Introduction: Floppy Disk Lampshade

By Technohippy T-shirts & Design
About: I have struggled to come up with a label that accurately describes what I do creatively. Some days I’m a musician, some days an artist. I like to play guitars and synthesisers. I like taking photos, but genera…

My first instructable so please be kind!!

Trying to find something new to do with floppy disks, everyone has seen the pen pots and courier bags. I was determined to do something different, so here's my take on a lampshade... floppy style!

You will need 17 floppy disks
a drill and a 3 or 4mm drill bit
44 small cable ties plus some spares
a craft knife
some bag ties
scissors
pliers

1. drill extra holes in all of your floppies, flick the lock switch up to create a hole... you should have four holes in each floppy, one in each corner.

2. next remove the internal disc from the casing. a sharp knife should be sufficient to remove the metal sliding cover and split the casing without damaging anything. remove the disc and reassemble the casing, glue should not be required. if you have a handy pendant fitting you will notice that the hole that is left is almost big enough for the pendant to screw into.  You will need to cut that hole through to the other side of the disk using the craft knife. once complete try screwing the pendant fitting into it, most likely it will not quite fit so using the craft knife start shaving bits off the hole until it is large enough  to screw the pendant fitting into it.

3. layout the floppies in the pattern shown and start to tie them together loosely using the cable ties, starting with the central band of eight. once the central band is loosely connected start to tighten each cable tie, ensuring the joins between each disc are even and firm.  once satisfied all the connections are good and solid AND tight you can snip off all the excess plastic from the ties. you may want to use pliers to assist in the tightening.

4. start attaching the upper and lower floppies, again leaving the ties loose until you've fixed them all then gradually tightening them all until you're satisfied. Leave the top section and the floppy with the pendant hole until last as things start to get fiddly by this point. once all floppies are connected and the ties tightened, clip off all the remaining excess from the ties, attach to a pendant fitting fit a bulb... et voila!

Note: I have no idea if this is a safe way to connect a lampshade to a pendant fitting, I have conducted a fire test and floppy disks ignite easily when exposed to a flame and burn freely. As such it would be best to use low temperature energy saving bulbs (LED based bulbs are the best option but CEFl bulbs should also be fine) and modern electrical equipment to reduce the build up of heat. I have also tested this with a relatively old pendant fitting, there was no appreciable build up of heat over a periods of several hours.

I welcome comments from anyone who knows whether there are regulations governing this sort of thing. This is just me trying stuff out, and I welcome any input.

Office Supplies Contest

Finalist in the
Office Supplies Contest

Hurricane Lasers Contest

Participated in the
Hurricane Lasers Contest