Bear Paw Lamp

[CROW]

A customer would like a novelty lamp made out of his bear paws.  I do not dabble in this arena and am searching for a "lamp maker."  I've never seen a bear paw lamp,  but assume they are out there with the deer leg lamp.  Any information please and thank  you.

[Sage]

Heya!

Okay, so I've never actually done this, but as a sculptor of 6-8 years experience under my belt, I made lamps quite often.

You're gonna need a base and I -believe- that if you use just one bear paw, you'll need the paw facing upwards "holding" the lightbulb. Inside the bear paw you'll need to have the wire running down through the base and the cord from the base. (In this manner, the lighbulb would be out an inch or so from the bear's pawpad leather - I'll bet fur can get hot pretty easy and you don't want to set your lamp on fire!)

If there's multiple paws, I'd say look at it like a florist's point of view and arrange them to the way the customer would appreciate it, and fuse them together (not sure how -looks at more experienced taxidermists reading this-), then push up the wire in the center, sit the lightbulb socket on top and there you go. You can always sit a lampshade over the lightbulb, but to me, it might detract from the overall rustic beauty of the piece itself. (On the other hand, it would be hysterical if you added a lampshade that looked like a honey pot.... )

Hope this helps.

[taxcollector]

Hii there! Just want to let you know that we have a bear paw lamp. It's a single front leg, with paw; the claws, pads, etc. are complete. The leg is situated paw down, as if it were standing, with the cord/ lamp insert up throught the leg, about where the bone would be. The top of the leg section is capped with a brass cap, where the lamp shaft comes out. This leads to the light bulb and shade; the light bulb socket is about 3-4 inches above the end of the leg, so it does not get warm. We've had it for awhile and it works great. Let me know if you need a pic. Good luck!

[CROW]

I appreciate the feedback.  I am interested in outsourcing.  I don't care to dabble in this arena.  I'd much rather not.  I will PM you TC and be looking for those pictures.