Do It Yourself Grow Lamp

The goal for this project was to not buy anything and try to use a little power tools as possible to build the grow lamp. This is not so much an exact way to make a grow lamp, but more of showing how I did it to help with ideas on how to adapt what is available to make one yourself. I ended up using the following tools:

• Cordless drill
• Couple of drill bits
• General purpose hand saw
• Square (either combination or try square)
• Tape measure
• (Optional) variety of sizes of clamp

To start with I did a preliminary sketch to get a general idea using parameters I knew.

• The fluorescent light ballast is 4 feet in length
• The Jiff seedling trays are about 10.5″ width x 21″ length
• I want to accommodate for 3″ high pots

As you can see below my work surface for cutting is an old toy chest. It is the perfect height to stick my foot on the board I’m cutting to hold it.

Using a hand saw, that belonged to my Great Grandfather, tape measure, square and a pen the shelf frame was cut so the final shelf length and width were 4′ x 1′ with a support in the center. I found the equivalent of 1 x 2 pieces of wood for this.

It is always good to lay things out before assembling to make sure it’ll work. Now is a good time to remeasure the outside dimensions.

For all the joints, holes were pre-drilled for the 1 5/8″ drywall screws and glue was applied.

I really lucked out with my shelf top. I had originally sketched using strips of wood as a shelf top, but while I was rummaging through the huge pile of scrap wood I found a pre-cut piece of OSB that was 1′ x 4′.

Because this building material is usually for sub floors and is never meant to be seen, I decided to make it a focal point. First thing was to sand the heck out of it. It was sitting out in the weather and surface was a little expanded out.

After the top was put on the shelf frame with drywall screws, I found some really old cherry stain and wood conditioner to use on the shelf top. The stain really was absorbed in the crevasses of the OSB.

The legs were cut from some 1 x 4 lumber. The sides were cut 24 inches long and the top connecting pieces were cut 12 inches. I knew this modified my internal dimensions. I didn’t want to figure out the exact length to cut, and I figured more seedling growing area can’t be that bad.

Similar to the shelf area the legs were pre-drilled so the wood wouldn’t split when the drywall screws were used.

The edges were glued and a clamp was used to hold the legs together while the screws were put in.

It was time to temporarily assemble the shelf and the legs together. This was necessary to put the bracing across the top of the legs. A block of wood was used to raise the shelf about 1 ½ inches off the table. This is where using a clamp to hold the pieces together really came in handy.

Scrap lumber for the top came from some old window trim. Just had to pull out some nails. About this time I decided to use two pieces instead of one for the top bracing.

After the top braces were cut at 4 feet in length, the position away from the edge of the top of the brace was marked.

Like everything else, the holes for the screws were pre-drilled before assembly. Again the small clamp came in handy to make sure the wood didn’t move while drilling.

Glue was laid down before screwing down the top braces.

When finding a piece of wood to put the ballast on, I made sure it was a little longer than 4 feet. The idea was to use a peg system, shown later, to adjust the height of the fluorescent light.

The wood going perpendicular to the one holding the ballast will be what supports it.

When I said I was a pack rat I wasn’t kidding. Some times stores will super clearance broken particle board furniture or just throw it away. I was able to scavenge these handles from that.

With the shelf removed from the top, I put a couple coats of latex Kilz and one coat of Behr kitchen and bath enamel on the legs and top support.

Before painting the sides and bottom of the shelf, I put 3 coats of gloss polyurethane on the stained areas.

The shelf top was masked off to try to protect it from getting paint on it. This worked to a degree, but what was on there after the tape was removed easily came off by scraping it with a fingernail.

Just like the legs, the shelf got a couple coats of latex Kilz and a coat of the Behr kitchen and bath enamel paint, I only had part of a quart so I could only put one coat on everything.

After the paint dried, the shelf and legs were put back together. Next was drilling dowel holes on the outside of the legs.

On a thin piece of wood a line was drawn and at every inch a mark was put on the line. A hole was drilled for every mark on the wood. I almost got them all straight. The drill bit I used was the same sized one I needed for the dowels.

Using the dowels as a guide the drill bit was taped to make sure I didn’t go too deep. Keep in mind the thickness of the guide when this is done.

A small clamp was used to hold the drilling guide in place while the holes were made. The thing to keep in mind when setting up the drilling guide is to be consistent with the hole heights. Being off center doesn’t matter, having the holes at the same height so the ballast isn’t wobbly does.

Test time once everything is put together.

The little handle on the side to help raise and lower the ballast isn’t necessary but it is fun.