradise. Bright lights spoil that illusion, so tiki bars traditionally have an abundance of dim, colored lighting to enhance the otherworldly feel. Tikifying my light sconces was the first project I undertook after completing my bar. The new ceiling fans above the bar, however, were problematic. The fans themselves were nicely tropical, but the light fixture was decidedly un-tiki. The way the glass hood attached (a weird slide-and-lock maneuver) made it problematic to just simply replace. I decided my best approach was to make a shade to cover it. Relying heavily on tips offered by Tiki Skip, a pro at making tiki lamps, I charged ahead with my plan.

All that bamboo I'd been harvesting, scorching and setting aside to dry? I'd found a use for it. I took 1" thick pieces and cut them into 10" lengths. I drilled holes 1" from the top end on either side. I picked up two cheap, wood crochet hoops of 12" and 8" diameter, and after pulling off the metal brackets, glued the various concentric wood pieces together to make two solid loops. I drilled holes through the hoops and using thin, black jewelry wire, tied the bamboo to the hoops. I probably went overboard with this step.

Once I completed this with the larger and smaller hoops, I had something of an open cone that matched the angles of the glass lamp cover.

And the view from above. I used a lot of wire.

To achieve that primitive tiki look, I wrapped the exposed hoops with 5/8" Manila rope. In hindsight, this was probably too thick of a rope for this project, but that's the size I could find. Manila rope is more durable that sisal rope, more water-resistant and also darker. It looks better and since my build is outside, durability is a priority. I've since found some 1/4" rope, which should better-suit my future needs.

I secured the rope using Goop, a rubbery glue that's strong but--most importantly--flexible, and resistant to heat, cold and water.

I tacked the ends of the rope in place to hold it until the glue set.

I cut two sections of bamboo to act as guides for the pull-chains on either side of the light. I drilled two holes and ran some garden wire through with which to anchor it to the hoop.

Two more holes drilled, guide anchored to the hoop like so. In hindsight, I should've used a piece of bamboo with thinner walls. The thick walls hinder the chain's movement. I was thinking durability at the time, not functionality. I'll know better in the future.

All those wires were darn ugly and needed to be covered up, obviously. Unfortunately, I'm an idiot and used that 5/8" Manila rope to tie all those pieces of bamboo. Guess what? That 5/8" Manila rope is thick, and knotwork done with it becomes bulky, fast. Once I had the top all tied up I sized it up against the lamp and guess what? It wouldn't fit. Not even close. So I set the whole thing aside for a month or so because the thought of untying all that Manila rope annoyed the crap out of me. I didn't take any photos of that. Instead, I took photos of my subsequent effort using jute twine. Just twine isn't anywhere near as durable or strong as Manila rope, but it's cheap and thin. That's what I needed. So I tied all the bamboo using a cris-cross pattern and achieved the effect I was after, without the bulk.

The jute twine was a lot lighter than the Manila rope, though, and the mis-match stood out. Not attractive. So I took a page from Tiki Skip's book and applied a coat of amber shellac. Problem solved--it all matches now, and the shellac adds a bit of weather protection to the twine.

I wanted a tapa pattern for the shade part, but I didn't want to use actual bark cloth tapa fabric. Firstly, I didn't want to cut up something that had historic value, but mostly I didn't really know what I was doing and didn't want to risk ruining a buch of valuable cloth for something that might not turn out. Instead I ordered a couple yards of basic cotton cloth with a screen-printed tapa pattern. Authentic? Nope, but I could cut away without stress. And it's a good thing, too, because I screwed up multiple times. I selected an orange-dominated print, but it had a lot of white in it and looked too new. So, again I took Tiki Skip's advice and applied a coat of amber shellac. This dulled the brighter colors and gave it the illusion of having a patina of age. It had the added benefit of stiffening the fabric so that it was much easier to work with. After replacing the stock bulbs in the lamp with a pair of Edison-style amber LEDs, the golden illumination is nicely warm and inviting.

Finally, to attach the shade, I added four small, crew-in rings to the top hoop, and tied them to the top of the lamp using more of that black jeweler's wire. It's a strong enough hold, but not terribly stable. The hood tends to shift out of position more easily than I'd like. At some point, I'll need to come up with a better fix. For now, though, it works. I made a ton of mistakes on this one, but I think I've learned a lot that I can apply to crafting the shade for the second fan. And, of course, there are three more ugly white fans down the way that will ultimately be replaced as well.. Mai tais, anyone?

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