How to make a Tree Trunk Lamp

This is what you call "seeing the forest through the trees".   After several trees uprooted from Storm Irene, I recently checked out the damage, well after the ground dried, and decided that we should clean them out and replant.   In the meantime I knocked around some ideas as to what to do with the wood.  Then I saw lamps among other things in the woods and got started.

This is the "Before" photo.  :)

Cut out the desired section with a chain saw to start. 

Removed bark with chisels, knives, and anything that worked. 

Dug out more bark growth and earth in between the roots. 

Now this, took a lot of patience. The bark, of course, was wrapped around each root and to reach them was tedious. 

Some were easily taken off...

others needed more coffee and even vintage picks. 

Sanding began.

Gave it a pressure washer bath to remove anything else, including the possibility of unwanted insects. 

I used several sanding methods; a belt sander on the bottom, orbit sander for flat spots and then on to small Dremel bits for in between.

At 19" high, a long drill was needed to make the wiring feed through the log.

Finally the fun... staining. I used a "Golden Oak" wood stain even though this wood  is in the pine family.

One coat of lacquer was enough.

The bottom of the  log where the drilled hole is located. 

This was a large wooden drawer knob. I painted it and drilled a hole through it to use
as a decorative touch for the top of the trunk. 

Ran the lamp rod through the hole. 

Then wired up with the light kit. 

A tree brought back to life. 

Completed with a shade. 

A little bit of Mother Nature added to the room. 

I transplanted 6 of these trees as seedlings from the very woods where our fallen trees are. I put them in a sunny location on the property 4 years ago. They are ready now to be planted where these fallen trees are. A great spring project.