Tractor hood coffee table. Lights?

fixerupper

Well-known Member
I'll have to admit I'm showing off a bit too! I made this coffee table for a good friend and his wife. He dropped off a pair of lights off a WD for me to incorporate into or onto the table. After I'm this far I don't know if lights would add to it or not. Lights sticking out of the side of the front area of the hood would definitely make it look more tractor like but I kind of like the sleek look it has now. Whadda ya think? lights or no lights? If lights, what location would look the best. If the lights do go on I will have a small LED bulb in each one for a glow. What color should the lights be? The final decision is up to them though. It for their house.

If any of you are familiar with the lights off a WD, they are on the end of a pipe that's a foot long or so. About the only way I can think of to attach them and keep the look neat and clean is to cut the pipe off the headlights and mount them close. I would just HATE to cut the pipes off. They don't make them anymore.
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Oops, forgot the pics, had to edit . They are a little blurred. The lighting in the shop wasn't good and the lens slowed down on my phone.
 
Mount them inside the 'rear' wood leg, but high-that is approximately where ours are! You can barely make the light out just above the loader frame! Man that looks cool!

 
Is there any way of using the flexible
parts of a floor lamp to hold them. Then
you could fold them out of the way or
point them where you need them. Looks good
to me the way it is.
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Cut the pipes a half inch from the light- they could be reconstructed by welding pipe back onto the stub.
 
Very nice, fixerupper!!

Have given some thought to a rusty facsimile... but have too many project on my to-do list as it is.

I guess I'd ask the prospective owners if they would like the lights.
 
Make a ceiling light for over the table. Painted the same. Over the table or couch it is in front of. Two posts connected in the center, lights pointing down.
Nice job on it,
 
Personally, I think it looks great just the way it
is. Lights projecting out from the sides are just
something to bump into when maneuvering around the
coffee table when it's in front of the couch.

If I were going to add anything, it would be a
picture (when New) & brief History of that
particular Make and Model of tractor; and mount
them under the glass with a small set of LED
lights to illuminate them.

Doc :>)
 
Could mount them so they have a glow down towards the bottom, so you can see what you are looking for on that bottom shelf. If up inside the hood you could fasten a pipe across the hood to hold them.
 
Nice!" There was a man in Minnesoda a few years ago that took radiator shells from John Deere tractors and made either display cases for toys or shelves for books.
Don't know ifin he is still round or not.
 
Thank you all for the suggestions so far. It helps to have fresh minds look at it. My viewpoint narrows up after I've been locked into a project for awhile. Keep the ideas coming. I open to anything.

This is my first shot at layering paint and I admittedly was floundering. I had no feel for it nor did I have A plan on what to do next. The paint on the hood is a base clear. I started the job by painting the whole hood a a reddish pink. Then I shot an uneven light coat of brown over it till I thought it was about right. Finally I blotched on the black, tempering the black by spraying a light coat of brown over the black. If you look close you can see the reddish pink under the brown. In bright light the pink comes out, in dim light it looks dark brown. The glass is bronzed. It hides the floaters in the clear coat. LOL
 
I would just get a couple of small led running
lights and mount them under the hood for a nice glow
under the table.

12 volt and would probably run for a year with a set
of d cell flashlight batteries.

Brad
 
Maybe not what the owner had in mind, but what about mounting them inside wit real small bulbs/LED to serve as a night light and illuminate the bottom shelf. Did you make provisions for dusting the hood under the clear top?
 

The glass is one inch off the hood at the peak of the hood and tapers away from there so dusting won't be all that hard for a ladies hand. I had thought about LED's underneath too. We will be visiting with the owners tomorrow. I might take the table along for them to look at it. I can bring up all of you folk's suggestions and let them brain storm a bit.

Brad, LED running lights or 'chicken lights' as I've heard them called, pull .05 amp each. Twenty of them pull one amp. I used clear lense running lights on another project a few years ago. They run forever.
 
Really cool project . If I had the room & the tools I
would like to do some wood working projects .
Thats a piece furniture that can be passsed down for
several years.


John in Az.

flakyfriends2@coxnet.
 
I agree with the others, putting headlights on it
would make it too clumsy for use (leg banger).
Soft LED shining down on the display surface would
be in keeping with the theme it isn't a whole
tractor, and where you leave off is mor art than
science. Jim
 

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