Make an Inline Lighting Dimmer for $7.25

For filmmaking purposes, controlling how much light comes into the lens is pretty basic. Opening or closing the iris (or aperture) of the camera can control the total amount of light, but what if you want to be more selective? You might need to control light sources individually and that's where a dimmer comes in.

Simply plug whatever light you wish to dim and crank down (or up) on this very handy gadget. Made easily and cheaply with hardware store parts, this little dimmer can handle any light up to 600 watts.

If you're not a filmmaker, this gadget will still handle most of your light controlling needs.

Step 1 Parts List

These parts can be found at any hardware store (Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace) or Wal-Mart. In my experience, Home Depot has the best prices, but Wally World is known for deals on stuff you didn't even think they had.

- 6' 2 prong power cord, $1
- "Old Work" PVC gang box, $0.72
- Lid for gang box, $0.54
- Rotary Dimmer, $5

Comments

[mfolk]

This also won't work nearly as well on LED or CFL bulbs unless they are rated to dim, and even then it's not as straight forward as incandescent bulbs.

[VadimS]

This could be used to control a solder iron but I'd use a stranded socket, a double box, and a 3 wire cord to allow for an earth connection. My iron has one and I consider it an important safety feature.

[filmnuts]

Nice and straight forward Instructable. The only thing you don't mention is that using a dimmer will change the color temperature of the light produced by the bulb. The more you dim down the bulb, the lower the color temperature (more orange) the light will be. From an audio standpoint, dimmers also make bulbs hum a bit.