The Danglepoise

Summary

VIDEO Motivation In the dying years of the 20th century, the “rise and fall” light fitting became briefly popular. You know the type: a counterweight (or spring) balances out the weight of the lantern so that the lamp can be moved up and down. I’ve always thought that these were rather neat. You can leave them up near the ceiling for general room illumination, lower them a bit to create a more intimate atmosphere, or pull them right down for focused task work. Couple a rise and fall pendant with that other 1970s lighting must-have, the dimmer switch, and you have a really flexible lighting system. I recently found myself in need of some lighting, and wanted to replicate this neatness. It became rather complicated. Why not just buy a rise and fall pendant lamp and a dimmer switch, and have done with it? Three reasons. Firstly, modern decorative lighting seems to operate in a very price-sensitive market, which has driven manufacturers to engineer out costs everywhere that they can. This generally results in a certain flimsiness in a large number of domestic light fittings. That works pretty well for something that you can simply install and forget; the disconcerting wobbliness will bother you for a few minutes while you install the fitting, and is then irrelevant until you come to remove it. For something that is expected to move reliably and safely, though, wobbliness and flimsiness make me unhappy. This first problem could be avoided by looking at antique rise and fall fittings: these are generally more solid. However, finding one in good condition is reasonably difficult, and finding five in good condition that match is nigh on impossible. Five, you say? Ah yes. Following some recent renovations, we’ve ended up with a reasonably long dining table, ideal for entertaining or for a big family game of Kingdom Death : Monster (caution: not suitable for families). Lighting this adequately needs, I reckon, about five lights in a row. So the antique approach is out. Thirdl...