I don't like writing reviews when a product is poor, but this product is just awful and buyers should be given enough information so that they can know what they are buying. If it saves grief and headaches for anyone contemplating buying this lamp, then I won't feel so bad for having written this review. First, I bought two of these because it was necessary. The second was bought to see if I could scavenge enough good parts to make a complete, working unit. These were the problems I had with the first lamp: - Of the three wood spindles that make the vertical pole of this lamp, one was noticeably warped - I would estimate it was easily over 1/2 inch off the center axis. - Another of the wood spindles was split where the threaded nut had been pressed into one end of it. When assembling the lamp, the split would open, the nut would loosen, which left the lamp permanently wobbling at that joint. - The nut that secured the base to the bottom spindle was either the wrong size, or its threads were stripped. The lamp had a permanent 15 degree tilt I could only resolve by tying cords that wrapped under the base and secured at the reader lamp joint with the center pole. - The knob for the reader lamp was not attached, and allowed me to see that the manufacturer had chosen to go with a very cheap, flimsy switch with a knurled shaft that accepts a press-on cap for its knob. Unfortunately, the loose knob uses a set screw that really doesn't hold the knob onto the plastic shaft of the switch as much as it causes the knob to skew. If you want to turn the lamp on with the knob attached, the knob is now rubbing against the pole of the lamp through almost 180 degrees of the switch rotation. If you pull the knob away from the pole of the lamp to avoid rubbing, the knob now can't set properly and wobbles. This also explains the skew on the main lamp switch. When I bought the second lamp, I thought that I would simply assemble it and use the first lamp for spare parts. However, this is what was wrong with the second lamp: - Even though the packing is pretty secure, the glass lamp shade was cracked slightly. Whether that was the result of shipping or the manufacturing process, I can't tell. - One of the wood spindles of the lamp pole had one of its nuts pressed into it off vertical causing that section of the lamp to tilt noticeably. Think zig-zag line instead of straight line, and that pretty much describes the assembled pole of the second lamp. - The decorative metal base of the top lamp was bent and couldn't be fully molded back into proper shape. - One of the clamp screws that holds the top glass shade ring in place was loose and wouldn't allow the wing nut to be tightened enough to prevent the shade from moving around during the rest of the assembly. - Others have reported this, so it wasn't too surprising that the main lamp switch did not work. A post mortem of the switch didn't help me identify the point of failure. I can only surmise that the electrical leads were not connected inside the switch, or the switch contacts were broken. This is what is wrong overall with the lamp design: - Aside from the decision to go with really cheap, plastic switches, there is an obvious lack of quality control throughout the manufacturing process for this lamp. The spindles are advertised as being walnut. The only thing walnut about them seems to be the stain to make them look like walnut. All the wood spindles of both lamps suffer from gouges and scrapes caused by tool handling, which show a wood other than walnut was used for the spindle material. - Usually the cheap, flimsy, plastic, underrated switches wouldn't bother me. I can just replace them with good switches if I wanted. At this point, the manufacturer decided to used threaded plugs at either end of the pole section where the switches are housed. It appears the plugs were pressed into the pole section making removal difficult at best. I was able to remove a plug by wrapping it in a few layers of terry cotton shop towels and clamping it just snugly enough in a vise to allow the plug to be unthreaded from the end of the pole section. It felt like the plug was cutting threads on removal, which is why I am guessing the threaded plugs are pressed into the pole section. - The three position switch for the two lamp sockets on the top of this lamp provide Off - Half Power - Full Power control. Unfortunately, the switch incorporates a diode for the Half Power switch setting. The result of using a diode is an obvious 30 Hertz flicker from the top lamp (60 Hertz A/C electricity going through a diode yields a 30 Hertz A/C wave). Remain in the room for an extended length of time with the switch set on Half Power and the flicker causes a headache. The only reason this lamp gets a single star is because its concept is sound, and fills a specific need for me. (Besides, selecting less than one star isn't an option available for a review.) I like having a 60 Watt reader lamp for most of my use, with the ability to get up to 300 Watts of incandescent light from the top lamp. The ability of a lamp to accept an incandescent bulb is important to me; compact fluorescent and LED bulbs emit a harsh light that hurts my eyes. Even though the wood used for the spindles obviously isn't walnut, it has the potential to still be attractive. Really, this would be a great lamp if the manufacturer would simply improve their QC process to catch the glaring flaws that are coming off their production line right now. I would also suggest the manufacturer find a better, higher quality source for all the parts in this lamp. I would venture to say that if these steps were taken, customers would be willing to pay the higher price that would have to be charged as a result of these needed improvements. In the end, I needed to buy two of these to (barely) make one working unit that didn't require anything else to be functional and would stay upright by itself. You may get lucky and your first lamp will look and work as designed after you assemble it. More likely, you will need more than one before you end up with a lamp that looks and works as it should.
