Bicycle Gear Plaque DIY

Have an old bicycle or a worn out set of cogs? Turn them into art.

Supplies:

• Rear bicycle wheel cogs. If you don’t have tools to remove the cogs take it to your local bicycle store
• 2 pieces of 1/8” Acrylic Plexiglas; color of your choice. I found two 12" x 12" orange sheets on ebay for a decent price.
• Wire for fastening down small cogs
• Various sizes of bolts, nuts, and washers

Instructions:

1. Clean up your gear cogs and separate them as much as you can. I cleaned off what I could and let them soak in dish soap for a while.
2. Begin arranging the cogs on a sheet of acrylic. I placed mine in a pattern for all the gears to mesh.
3. Mark holes where you need to drill. Some cogs may have holes in them that are large enough for a small bolt.
   
   Take advantage of this. It looks cool. Buy shallow bolts and corresponding nuts to fasten these cogs. Some smaller cogs are trickier. I had to drill tiny holes to run wire through in order to fasten them to the acrylic.  Mark your holes and determine drill bit sizes for your bolts and wire. Do not drill yet!
   
4. Place a scrap piece of wood under your acrylic. Running your drill in reverse will prevent you from cracking the acrylic. Drill the marked holes for the corresponding bolt sizes. It will take longer but could save you money.
5. Next, drill 4 large holes in the corners of each piece of
   
   acrylic. I ran large long bolts through the corners and spaced the second acrylic sheet behind to give it more prominence. In the 2^nd sheet of acrylic I also drilled a hole near the top in the center. This allows it to be hung on the wall.
6. Assembly – Assemble the cogs on the front acrylic. Next, run the large bolts with washers through the front sheet. Then run extra nuts to create the desired spacing between the two sheets. Finally place the second acrylic sheet onto the bolts and fasten another set of nuts behind it. You can also add a small LED light inside to make it glow!     
   
   
   

Bicycle Fork Lamp DIY

Keeping with the bicycle theme here is another DIY for you. I must point out this is not my original idea. I believe I first saw this on Etsy.

Let’s get started!

Supplies:

• Bicycle fork with a front wheel axle and nuts, (road or cruiser bike preferably)
• DIY Lamp Kit (Walmart or Lowes)
• Lamp Shade (Walmart)
• 2x L-brackets (Lowes)
• Paint for fork
• Wooden base (I used a wooden plaque from Walmart's craft section)
• Stain and polyurethane or paint for base.

Instructions:

1)   Remove the fork from the bicycle and the axle from the wheel. 

2)   Prepare base for L-brackets. I wanted to use small L-brackets and for the axle to fit through I had to drill out the L-bracket holes just slightly. Place the L-brackets on the axle and bike fork. Then tighten the nuts. Place the assembly over the center of your base and mark the holes in the L-brackets. Pre-drill these holes.

3)   Clean, sand, and cover the base with stain or paint. I used a dark walnut stain and coated it with polyurethane.

4)   Drill holes for power cord. I drilled holes in the top and bottom of one of the fork legs. You may have to drill a hole in the bottom of the stem. This way the power cord can be run mostly out of sight. Clean up any sharp edges with a file.

5)   Paint your fork

6)   Fasten L-brackets to base along with the bike axle. 

7)   Place bike fork ends over axle. Make sure the fork stem is perfectly vertical. Then, tighten the nuts (very tight).

8)   Run your electrical cord. I used some 

     plastic wiring cover to help protect the cord from sharp edges of the fork.

9)   Install the DIY lamp kit. Instructions are provided with these so I won’t go into detail.

10) Place your lampshade and turn it on! 

Additional notes: 
It’s probably better to buy your lampshade after you’ve completed the rest of the lamp. Another option is to make your own shade. In my last DIY, the Bicycle Wheel Lamp, I made a lamp shade using 2 small bike wheels and chicken wire. I have not attempted to combine a fork with the wheel shade yet but it would be the ultimate bicycle lamp. 

Bicycle Wheel Lamp DIY

I was in a bicycle shop in Arkansas one day and saw an amazing light fixture many bicycle rims of different sizes surrounding it. I believe it had multiple blue light bulbs and wire fencing surrounding it. This gave me the inspiration for making a simple bicycle wheel lamp.

This is first one I made. I made it for my father-in-law. He loves orange and biking.

Supplies: 

• A lamp - If you don’t want to splice wires make sure the wiring is not soldered to the socket. Many lamps are soldered. Also, lamps with a pull chains have one less step and can be easier to turn on.  
• 2 kids or bmx bicycle wheels - 20" - 24" is perfect. I recommend a rear wheel for the lower. The bore seems to be larger.  
• Very small all-thread with the same size nuts (12 nuts needed) 
• Roll of chicken wire fencing 
• Small zip ties 
• Edison bulb 
• Spray paint - for wheels and lamp (optional)

Instructions:

1. Remove hubs/axles and clean the wheels. 
2. Drill 3 holes at equal distances through the edge of each bicycle rim. Drill all the way through. This can be a little difficult. 
3. Take apart lamp and remove the socket from the lamp base. Unscrew the wires and separate. If your lamp has a twist knob and not a pull chain remove enough spokes of the rear wheel to fit your hand through. This will allow access to the switch.  
4. Place the rear wheel on the lamp base then reattach the socket. Lamps are different and you made need to do some creative engineering to make it fit. On my second lamp I used a bike tube and a hose clamp to keep the lower wheel in place.  
5. Insert the bulb and measure clearance from bottom of the rim to about 2 inches above the top of the bulb. This will be your cut length for the all-thread.  
6. Cut 3 pieces of all-thread. 
7. Insert each piece into the holes in the rim. Place a nut blow the edge of the rim and over the top. It helps if you already have the top nut threaded on, otherwise you have to thread it all the way down. Do this on each side.  
8. Thread 3 more nuts onto each piece of all thread. These will support the top bike wheel. Once it is level place the last 3 nuts over the top edge to hold it in place.  
9. The last step is the chicken wire. Measure the distance between both rims and cut the wire with some good snips. Be careful because those cut wires will draw blood.  
10. Once your section is cut zip-tie the fencing to the all-thread at the top and bottom. Try to make sure it is in line from top to bottom. Do this to each all thread. When you get to the last one pull the chicken wire tight and cut the excess off.

More pics: