Worn Friction Hinge on Desk Lamp

[Peter]

I've got a clamp-on, adjustable swing arm desk lamp with fully enclosed friction hinges connecting the base, the arms, and the shade. There are no springs, tension knobs, screw holes, or any other apparent method of adjusting the friction. The hinge closest to the base has worn and no longer supports any extended lamp position. I don't even see any way to disassemble the hinges. I've spent hours with Google trying to get help, but no luck. The manufacturer has not been of help either. Any bright ideas?

[gpsman]

Well, shirley there has to be some kind of pin that could be drilled out and maybe replaced with a boat, washers and wingnut...

Practically anything can be fixed, but that sounds like a candidate for the recycle bin. -----

- gpsman

[Peter]

Good idea if I had a drill press to stay precisely on axis. However, I failed to mention that the wiring for the lamp is entirely inside the arms and hinge assembly. My hope is to repair the friction hinge, not obliterate it.

Recycle bin? Not likely! Equivalent quality/feature replacement lamps are >$80 and the lamp is otherwise fully functional.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 4/21/2009 12:27 PM Peter spake thus:

You say the hinges are fully enclosed: does this mean that there's some kind of cover over them, or does the exterior of the lamp arms form the cover? There must be some way to get at that hinge. Any sign of a dimple, slot, rivet, any other fastener/opening to gain access?

How about posting pictures of it? All the swing arm lamps I have are the el cheapo kind where everything's bare naked exposed.

[1D10T]

The hinge pins may be a press-fit. Mebbe squeeze the hinge barrel with vise grips? If that helps a little, mebbe try getting the hinge barrel areas into a vise or even hit 'em with a pin punch or similar.

[Nate Nagel]

I'd try to find a real draftsman's light and save yourself the aggravation.

nate

[Nate Nagel]

some are actually somewhat affordable

what you're looking for are ones with springs at each pivot so they're not relying on friction to hold the lamp steady

nate

[The Daring Dufas]

You could always try exploratory surgery with a Dremel Tool. A picture or brand and model might help us figure out how it was assembled.

TDD