DIY: Making An Acrylic Lampshade At Home
How to Make Your Own Acrylic Lampshade At Home?
An acrylic lampshade is great. It is not only popular but adds style to your home as well. You can buy the lamp from anywhere in the market. Not only this, but you can even make your own acrylic lampshade at home. Want to know how? This guide will tell you everything you need to know. So, let’s start!
Introduction
Before we tell you about how to make your own acrylic lampshade, you first need to know what it really is. Acrylic is a type of material that you can now use in place of glass to make your own lampshade.
There are many advantages that the acrylic provides to both the users and the manufacturers. This is why everyone prefers it over the glass these days.
Some common advantages of these lampshades are easy to shape and fabricate, durable, weather-resistant, lightweight, impact-resistant, and highly transparent.
Why Should You Invest In Acrylic Lampshade?
Apart from being a great decoration piece, there are many advantages of having an acrylic lamp. Want to know what those advantages are? Keep reading then.
1. Easy to Shape and Fabricate
One of the greatest advantages of acrylic lampshades is that it is extremely easy to shape and fabricate them. Moreover, these lampshades hold their shape even when they cool down. This is why it is an extremely popular material when it comes to making lampshades. You can even make molds made from wood and plastic when the lamp is being shaped. This is extremely affordable for manufacturers.
2. Weather Resistant
Another advantage of the acrylic lampshades is that it is weather resistant. That’s because acrylic is an extremely tough material. This is why it is even used for lenses of car headlights and lamps. Moreover, the paint used for acrylic lampshades is not affected by light. That’s why they can retain their color easily. You can easily light the lamp due to acrylic clarity. This is the reason that glass artists and sculptors use it for outdoor designs.
3. Lightweight
Acrylic lampshades are 50% lighter than glass. This is what makes these lamps easier to handle. These lamps are more comfortable due to the polymer used in their manufacturing. That’s why the majority of dental fillings are also made of acrylic. Not only this, but it is a common material used in cosmetic surgery as well. You can even use acrylic skylights in your home. They not only increase light but their addition to the roof does not increase the load on your home’s foundation.
4. Highly Transparent
Another great thing about acrylic lampshade is that it maintains its optical clarity. Moreover, the lamp does not yellow with age as well. This is why it remains transparent. As a result, the material is considered extremely suitable for lampshades, greenhouse, store-front windows, and skylights. It is used in surveillance mirrors as well where durability is highly appreciated. It is also resistant to UV lights. That’s why some manufacturers even use a coating acrylic for adding extra protection to exterior windows, signs, and motorcycle shields.
5. Impact Resistant
Acrylic is a material that has great strength. In fact, it has strength greater than 10,000lbs per square inch. Moreover, its impact resistance is fifteen times greater than that of ordinary glass. That’s why it will not break, shatter, and fracture into pieces. As a result, acrylic becomes a popular material for sliding glass doors, bathroom enclosures, and shower doors. It also acts as a security barrier in correctional facilities.
How Can You Make Your Own Acrylic Lampshade at Home?
Apart from getting an acrylic lampshade from the market, you can even make your own lamp at home. Want to know how? Let’s check out the steps below.
- The first thing you need to do is measure the sheet for acrylic panels. After this, measure the diameter of the lampshade ring. It will help you understand the top width better.
- Now that you have the dimension of the top width, multiply the thickness of the acrylic sheet by 2. Add the result to the last dimension. After this, take the dimension of the bottom width along with the panel length of the acrylic panels.
- In the third step, you need to mark and cut the four acrylic sheets that you have. It will give a shape to your lamp. Additionally, you also need to draw markup lines on your sheet for clarity. What you need to remember is that the lines should run through the length of the panel. Otherwise, you will not get a proper dimension.
- Moving on, you need to put the acrylic panels together in the fourth step. This will give you the shape of a lampshade body. You also need to pour the acrylic cement into the applicator until it is quarter full. After this, you need to join both ends.
- Make sure that you apply an adequate amount of cement. Too much or too little acrylic cement might make your lamp fall apart. Once you have applied the cement successfully, seal it up with tape and leave it around for 48 hours.
- Once 48 hours are over, you need to check if the joints are sealed or not. If the joints are sealed, attach the lampshade ring to the standing shade that you made a while ago.
- Now starts the final step. In this step, you need to remove the masking from the inside of the acrylic paint. Put the tape in its original setting after this.
- Make sure that the ring is firm. To keep the ring firm, put a layer of silicone bonding agent in between the ring and the lampshade. Once it dries down, take the peel-off tape and whatever else you have put on your acrylic lampshade.
Final Words
This was your comprehensive guide on making your acrylic lampshade at home. However, if you don’t want to make it yourself, feel free to place an order with us. We have been delivering top-notch quality products for years now.
