Putting the finishing touches on my lighting setups...

[cschweitzer]

I don't have pictures yet, but I decided to upgrade my lighting. A while back I got a bunch of bulbs and a couple reflectors for some VHO setups I wanted to build. Well the time came to making the boxes. I used cheap pine boards that were somewhat warped and made up some boxes...they both(49 1/4" and the 37 5/8" boxes) came out as well as I could ever have hoped, especially with me, a know-nothing craftsman putting them together...

All-in-all, I used ghetto wood and a ghetto technique of putting it all together(never used a squaring tool or clamps, but instead a bunch of salt buckets, some phone books and a piece of wood, along with the glue to fasten) and came out with boxes that look like a professional made them...don't ask me how I did it, I never to craft projects well...EVER!!! But somehow these boxes were exactly what my head told me they should look like. Now all I have to do is connect the wiring to the encaps and drill a hole for the wiring to come out and I'm done...oh, and some sanding and staining/painting. I'm just hoping that my ballast and wiring harness still work. The boxes cost me $8 for the 36" and $12 for the 48" plus the cost of 1/2 a tube of glue...now the reflectors, endcaps, bulbs and ballast, that's a different story. The setups are 4X110W and 3X95W...Quite a boost from 3X95W(VHO) and 2X96W(PC) respectively.

Pictures to come when I find my camera and get home later...of course, because I'm talking about it, with my luck I'll go home to find all the wood in a pile again...

 

[tangers]

cool man, let's see them!

 

[chrisstie]

Yeah can't wait! If you need any tips on sanding let me know i've done it a little bit before on stuff (my boat, car, nightstands) and can try to help if you havent before

It sounds to me like you might have a gift not many people have.. being able to take what is in your head and make it happen without having been schooled on the path from A to B Sounds awesome!

 

[saleen00814]

yep looking forward to seeing the pics man..

 

[cschweitzer]

I got pics, but forgot my camera at home...I'll bring it to work after lunch...sorry guys.

Chrisstie, that statement is incorrect...I usually have a gift for destroying things that looked so beautiful in my head, following directions to a big pile of wood, and taking something that was made beautifully and ruining it...this happened to be really dumb luck. That is the only reason I even posted of mention to it, because for once in my life I actually didn't destroy a project I was working on.

 

[cschweitzer]

Here are the pictures as promised:
48"

 

[cschweitzer]

More of the 48"

 

[cschweitzer]

And the 36"(not completed yet)

 

[saleen00814]

looks good man...dont mean to scare you... but there is a large white weasle about to attack your lighting in one of those pics. you might wanna call someone about that

 

[chrisstie]

They look great and so does your big toe hehehe

 

[cschweitzer]

Yeah, she's always curious as to what's going on...I got her trapped, so she can't cause too much havoc...I love that little girl. She is now my best behaved ferret and she gives kisses to me whenever I hold her. The other one gives bites to me whenever I hold her. That's why the poofster in the pictures is called snowball and the biter is called Nipsy...she'll break skin and just stick there until you pry her teeth out of you...she's a nasty little bugger, but such a playful friend to snowball(the only ferret she likes) and a good little girl to me now(the only human that she can even stand, although given the chance, she'll still tear my skin to shreds...I always have to go fingernails first for her not to bite me).