Toughened Coloured glass

[djweeble]

Does anyone know where I can get hold of Hi Temp coloured glass ?

 

I built a small lighting system on the cheap for some local guitar hero's using 16 common or garden halogen floods downrated to 200W tubes.

 

The problem is the gels, they are only good for one nights performance, they've invariably melted by the end of the set so they have to be replaced every gig. They are fitted external to the lamps, but the heat still works its way through and melts them.

 

These guys are on the rock n roll (dole), and fighting to suppliment what Mr B.Liar and Co tell them what they can survive on, so they really need to keep as much money as possible from every gig, and obviously coloured glass would save them a fortune in the long run.

 

So, hi temp coloured glass, or even coloured K7 tubes, anyone know of a supplier ?

[Jivemaster]

Terralec (.com) did once sell coloured glass fronted fittings, give them a call.

[Techie]

There used to be a company down in Rochester, Kent that specialised in manufacturing custom sized coloured glass and dichroics.

 

Only word of warning would be is that its not a cheap venture to have to go through. I had to have a set of custom dichroics made once and it cost £15 glass.

 

When I remeber the name of the company I'll forward on the name

[henny]

try glass paint , it may take a few coats to buid up the desiered colour, but at £4 ish a bottel you should get quite a few lamps per bottel,

ian

[Guest lightnix]

Not sure whether glass paint will take the heat - the decorated bulbs you buy at craft fairs, etc. are usually only 25 watts.

 

I'd be cagey about glass in general, also for heat reasons (and safety). It's going to take a long time to cool down after the gig and unless you get something heat resistant, it's probably not going to last. I think it will wind up even more expensive than gel in the end.

 

But don't take my word for it, have a look at this list of glass suppliers I just found. There are a couple of links to other pages at the bottom and I'm sure someone there will be able to give you sound advice.

 

An alternative solution might be to see if you or someone can knock up some kind of stand-off colour holders, which can be attached to the lamp housing and which will hold standard gels a few inches clear. You could maybe fashion them from bits of coat hanger wire.

[henny]

Not sure whether glass paint will take the heat - the decorated bulbs you buy at craft fairs, etc. are usually only 25 watts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

you bake glass paint for 4 hours at 220c to set it , so it should stand up to a 200w lamp

[the kid]

I thought that if they were garden ones they came with coloured covers in plastic.

 

You could try some perspex in front, although it might casue it to burn more and smoke etc etc.

[SceneMaster]

I thought that if they were garden ones they came with coloured covers in plastic.

 

You could try some perspex in front, although it might casue it to burn more and smoke etc etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That would probably melt, Perspex being like acrylic which goes floppy fairly quickly as soon as it is put near a strong heat source.

[the kid]

If im not misstaken acrylic melts at 260degrees c

[MartinT]

If your going to the expense of buying coloured glass - surely it would be cheaper to buy Par 56's? The problem would be solved.

 

You might consider that by changing the glass or any other modifications you are technically invalidating the CE mark

[the kid]

I'm not sure but could a shotnosed p16 do the same job, or would the beam be to small?

[djweeble]

Thanks for some of the ideas guys, and lightnix, thanks for the link.

 

I managed to track down a company named Piper Toughened Glass, that will do exactly what I need, and not too expensively as well (so they say). They are getting back to me with a quote later today.

 

Tekkie, PAR 56's would be the obvious solution if the glass is too expensive, but at the moment we are just trying to find a work around for what they already have. Another thing the band were a bit worried about was the cost of replacement lamps in PAR 56's, round here (West Wales) you'll pay well over £20 a lamp, as the only suppliers in this area are Newey and Eyre or City Electrical Factors, and lets face it, they don't exactly specialize in this stuff ! K7's on the other hand can be bought almost anywhere, for as little a a quid !

 

The CE mark, well, I don't think these guys are too concerned over that, although I can see your point.

 

Tell you what though, this might be a bit of a "knock together" but the effect is brilliant for the cost, and a few other bands around here have expressed an interest in getting hold of the same sort of thing, I might have myself a little business opportunity on the horizon, we'll see how it pans out :blink:

[ianl]

I have a load of floods running 300w lamps with toughened glass, really bad idea,

 

firstly dont replace the safety glass in your floods with coloured glass

 

I have "wet lights" which are basically a garden flood with a gel frame runner welded on the front which the colured glass fits in

 

I thought it was a great idea but :

 

the heat resistant toughened glass was £35 per flood

 

its a pain to changre the lamp as I have to get the glass out the runner andd it tends to stick

 

all the deep colours like purple, green and red all shattered fairly soon after turning on,

 

you can't use them on the floor pointing up as this gets too hot and shaters

 

if rigged overhead I would stronly sugest a wire mesh to catch the bits if they do crack

 

the company who supplied the glass sent me another piece of clear heat proof glass to insert between the light and the coloured glass but theres no way you can fit it in

 

anyway I've got nearly £500 worth of pretty broken glass bits and some floods coloured in wishy washy colours for my bright idea

[bruce]

Tell you what though, this might be a bit of a "knock together" but the effect is brilliant for the cost, and a few other bands around here have expressed an interest in getting hold of the same sort of thing, I might have myself a little business opportunity on the horizon, we'll see how it pans out :blink:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You should be aware that by changing the glass on one of these units, it could end up running considerably hotter.

 

Also, as discussed on another thread, apparently typical "garden" halogen units aren't rated for indoor use, because they get so hot...

 

Having said that, I've done similar things, using bulldog clips to hold a "curved" gel a few cm away from the glass, and they work well, bearing in mind that the fittings are less than a fiver each!

 

Bruce.

[ocfe]

Here's a company to try:

INSTRUMENT GLASSES, ENFIELD

Tel: 0208 804 3766

 

Very helpful in the past.