Garage Light – #5 Installing Switches, Cutting Lenses & Final Assembly

The two electrical switches that make this setup possible have finally arrived and can be installed.  One is a smart switch that is hardwired in the wall and the other is a remote that’s wirelessly connected to the hardwired wall switch.  The left photo shows the new hardwired switch wired up and hanging out of the wall with all its color-coded wiring connections explained below:

• The white wire is the neutral.
• The black wire is the hot feed to the switch.
• The red wire feeds the light fixture.
• The green wire is a ground.
• The blue wire is not used in this application so it gets capped.

The right photo is the remote powered by a battery that has an estimated 10-year life.  Its height and width fit into a regular switch plate cover and is very thin so it can be mounted on rather than in a wall.  More on that in a bit.

Here are a couple of photos showing how the hardwired switch looks when installed.  Also, the light’s back has been temporarily attached to its permanent location on the wall.

Here the top photo is looking from the back of the new remote switch set in the new wall switch plate.  In the red ellipse, while a little hard to see, there is a gap between the back of the switch and the bottom of the ruler which is set on the switch plate edges that will go against the wall.  The bottom photo is a closer view.

Installing the remote switch next to the existing switch that controls the existing garage lights is next and there are a few steps to add the remote switch.  The photo on the left is the existing switch and the photo on the right has its switch plate removed.

The left photo shows the remote switch set in the cover plate and the cover plate's screw holes (red arrows) marked with a pencil on the drywall.  The right photo shows the remote switch aligned with the just marked cover plate screw holes (red arrows).  The mounting slots that will be used to mount the remote switch to the wall now get marked (blue arrows).

Next in the left photo the pilot holes have been drilled for the screws (blue arrows) that will go into the mounting slots then the remote switch gets screwed to the wall.  In this case the switch’s mounting screws hit a stud otherwise I would have used a drywall anchor for mounting.  The right photo shows the cover plate  attached to the switches with its four, color matched screws.  I may change out the existing ivory light switch later to match the new white switch so both match.

To paint the back panel, it’s set on painter’s triangles that are on a lazy susan.  This allows me to spin it around making it easy to get all the edges.  It took three coats with some sanding after the first and second coats to smooth and flatten them.  Here is the completed back panel after the third coat.  Getting a nice flat, smooth surface with a little sheen ended up being harder than I thought.  The first test was to take a sample and give it a spray coat of shellac to act as a sealer.  That's followed by spraying on a white paint top coat using a rattle-can spray from one of the big box stores.  The result was not good in that the pores in the oak veneer were not painted so they showed up as the natural oak color.  Multiple coats did little to improve the coverage.  It was as if the surface tension of the paint would not allow the paint to flow into the pores leaving them unpainted.  Trying a second test without the base coat of shellac gave the same unsatisfactory results.  What ended up working required three coats of a white eggshell water-based paint and primer enamel.  The first coat sealed the surface and filled the pores but required sanding since it had raised the grain and left a rough surface.  The second coat only required a light sanding and the third coat gave me what I wanted.

I debated between using glass or acrylic for the front, side and top panels, as each have their advantages.  When I checked my supply of stained glass there was nothing that I wanted to use.  Checking local suppliers, the obscure type of glass was very expensive and not quite what I had in mind.  Stained glass surprisingly was cheaper but still could not find what I wanted.  What I did find at Home Depot were several different styles of 2’ x 4’ acrylic florescent light diffusers.  One of them with an embossed “crackle” finish gave just the effect I wanted, highly translucent but not transparent enough to clearly see the light bulbs inside the fixture.  An added bonus was that the panel had some chips and cracks along one edge so I got 40% off.  When cutting thin sheets of plastic like this there are some precautions, I take to prevent the sheet from chipping or breaking.  The main one being my choice of blade.  I use an 80 tooth High Alternate Top Bevel (Hi-ATB) with a 2-degree hook angle that’s designed for cutting plastic laminate and hardwood veneered plywood.  The second thing is to use a piece of heavy corrugated cardboard under the plastic to back the cut up.  The main photo shows the first rough sizing cut and the inset is the setup for cutting the pieces to final size.

After the paint has cured for a couple days the blue tape on the back panel is removed to reveal the bare wood below that matches the back side of the framework (left photo).  The plan was to glue and screw these two pieces together.  However, by using acrylic for the lens in lieu of glass the completed framework/lens assembly is very light so I am going to attach them together using the four screws without glue.  A plus is if any of the lenses are damaged, I can take the back panel off to make repairs.  After cutting the acrylic pieces to size the sides and front get attached with super glue.  The top will just set in place since it needs to be removed to change the top light bulb.  The frame can now be attached to the back panel completing the fixture (right photo).

Last is to wire the fixture to the junction box and attach it to the wall with a couple of expansion anchors.  The left photo below is the installed light turned on.  Both the switches worked exactly as planned.  The right photo shows how the light provides enough illumination to be able to walk through the messy garage without banging into cars or other stuff.

After using the new light and switches for a bit I am really happy and wish I had done this earlier.

Garage Light – #4 Framing Back Panel, Installing Light Socket & Dry Fitting Framework to Back

Next up is making the back that the framework (greyed out) will get attached to.  The center panel is made from ½” thick MDF with an oak veneer that was a shelf from a salvaged wine display rack.  The veneer is thick enough that I could run it through the thickness sander to remove the finish and most of the stains.  The stains that remain won’t be a problem since it’s going to be painted.  Once that’s done it’s cut to size on the tablesaw.  To cover the raw MDF edges I will add an 3/8” thick oak frame cut tall enough to stand about 1/8” proud of the panel to make a nice shadow line.  This is a change from the original plan where I was going to use veneer tape on the edges.  This tape has hot melt glue already on its back and uses an iron to heat and attach it.  The photo on the right is my jig for cutting the 45-degree miters at the corners.  The jig gets clamped to the chop saw holding it in place.  To set the 45-degree angle I used a clear drafting triangle (leaning up against the saw’s fence) from when I was a draftsman 50+ years ago.  No CADD then as everything was hand drawn.  Once the adjustable pivot arm is set in place it gets clamped to the jig’s base.  The red arrow points to a sample cut piece.

There are quite a few ways to get the frame pieces to fit perfectly around a panel but this is the one I use.  It’s probably not the fastest but I get really good tight corner joints using it.  The top photo has one scrap mitered piece clamped in place which was located by using another scrap, also shown, to get the desired tight-fitting joint.  The bottom photo is a closer view.

Next another mitered scrap is clamped at the opposite end using the same locating process as the first one.  That’s shown in the top photo.  With that done the first actual piece gets its right end mitered and set in place up against a spacer that’s the same thickness as the frame and up against a stop block to set the start point.  The lower right photo shows a close view of that.  The left lower photo shows the marks for the cut length made using a small square and a 45-degree line made with a layout square.

The left-hand miter can now be cut a tiny bit long on the chop saw using the 45-degree jig.  By taking small passes it’s easy to sneak up to get a prefect gap free fit.  The two lower photos show the end result.  Once fitted glue is applied to the center panel then the just cut frame piece is set into place and pin nailed tight.  The same process is repeated for the remaining three sides.

The left photo shows what the framed panel looks like.  The top right photo is a close edge on view with the red arrow pointing to the driven in pin nail and the bottom right photo is of it filled with putty then sanded smooth.

In preparation for painting the back panel it gets two strips of blue tape applied that match up with the set put on the framework.  If you look closely at the left photo, you can see where I traced the framework on the panel to guide putting the tape on.  The tape’s purpose is to keep the wood free of any type of finish so when the two are glued together the result is a good strong glue joint.

Mounting the double headed light bulb fixture to the back panel is next.  There was a small problem because the fixture’s threaded mounting stud is too short to center the fixture in the light so an extension has to be added.  Pulling a coupler and appropriate length threaded tube along with a couple of nuts out of my lamp parts supply fixed that.

Drilling a hole in the back panel where the new extension to the bulb fixture will go is made using the drill press to make sure the hole is square.  The threaded tube is 3/8” in diameter and one would think that drilling a 3/8” hole would work just fine but that’s not the case.  The 3/8” tube is really .381” not .375” or about .006” oversize.  Also, a 3/8” bit does not really make a 3/8” hole when drilling in wood due to the fiber compression during drilling and spring-back after drilling.  The hole made is actually .008” undersized.  End result is the threaded tube won’t fit.  What does work is to use a 10mm bit that makes a 9.8mm or .386 hole which is about .005” oversize.

The frame will be glued and screwed to the back panel and the process to locate and drill the screw holes takes a few steps.  It starts by drilling four small holes from the face of the back panel centered on the blue tape.  The red arrows point to their locations.

Next is to set the framework on the back panel and align it in its final location then clamp the two parts tightly together.  The clamped assembly is then flipped over so the back side of the back panel is up exposing the just drilled four holes (red arrows).  That’s been done in the top photo.  Next using those four holes as guides a pilot hole is drilled into the back of the framework’s post.   The tape on the drill is used as a depth gauge for the hole depth.

Last is to add a countersink to the holes so the screws set flush with the back side of the back panel.  The bottom photo is a closer view of the counter sink drill and what the resulting hole looks like.  As an aside the panel looks a little rough but that’s because it’s been primed and sanded smooth getting ready for the top coat.

Doing a test assembly where the bulb fixture is installed and the framework is attached to the back panel with screws that are installed using the just drilled and counter sunk holes looks like this. 

Next Up – Installing Switches, Cutting Lenses & Final Assembly