Makeshift Light Cover Bracket

While cleaning a heavy ceiling light cover, I broke the bracket that held it in place. The part that broke was brazed in place and was frankly pretty flimsy to begin with so I couldn’t just glue it back together with epoxy or super glue. The local home and appliance store stocks only full light units and not individual fixtures like the part I needed. If I bought a new unit, not only would that set me back $50, I’d have part of an old light set to dispose of. So as not to create more junk for the environment and save a few bucks, I decided to make my own part.

After hunting around the appliance store a bit, I came across a metal bracket that looked like it could be fastened into a replacement part. The bracket is supposed to be used to join pieces of wood together, but I figured it could be bent into a shape to hold the light cover. The best part? It cost only $1!

Using two pair of pliers and a lot of muscle, I was able to bend the bracket roughly into the shape I needed.

A quick test fit on the lift cover showed it fit very nicely.

I was afraid I’d have to make the screw hole bigger to fit on the light base, but a quick test show it fit perfectly.

After spraying on some black paint, the bracket was done!

The bracket went in without a hitch and the light cover was back in place. It doesn’t really match the look and feel of the original bracket, but I saved bunch of money and there was no junking up the environment.