Cheap & Simple Media Projector With a Recycled Ikea Lamp

by derte84

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Intro: Cheap & Simple Media Projector With a Recycled Ikea Lamp

The purpose of the project is to recycle an old ikea lamp I have into something more stylish. In my case, I want a better decorative lamp, but with few modification you can have a slide projector (powered by leds or standard bulb) or even a video projector.

If you are interested, you can view the list of my not-yet-realized ideas on my blog

STEP 1: Materials

  • Ikea lamp (isbrytare)
  • tape
  • one ore more slides
  • 2 minutes of time

STEP 2: Assembly the Lamp

The main parts you need from the ikea lamp are: the main body, the 50W lamp, the filter holder and the lens.
Put the pieces together as shown in the photo. Now you are ready to apply your slides/lcd to the lamp

STEP 3: Apply Your Slide

Simply attach the slide to the filter holder with some tape ( do not tape over the slide).
Then adjust the position of the filter holder so that is not too close to the lamp (it will get hot!)

Take care to position the lens on the right side

STEP 4: Get Focus

 Switch on the lamp and slowly move back and forward the lens until the projected image is on focus.

You have done!

STEP 5: Improvments

 There are tons of improvments you can do:
- substitute the standard light (MR16 - 50W) with a led light
- modify the filter holder to avoid the use of tape DONE IN THIS INSTRUCTABLE
- use an lcd instead of a slide
- use a special double-layered slide to mimic the lavalamp effect

21 Comments

POSHPOODLES 12 years ago

HAY GUYS I HAVE THIS EXACT PROJECTOR LIGHT FROM IKEA WITH ORIGINAL WALL MOUNT BRACKET AND SLIDE DISKS COLOUR DISKS GLASS DISKS ETC ALL AS NEW NEVER USED. IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN BUYING IT OFF ME FOR THIS PROJECT DROP ME AN EMAIL POSHPOODLES@AOL.COM :)

greenKman 12 years ago

This step could also be accomplished using transparencies. That way you can create multiple gobo patterns and images on one page and print them out at your nearest printer. I usually make my gobos in a vector program such as illustrator, so they can be clipped to a circular form and resized easily. When doing this option, you'll probably want to have a glass piece between the bulb and the gobo.
Great instructable!

iamtoats 14 years ago

 It looks like a handheld portal device.

skywalker619 13 years ago

hahahahahaha. if u put it that way it really does look loke that way!! :D

AeroDroneWorld 13 years ago

Why dont u simly use powerful LEDs and a magnifying glass?? its a great option!!! and Effective!!

artobot 14 years ago

This is really cool, but these lamps are super hard to find these days, specially since ikea doesn't seem to carry them anymore.

mattolsend 14 years ago

Where does the lens come from.  It doesn't seem to be specified in your material list....

derte84 14 years ago

lens come from the ikea lamp :)

patlaceusa 14 years ago

With some kind of mirror system an artist could use this for projecting the image onto canvas, cloth or whatever so you can trace the objects for the correct placement and sizing  of objects. Can someone figure out how to do this?

derte84 14 years ago

 you can simply use a laser printer with transparent paper instead of slides

patlaceusa 14 years ago

What I would want is something that you can project from a picture or magazine not slides. I know you can buy them for very expensive price. I have one of the cheap ones but, you have to be in a dark, very dark room and you are limited by the size of the bulb do to the small confignment of the bulb area and the heat from the bulb. The size of the picture is limited to a very small area as well.  Also it is not a clear projection as is demonstrated in this Instructables. I think that is what I would like to overcome the most. Thanks for any ideas.

jwoodjr 14 years ago

It'd be super cool if they had these on their website, or I lived in a place that had an Ikea less that 350 miles away.

Swedes don't like Memphis.

Nice 'IBLE! Thanks for putting it up!

derte84 14 years ago

1.5 hour by car away from me 

TheOlMaestro 14 years ago

Sorry to bring this up--converting this light into a projector is a great concept--but the isbrytare lamp doesn't appear to be available from Ikea right now. No catalog listing, at least in the USA.

Still, great idea! I'd like to see what could be done with an lcd in place of the slide!

derte84 14 years ago

It's not on catalog but you can still fount these on some Ikea on sale or on ebay. This lamp is also used by photographers for DIY photo studio.

derte84 14 years ago

 next instructable will be a diy sofa, stay tuned
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