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Step 2Hacking the CFL bulbs
Once I had made the shade, I wanted to see how it looked with a bulb inside. It lit up nicely but I wanted it brighter, so decided to use 2 compact fluorescent bulbs. (I've been replacing all my incandescents with these for any light I leave on for any length of time!)
I was originally going to buy lamp sockets for the bulbs, but when I Googled to see whether it was better to wire them in parallel or in series, I came across this page - funny the number of webpages with detailed discussion of CFLs that are about using them to grow weed :) - which shows how to open up a CFL to wire directly to the bulb (see halfway down that page). This means you can avoid using lamp sockets, which was good because I was trying to keep the price down, and also makes the bulbs shorter, so they sit closer to the base and don't risk sticking out the top of the shade.
I tried pulling the metal base off with locking pliers as suggested, but couldn't get it to budge - and while I was trying I dropped the bulb and cracked it. Stuck the bulb in a lamp socket to see if it worked but it was dead - well, at least it gave me a practice bulb before trying the others.
I actually found it was easier to use a hacksaw to cut through the bulb screw-thread, then once I'd cut the bottom off, I crushed the bottom with the pliers to break the glass (I guess that's what it is) to get the wire out - safety goggles probably a good idea ;) In fact it would be safer to just snip the wire as low down as you can, especially since I'm just assuming the glass stuff is non-toxic! Though I guess it would have to either be glass or at least some inert resin, because it's the insulator between the live and neutral. btw, you do want to be careful if you break the bulb of a CFL because they contain mercury.
Then I peeled off the rest of the metal using pliers, and used a small file and chisel to cut a notch in the plastic base to put the wires through (easier than opening up the ballast and drilling holes like the original page suggested, but this wasn't actually necessary in the end.)
I was originally going to buy lamp sockets for the bulbs, but when I Googled to see whether it was better to wire them in parallel or in series, I came across this page - funny the number of webpages with detailed discussion of CFLs that are about using them to grow weed :) - which shows how to open up a CFL to wire directly to the bulb (see halfway down that page). This means you can avoid using lamp sockets, which was good because I was trying to keep the price down, and also makes the bulbs shorter, so they sit closer to the base and don't risk sticking out the top of the shade.
I tried pulling the metal base off with locking pliers as suggested, but couldn't get it to budge - and while I was trying I dropped the bulb and cracked it. Stuck the bulb in a lamp socket to see if it worked but it was dead - well, at least it gave me a practice bulb before trying the others.
I actually found it was easier to use a hacksaw to cut through the bulb screw-thread, then once I'd cut the bottom off, I crushed the bottom with the pliers to break the glass (I guess that's what it is) to get the wire out - safety goggles probably a good idea ;) In fact it would be safer to just snip the wire as low down as you can, especially since I'm just assuming the glass stuff is non-toxic! Though I guess it would have to either be glass or at least some inert resin, because it's the insulator between the live and neutral. btw, you do want to be careful if you break the bulb of a CFL because they contain mercury.
Then I peeled off the rest of the metal using pliers, and used a small file and chisel to cut a notch in the plastic base to put the wires through (easier than opening up the ballast and drilling holes like the original page suggested, but this wasn't actually necessary in the end.)
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