Using AIBU for the second time!

I would send them back as not fit for the purpose and buy some elsewhere.

Trisher & MissA

Well, swivel me gimbals! (Said in a pirate voice)

I'm reeling from the discovery that opening Phoenix's link results in a page from that company which has my daughter's name and our postcode on it.

DD is currently wetting herself with laughter trying to explain to me that it's only because she's signed into that company on my laptop.

I am feeling "Catweezled" (electrickery) and very, very old

I've watched that programme a couple of times and thought 'who would buy that!!' - there was an extended sideboard with bright green ends on one programme.

But people do - and pay a lot of money for some of it.

I thought the glass bowl lamps were rather nice myself, but I wouldn't have paid £525 for them.

Thanks GabriellaG
I realise that I know what they are now but I never knew their name.

I just called it a 'lamp fitting'

Almost totally irrelevant, I know, but do any other gransnetters remember a very trendy coffee bar called 'The Gyre and Gimble' in the Charing Cross area of London that I and my friends used to frequent in the olden days when coffee bars were the places to go?

Never heard of gimbals!
You learn something new every day
Thank You phoenix
Best of luck with the lamps ?

Jalimal108 That programme never ceases to amaze me. While some of the 'conversions' are great, others are so ugly/weird that I can't imagine anyone wanting them at any price. The amounts that they sell for, too! The mind boggles. I remember Sarah cutting up an old wooden step-ladder and making rustic-looking boxes with the bits. She then planted them with a few bulbs, and sold them for a figure that was, frankly, impossible to believe.

Another 'gem' was a lamp made from an scruffy old petrol-can, which sold for several hundred pounds. I should be applying my time to doing up, and selling, old tat!

Jalima1108

It's a catchall phrase. On ships, it swivels freely, on lampshades (as in my photo) you manually move it up or down and the movement is stiff (see the two metal joins, one at either side) and it doesn't freely swivel.

Yes I noticed that Phoenix, all 3 links Blancal2 posted have absolutely nothing to do with lamps or gimbals. Was this a mistake Blancal2 ?

frankly the company you bought the lampshades from should have supplied the bit you need ,take em back and get a refund.

It is confusing because why would you want a lampshade swinging around?

At least some of us have learnt a new word (well, I did!)

Like it, Trisher

Oldwoman70
Why not keep the box for reference and order online from ebay or Amazon? Much much cheaper to buy 6, 10 or 12 at a time. Postage is usually free.

'Twas brillig and phoenix's shade
Doth lack a gimbal when t'was made
She's searched on line and on gransnet
Been sent advice but even yet
Her light's unshaded, shining bright
What should she do to get it right?

"A gimbal is a pivoted support that allows the rotation of an object about a single axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of the rotation of its support. For example, on a ship, the gyroscopes, shipboard compasses, stoves, and even drink holders typically use gimbals to keep them upright with respect to the horizon despite the ship's pitching and rolling."

I appreciate this is English but I don't understand a word!!

I find buying a light bulb confusing. These days I take the dead bulb along to my local electrical shop hand it over and say I want a new one!

Shades usually have a central swivel fitting that you can use up (for ceiling fitments, or down (as in my photo) for lamps.
Mine have always arrived complete with central fittings.
I'd send yours back and buy shades with fitting in situ and check with seller that they're complete before making purchase.

So nothing to do with that poem about things that ^ ..do gyre and gimble in the shade^? I think it's Jabberwocky.

Oh Squiffy what a perfect description

On a ship, the gimbal is a complex arrangement if brass swivels that keeps the compass steady in a high sea, thus much simpler idea uses the same principle

Hence the name

Bliddy ell im confused. I just buy mine at asda or similar and they fit with no silly extras. If they dont fit i take em back. Whats so hard about buying a lampshade

You can get shade gimbals from Amazon - just had a look at their website, and from other retailers too - does add quite a bit to the cost though! These shades look like they are meant for a hanging room light rather than a table lamp so that is probably why they need the gimbal to convert them for use on table lamps.

Hardware stores, shops or online. Input on eBay with size and order.
That is what Google is for. Qs & As.

Return it, problem solved, buy the shades locally.

I'm now, which bit is the gimbal?