Camshaft Craft

 Came across this in the same place I picked up the aircon unit:

A lamp made from a camshaft and a pulley wheel.

Now, most camshafts are solid all the way through, meaning they have to be gun drilled, like a rifle barrel, to create the hole through which the light cable passes - very expensive, if you can find a gunsmith to do it. Some people don't bother with this and have the flex running down the side of the camshaft, but that's not aesthetically pleasing and looks a bit ramshackle.

As it transpires, a lot of Vauxhalls have hollow camshafts, so a tame mechanic I know is looking for a pair for me from the vast number of dead engines littering his yard. For the bases I have already liberated some gear wheels from a scrap bin at a local garage. 

Before doing any welding, assuming I find a couple of suitable camshafts, I'll need to thoroughly degrease and polish the lot.

Watch this space.

Stop Press: a camshaft found, but it seems it's a solid one, so the search continues.

I do like junk!