Need to make a custom fitting for a lamp...ideas?

[KingNothing]

I've got a pole with three light fixtures attached to it. Each fixture is a standard bell-shaped shroud with a bulb inside. The opening of the shroud is 4.5" in diameter.

I want to do colored spots with the lights and since I can't find bright colored bulbs I bought a sheet of colored gel today at a lighting store so I'm going to use that with some 100W white bulbs.

My question is how to make custom fittings for my lamp so I can swap out different colored inserts quickly. My current plan is to soak balsa wood until it's soft enough to bend into a circle, stretch a piece of gel over that, and add some rubber or something to the inside to make a tight fit. At this point the balsa wood is still soaking so I don't know if the wood will become flexible enough to do that.

Another suggestion I've heard is to bend 3/8" inner diameter copper refrigerator pipe into a circle. Anyone have any other thoughts?

 

[KingNothing]

bump?

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: KingNothing
bump?

Balsa is soft enough to cut a circle out of it....I'd got with something more fire resistant though dealing with 100W bulbs and a holesaw.

 

[NutBucket]

I like the idea of using soft copper. Soft enough to form and rigid enough to keep the shape.

 

[KingNothing]

Update, looks like the balsa wood will in fact bend to the correct shape after microwaving it for half an hour. Do you all really think it's a fire hazard though?

Maybe I'll visit lowes tomorrow and snag some pipe. Can I bend this stuff with my hands or should I get a pipe bending tool?

 

[alkemyst]

copper can be easily bent and require a tool....depends on what you get/need.

Any wood, paper, plastics + incandescent bulbs can be risky or safe depending on construction. You don't want to 'seal' the bulb and you don't want to have any flamables vertically above the bulb/heat.

Å

 

[KingNothing]

I was probably going to wrap the wood up in gaffe tape to hold it together, and I've been told that gaffe tape is resistant to heat. The shrouds are vented from underneath so sealing the bulb in shouldn't be an issue.