idleprocess
Flashaholic
After pouring over deadrx7conv's excellent index thread (I can only imagine how much effort went into compiling that list!), I've realized that building functional fixtures isn't a problem for most of us ... but making them somewhat presentable is.
I see two common approaches:
Repurpose an existing fixture
-OR-
Make that 2.00" x 0.125" barstock as pretty as possible (or hide it somehow)
I have a problem with designing a decent-looking fixture myself and have tended towards the second approach. I have a long-languishing project that uses frosted plex diffusers sized 2" larger than the barstock in all directions mounted on standoffs ... and the longer it sits the more I realize it's just not going to cut it aesthetically in public areas in addition to its decidedly un-fun installation sequence. Here's a mock-up (before I re-cut the plex to be square).
I had considered going with some conventional flushmount fixtures for incans / CFL's, but those are both enormous, dependent on a J-box in the ceiling that I don't want to install, and will have poor-at-best thermal characteristics.
Is there any easy way to solve this problem short of obtaining and learning how to operate a mill and/or lathe? The fixtures I built for my more recent (and actually completed) outdoor lighting project work better, but aren't much prettier (and stay out of sight anyway).
I like those fixture a bit better in the sense that they're smaller and capture the stray light from the side (which is a bit painful to look at on my interior lighting from the wrong angle).
Perhaps I'm just not being imaginative enough. I have some ~2.5" OD / 0.25" wall clear tubing that I could experiment with as an alternative means for diffusing the LED if I could devise a means to neatly cut it in half lengthwise, but relatively little of it and no access to more.
This project seems to make the most of barstock - and with some brushing would look really nice. Loses some effective lumens from the ceiling bounce but also diffuses nicely and seems to achieve some aesthetics through economy of design.
Where am I going with all of this? I'd like to design some secondary lighting that can light a room with enough light to navigate, perhaps read a book by with a handful of watts per room - operated from DC, which might some day be fed by solar. These fixtures should be fairly low-key but also be pleasing to the eye should I need to sell the house someday or eventually have other occupants. No fans, no bare LED's, and diffused light. They don't need to be miracles of lumen extraction nor efficiency. The LED equivalent of the (apparently now-discontinued) Lithonia Cirkel would be grand, but that might be a bit much to shoot for.
I see two common approaches:
Repurpose an existing fixture
-OR-
Make that 2.00" x 0.125" barstock as pretty as possible (or hide it somehow)
I have a problem with designing a decent-looking fixture myself and have tended towards the second approach. I have a long-languishing project that uses frosted plex diffusers sized 2" larger than the barstock in all directions mounted on standoffs ... and the longer it sits the more I realize it's just not going to cut it aesthetically in public areas in addition to its decidedly un-fun installation sequence. Here's a mock-up (before I re-cut the plex to be square).
I had considered going with some conventional flushmount fixtures for incans / CFL's, but those are both enormous, dependent on a J-box in the ceiling that I don't want to install, and will have poor-at-best thermal characteristics.
Is there any easy way to solve this problem short of obtaining and learning how to operate a mill and/or lathe? The fixtures I built for my more recent (and actually completed) outdoor lighting project work better, but aren't much prettier (and stay out of sight anyway).
I like those fixture a bit better in the sense that they're smaller and capture the stray light from the side (which is a bit painful to look at on my interior lighting from the wrong angle).
Perhaps I'm just not being imaginative enough. I have some ~2.5" OD / 0.25" wall clear tubing that I could experiment with as an alternative means for diffusing the LED if I could devise a means to neatly cut it in half lengthwise, but relatively little of it and no access to more.
This project seems to make the most of barstock - and with some brushing would look really nice. Loses some effective lumens from the ceiling bounce but also diffuses nicely and seems to achieve some aesthetics through economy of design.
Where am I going with all of this? I'd like to design some secondary lighting that can light a room with enough light to navigate, perhaps read a book by with a handful of watts per room - operated from DC, which might some day be fed by solar. These fixtures should be fairly low-key but also be pleasing to the eye should I need to sell the house someday or eventually have other occupants. No fans, no bare LED's, and diffused light. They don't need to be miracles of lumen extraction nor efficiency. The LED equivalent of the (apparently now-discontinued) Lithonia Cirkel would be grand, but that might be a bit much to shoot for.