Fixing up an old Magnifying Lamp with Junk ---> GOOGLY EYES<---

So I have had this old magnifying lamp laying around without a bulb. I looked through all my junk and lighting stuff saw that I could just cobble together some new lights for with it with some White SMD5050 LED strip. First thing I did was cut out some "Everbilt" pre punch metal strip to fit around the lens. I had this odd circular piece of metal that fit just inside the perimeter of the lamp, so figured I would attach them to it. Gave all the metal bits a nice paint job with some reflective Rustoleum, and proceeded to lap it all together.

Warning: Not the prettiest project! But I am going for utility, so quick but not compromise of integrity.

Next I dug through my nice collection of mostly salvaged standoffs and found 3x Black 8-32 x 0.5 Nylon posts that threaded right into the lamp. Following that I notched the steel ring with a hand grinder cut off wheel. Then mounted it to the stand offs.

Then I gutted the box at the base where the transformer was and tapped into the existing wire that was already run through the lamp arm. The wire and insulation were still in nice shape, no cracks and flexible.

I used my DVM to make sure I connected the wires right, since the supply for the LEDs is DC and polarity matters. The display reads 1.0 Ohm, which is a measure of resistance. The internal resistance of the DVM is usually about 0.5 Ohms, so what you see here is basically no resistance. The other probe is not shown but is connected to the wire on the other side of the lamp. Just a quick easy to tell which wire is which, since they are both white.

I then secured the switch and dimmer up at the second joint up the lamp to a piece of 1/8" thick about 2" x 3" aluminum. The plate was secured by two strips of this sealant I use as an adhesive sometimes called LEXEL. It sticks very well to aluminum and steel, and a just about everything else except silicon. The zip ties are temporary.

After that I ran the control wire into the junction box and bug nutted it to the existing wire that will go to the LEDs. The dimmer has another wire with a barrel plug that connects to the 12V wall wort supply. I just looped that wire into the junction box and zip tied it to the other wire, to prevent it from getting pulled out.

The thin metal stripps I just zip tied to the ring, taking advantage of the pre punched holes.
Next I cut 9x about 3" long sections of the LED strip. You can cut it with scissors where the little copper pads are, and they are usually marked. I stuck them all on as symmetrical as possible, then prepared some silicone housed 11 gauge wire by "tinning" them first. Basically applying solder in advance.

I did the same with the pads. Tinning makes soldering wires and things together easier, which leads to the next step of linking it all together and flipping it on!

Last but not least I added some big ol googlys!!

Unfortunately my magnifier has a chip in the glass, but it works just fine anyways. I like to recycle and upcycle, so I reuse things when I can! Waste is disgusting!!! This whole project took me about 2 hours, which I say is time well spent.