FLUORESCENT FLOOR LAMP

This instructable will show you how to make a cheap but stylish floor lamp out of 3 fluorescent standart lights you can buy in any do-it-yourself-store.
by: www.opendesignclub.com (thats me!)

Step 1 BUY THREE CHEAP STANDART NEON LIGHTS

maybe this lights are called fluorescent lights --- so buy three cheap standart fluorescent lights you can get in any do-it-yourself-store.
>>

Comments

[mdorf]

is there anyway to make this battery powered?? I am looking to use them as a prop for some photography work that I have planned, but the location is in the middle of the woods without power sources.

Any help here??

[qwerty156]

You could try High power LEDs and a 12v battery

[brooklynlord]

I do have to say, aren't the pictures a little monochrome?

[nizzo]

Maybe I missed it somewhere but where do you get the base from? It is made yourself?

Anywhere I can buy one (possibly metalic) or make one with minimal wood working tools (right now just have a jig saw and sander)

[jongscx]

Honestly, you could buy/find any piece of wood so long as it fits the 3 tubes and provides enough of a base that it won't fall over...

I suggest maybe going to a home depot or hobby lobby and wandering in the wood section looking for pre-finished disks with some decorative edge on it... get a big one for the base and a smaller one on top. maybe add some feet to dress it up or something.

http://www.mydecomart.com/mxg-0512.html

[honkeung30]

but i think using T5 florescent lamp is much save energy and brighter than using T8 or T9 florescent

[minidriver]

Everything worked perfectly. The lamp is very bright but I like it that way.
Thanks

[hamesworth]

does this plug into the wall? if so what kind of part did you get to do so? Is there a switch?

[needs_more_to_do]

Im not sure what your question is since wall plugs don't plug into anything but walls in the first place but... yes?

[btop]

haha

[Myzlplix]

This is awesome! I think I'm gonna try and build 2 of them using 36" t5s this weekend.

[shadywood]

Excellent project! I replaced the 1 1/8" T9 bulbs and fittings with much slimmer 5/8" T5 bulbs and fittings, and replaced the wooden base with three 8" steel angle brackets for a more industrial look. Thank you Opendesignclub for the idea!

[Skyriam]

Veeeery cool, congratz man.

[SiriusScrilla]

Awesome!!! Dan Flavin would be so proud... Look him up.

[shadywood]

My artist wife has been asking me to build a Dan Flavin inspired lamp for years. This project finally inspired me to get off my ass and do it.

[jovino]

I was just gonna mention Dan Flavin! :)

[GitarGr8]

This is a great idea! I'm planning on ripping the fluorescent lights out of my kitchen and was just going to throw them away. Now I will have a use for them, thanks!

[ultimachris]

saw it out of what?

[villageidiot33]

His website link has a pdf and has the details. And yeah it's wood..12mm

[jrh065]

Probably darn near anything you feel like so long as it looks good enough for your tastes and is somewhat rigid. Plywood sounds nice.

[Dr.H2O]

I think saw = wood ?
wood is suitable isn't it ?

[CrystalDyes]

This is a fantastic idea! I have been looking for a lamp to showcase a very long shade made from my own hand-dyed silk panels. The panels are about 15" wide and as long as I want them to be. I can attach them to a lampshade (specially shaped triangular "ring") and attach it to the top of this lamp! The panels are raw edged and attached to each other with jewelry-quality findings. They are lined with plain white silk panels. The one I saw done used Christmas mini-lights which I didn't really like since it was "spotty" looking. This will supply soft continous light. Thanks so much for posting this.

[pravardhan]

Very Nice Concept and Design. But, Fluorescent takes more power than LED. Each consuming 120W is too much. Instead, using a three 3W White LED on 3 sides and using a rechargeable 12V battery with a smaller design would be great. So, total power consumed is 12W. In INDIA, power outages are always and using a battery would have been better. Bye, PRAVARDHAN

[opendesignclub]

They only need 36 W each. But a small LED Version would be nice. Go ahead and build it. I would love to see your improvement.

[robobogle]

Fluorescent lighting is more efficient than LED in many situations. For any light source that you are planning on using, look at the lumens/watt. If you're using fluorescent lighting sources, try to always use T8 or T5 lamps and compatible electronic ballasts.

[jumpfroggy]

@pravardhan Just wanted to say, there are a few downsides with your suggestion that may not be obvious: 1) LED's produce a lot less light than florescents, so you'd need more than 3x 3W LED's (which would total 9W instead of 12W... the extra 3 watts would need to be wasted via resistor). I'd think you'd need dozens of 1+ Watt LED's in rows, behind translucent diffuser material (which you'd have to find, build, and test), and I'd imagine you'd still got lots of hotspots. 2) Unless you had a ton of LED's and good diffuser material, this would just be LED's mounted on a pole. Not nearly as nice as this. 3) Fluorescent bulbs like these do not typically consume 120W. That's a *ton* of light power, and x3 it'd be blinding! Normally these range from about 30W to 60W each, with 40W being the norm. So this is 40W x 3 = 120W *total* for the lamp. So this lamp is roughly equivalent to a 100W bulb (give or take). I'm pretty sure that's a miniscule power usage for a decorative lamp. 4) The cost of LED's, charger, and batteries would be a lot more expensive than this (if you were to use enough LED's to give the same visual design). Plus you'd need a lot more construction to make the LED's look like a long diffused light source. So I think your suggestion might work, but it really would be nothing like this instructable. Instead of a really unique, cheap, and easily constructed fluorescent floor lamp, you'd have an expensive, involved LED project.

[pravardhan]

LEDs have just 120 degrees of illumination. So, 3x120 degrees = 360 degrees will illuminate the entire area and power consumed will also be less. That's why i said its a great Concept & Design...! You are right about the diffuser for that long light source look. I agree...!

[opendesignclub]

Right!

[KIMBONGCHILL]

some times you build a florescent lamp, instead of an LED lamp. And you say to yourself who cares if they having rolling black outs in India. I am a building an american lamp for myself not India. This would cost a small fortune if you tried to make it with LED's. LED's are expensive. You can buy all the stuff to build a light like this for a fraction of the cost. Plus LED's would not provide the same look. I love the earth I believe on conservation. That said not everything always has to be built for maximum efficiency. Sure its great to have as much efficiency as possible, but there are cases when an LED wont do the job. You just need light without over complicating the project tiny expensive parts. Every time someone makes something cool, The energy police come in and say you could have done with LED's. Really! Maybe LED's aren't the right look. Maybe there is a budget to work with. Maybe stylistically LED's dont work. To Pravardhan, Maybe you should build a smaller version for India. and leave the big stuff to us.

[pravardhan]

Hey, we have an UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply)...! But, having LEDs and Rechargeable batteries makes it portable and can be carried anywhere. And, LEDs have just 120 degrees of illumination. So, 3x120 degrees = 360 degrees will illuminate the entire area and power consumed will also be less. That's why i said its a great Concept & Design...!

[rosenred]

Not absolutely sure but I think they are called "Wire Strip Terminals" You just twist the lamp's wires together, put them in one of the holes and turn the screw (not visible in photo, it's on the other side). Nothing fancy really. You can hide the connection using heat shrink tube or electrical tape. :)

[whyexactly]

I think you're right there rosenred, if you look closely you can see the screws in this picture. Which of course would concern me a slight bit here, as now those screw terminals are "hot." I'd use those twist on caps myself.

[jumpfroggy]

Like this: "Twist on connectors" http://www.wiringproducts.com/contents/en-us/d487.html Cheap, easily found at walmart/tool stores, etc. Agreed, I'd use twist on connectors along with electrical tape, and tuck it underneath the stand right in the middle. Rather that then try to find a rigid box to put the screw-terminals inside of. You could cover screw terminals with electrical tape, but that would be only marginally more safe than leaving them exposed... the tape could easily be damaged. I can't wait to have a reason to build something like this! Maybe for photobooth lighting? Hmm....

[Funk_D]

This is by far the most stylish thing I've seen in a long time! You should patent the design or something and sell it to a furniture manufacturer!

[quicumque]

I absolutely love this project and your photography. Love it!

[eyebot117]

Cool. I'll use black lights instead!

[luvasu]

Three UV neon lights of 60 W?... you'll need sunglasses or soon visit doctor when starting to loose sight. BE CAREFUL!

[Doubleagent]

Look here: http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/photoshop/3/3/1/22331_slide.jpg?v=1 This would be cooler though, if it was A.)More rounded. Possibly putting rounded chromed steel on there. B.)Smaller-Its a floor lamp, not a pillar. Would there be a way to make it smaller and more compact?

[luvasu]

SMALLER?. A) Use 20 W neon lamps...they are shorter than the 60W shown in the article. B) Better! .. use 8 W neon lamps, its lenght is ONE FEET including caps. Enough shorter for you?... YES you're right... light dimms at shorter lengths, but all is about the use you make of it.

[mistercrazy]

that's gonna be crazy hot in couple of hours or less. you should add some kind of cover. acrylic one maybe?