People ask how long a lamp takes. The honest answer is about two days, most of it spent waiting for glue. Here is what happens in between.
1. Choosing the map
Every shade starts in the flat file drawer where I keep my maps. Some are originals I picked up at estate sales over the years; most are high-resolution scans of public domain maps from university and national libraries. I look for maps with a lot happening at the edges: sea monsters, compass roses, ships, cartouches. A shade wraps all the way round, so the back matters as much as the front.
2. Cleaning and printing
I clean up each scan by hand, mostly removing fold lines and the odd coffee ring some sailor left in 1596. Then it is printed on archival, acid-free paper with pigment inks, so the colours stay put for decades even with a bulb behind them.
3. Laminating the panel
The print is laminated to a fire-retardant styrene backing with a hand roller. This is the step that takes patience. One trapped bubble and the panel goes in the offcut bin, which is how my granddaughter ended up with a treasure map shade on her bedroom lamp.
4. Rolling the shade
The panel is trimmed, rolled round the top and bottom rings, and clipped while the seam sets overnight. I line the seam up with a quiet part of the map so it disappears against the wall.
5. Wiring the base
While the shade sets, I wire the base: walnut, brass, stoneware or steel, depending on the lamp. Every lamp gets a new UL-listed socket, cord and plug. Nothing salvaged where the electricity goes.
6. Testing
Finally the lamp sits on the bench, switched on, for a full evening. I check the seam, the switch and the cord, and I check it looks right lit. A map looks completely different with light coming through it; the oceans go warm and the inks glow. That is the bit I still enjoy most.
Then it is wrapped, boxed and on its way to you. If you want to see the maps I have ready to go, they are all in the Map Library.
Perry