What are the hanging lights called???

I used a night light sized bulb (4 watts) and left it so that the bulb was in the neck of the gazing ball. That way all you see is the ambient glow and not the bulb itself. With the inside frosted, it works perfectly.

Tiki David has a good point. I would think it reasonably safe to use a sealed glass vessel if the light bulb is low wattage and suspended in the center of a relatively large volume, but the glass will heat up through both radiant and convection heat.

The stopper came to me one day so I gave it a try. I purchased a 4 ft piece of the electrical threaded tubing then cut it to 7 inches long, bought the rubber stopper, that was close to size drilled the center to proper size AND it did have to be shaved down a little to fit proper " to fat", then nuts & washers on either end of the stopper so when you tighten one the other holds its place and the stopper gets bigger. from there and electrical lamp end and you got the whole deal. The bulb is a 25 watt and I let it stay on for an hour or so and the lamp did not seam to hot at all. I did frost the outside of the blue gazing ball so the bulb wasnt visable and it gives off nice light but not to much. I could see leaving the bulb near the neck if wanted all you need to do is adjust the stopper, you could have the rod shorter too if wanted but these were my first so I may change it up alittle.

Great idea with the gazing balls! they look really cool and funky too! (in a good way) The "stopper" can also be purchased from home depot as an all inclusive "bottle light" kit. It comes with wiring, plug, stopper and socket and all the hardware that goes with it. It's for turning bottles into lights. The socket that comes with the set is a standard sized socket. The light setup I use in my floats looks very similar to yours.

To decrease the size of the socket for your gazing ball lights you can use candelobra sockets (the skinny ones) and hunt down the 15w bulbs at home depot. Less light and the 15w DO NOT get hot at all. Don't use x-mas tree "big light" bulbs, those things get super hot (even though they are only 4watts) IF you can, I always recommend the IKEA compact flourescent colored bulbs - no heat and they last forever.

By the way...the netting you tied for your floats is awesome! nice job!

FZ - thanks for posting that picture, I had no idea how cool your tiki bar is!!!! I'm honored to have a float hanging there! You da bomb!!!
Murph - thanks for the comps. I try and make stuff that I would buy myself, and I'm real picky about what I spend my money on and how it looks

Nice job TikiMeplus3!
You can use shoe polish to dye the cords.
I mix brown and black.

Thanks for the tip, maybe on the next one, did you mean that you combined the colors OR did you do one in brown and the other black???

I mix them.
Dye rope first, Then lay out in the yard to dry.
Then tie.

I thought so but wanted to make sure. Thanks Skip!!!

Bumping this awesome thread back up, great info here!! For those of you that have cut glass floats to install light kits (or the puffer fish, that rocks), what did you use? I've got a gazillion tools, just need to know which one to put to use :) I'm guessing you didn't drill, drilling a hole that large in glass would no doubt break the glass. I'm guessing it's a diamond-tipped blade or cutting wheel? Did you drill a small "starter hole"? Thanks for any help!

Didn't get any responses on the glass cutting question, so I went to Lowe's and checked out their options. I ended up buying a 15 buck diamond blade for my Dremel. I tried it out on some cheapo floats I bought at Hobby Lobby. I broke the first one just as I was making the final cut, but had success on the 2nd one. I tied the float with jute twine from Walmart using the link posted earlier in this thread for net tying and have to admit I am possibly the worst person in the world at tying nets :) Oh well, you gotta start somewhere! I put a 2.50 wicker basket over it as a shade and braided some more twine as a hanging strap. Hopefully my next efforts will improve from here!

On 2008-05-30 08:49, TikiTres wrote:
For those of you that have cut glass floats to install light kits (or the puffer fish, that rocks), what did you use?

I just received a couple of vintage floats for my birthday, and I too am wondering how best to go about drilling a hole for a light fixture without destroying them. Your diamond dremel blade idea sounds promising.

Any other options, like using a small diamond drillbit, then progessively drilling larger holes?

Weblog: Eye of the Goof

[ Edited by: MrBaliHai 2008-09-13 08:55 ]

On 2008-09-13 08:54, MrBaliHai wrote:

On 2008-05-30 08:49, TikiTres wrote:
For those of you that have cut glass floats to install light kits (or the puffer fish, that rocks), what did you use?

I just received a couple of vintage floats for my birthday, and I too am wondering how best to go about drilling a hole for a light fixture without destroying them. Your diamond dremel blade idea sounds promising.

Any other options, like using a small diamond drillbit, then progessively drilling larger holes?

Try these,

They are diamond hole saws you can use in your electric hand drill. Very easy to use, just keep the bit wet with water while drilling and drill lightly. Practice on an old bottle to get the feel for it. Don't breathe glass dust.

Available here for cheap. The bigger one shown here is 1" and they do have a few different sizes.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32400

On 2008-09-13 15:10, JohnnyP wrote:
Try these,

Perfect! Thanks for the tip and the link!

I finally got around to drilling holes in my fishing floats, and installing lamp kits. You can see the results below. The red float drilled perfectly, but the larger blue float had much thinner glass and I cracked a small chunk off. Fortunately, I was able to glue it back without too much trouble.

I need to find a brighter bulb for the blue float, but otherwise, I'm extremely happy with the way they turned out.

So I was just curious if you used the bit like the one in the picture w/ the link or did you go another route? I have a new cheaper 12" float that I would like to add a light too but have been scared about cracking it.. I can tell it's thinner glass than my vintage one..
Look Xlnt with all those masks and bamboo by the way... I hope to have the same
feel in the room I have when mine is finished..
thanks for any info...

[ Edited by: beachbumz 2008-11-09 15:15 ]

On 2008-11-09 15:07, beachbumz wrote:
So I was just curious if you used the bit like the one in the picture w/ the link or did you go another route?

I used a 1-inch diamond hole saw bit like the one at the link, and held the floats underwater in a large sink while I drilled the holes. The trick is to use a variable-speed drill, then apply steady pressure while drilling at slow speed to prevent the float from cracking. I think the reason I cracked the large float is that I didn't realize that the glass was thinner, and I pressed the drill a little too hard.

Thanks for that info, I think I'm going to order that bit and give it a try...

I post pics afterwards, hopefully it wont be a bunch of sea glass though...

On 2008-11-10 16:11, beachbumz wrote:
Thanks for that info, I think I'm going to order that bit and give it a try...

Don't bother ordering it from Harbor Freight. They backordered mine for 3 weeks, then just cancelled the order without any notification, so I bought my bit at a local hardware store instead.

I post pics afterwards, hopefully it wont be a bunch of sea glass though...

Good luck and drill slowly!

Hey guys float lamps look great, I forgot that I started this thread and I am glad that it has helped some and made other think about doing the same or similar. My lamps are now hanging in my bar and I will do more in the future, I now have the netting down so mabe some true floats for me next time and do it up right. Great job all!!!

You can see the floats in the front right and back left corner.

As a side note for any of you wanting really cool lighting options go to this web site and look thru the bulbs they have. Its overwhelming but you can find any bulb you want any color size or shape for reasonable prices, I have no tie's to this site I just found it while looking for colored bulbs. http://www.bulbtown.com/

double

[ Edited by: teaKEY 2010-02-02 16:03 ]

So I have been wanting to make my own float since I signed up on this site. Then I was feeling like I could go through with it back when this posting started two years ago. I knew I always could use a glazing globe and was waiting for the right globe to come along. After Chirstmas and there is a Christmas ornament thread that started I think this is the one right after I found a cheap globe. It is a after Christmas glass bulb and it was perfectly broke and no good to anyone but for me. I still had to pay the full price of a buck or two. Well that was over a year ago and I bought some cotton rope at the hardware store this past weekend and I knew even my worst try (fear of trying then) would still fulfill my wishes for tiki in Michigan.

The globe is a medium size red glass with a silver wash inside. Perfect. The info in this thread has got me 70 percent there, just need the to finish the top. Any help to make the top the right way. Hard to see tops in ball photos. Post or PM if you can. I like the dye idea there Tikiskip and will try on the next one. Plus I was thinking of letting the weather weather the ropes.

I braved a trip to ikea and found these! Already painted blue!

Add a blue light and some rope/fish netting and you got yourself a fish float lamp!

$25!!!!

On 2016-01-24 18:22, Polynesiac wrote:
I braved a trip to ikea and found these! Already painted blue!

Add a blue light and some rope/fish netting and you got yourself a fish float lamp!

$25!!!!

What is the diameter of the globe?

On 2016-01-24 23:45, TikiVato wrote:

Hey Vato!
I didn't measure them but they look to be right around 12" maybe 11" or so. Good size for the price. I didn't see any other colors other than frosted white and in all honesty by the time I saw these I had had enough of ikea.

Take care and I hope to see ya at a marketplace soon!

They're table lamps. You can put a color changing LED bulb in it to suit your mood.

Diameter: 10 "
Height: 9 "
Cord length: 6 ' 1 "

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70096377/

My IKEA has it in white and I like the idea of a color changing bulb but I'm concerned about the flat bottom.....

I use these IKEA lamps as float lamps in my lounge. You actually don't even see or notice the flat bottom when it's hung up (if you point the bottom up). I bought the white ones several years ago (the colored glass ones are a new line) and have a blue bulb inside. I couldn't get a good picture of the color with my phone, but it actually makes the float a nice aqua color when lit similar to what you see in Trader Vic's. I've been really happy with them and they were really easy to make since no holes had to be drilled. I wish they had the colored ones available when I got mine because the only downside is that you have a white globe hanging there when it's not lit up.

[ Edited by: Fugu 2016-01-25 21:22 ]

Just checked the website and those lights are available at IKEA here in Aus. Definitely going to have to get one and then just learn how to do the netting.

There’s a couple of”tutorials” available online and at least one on this forum. I’ve completed two-I like using hemp rope as opposed to the thinner jute. I also once used some heavy blue fish net ( it’s quick) but it’s difficult to get a nice tapered finish on top.
Good luck.

Here's the link I used to learn to tie them. I found the bigger the float the easier to do.
Good luck

http://batjakltd.com/id82.html

I have 200 square feet of used fishing net that I bought from a nautical shop. It would be an easy way to net up a lamp without getting callouses on my fingers from tying knots.
Somebody a while back said they dyed a basketball net brown and used it to net a globe lamp.

On 2016-01-26 10:05, tikilongbeach wrote:

Somebody a while back said they dyed a basketball net brown and used it to net a globe lamp.

Yeah, it was in conjunction with converting an IKEA lamp into what looked like a fish float lamp. I duplicated their idea with good results.

Not sure if anyone else is doing this but I bought these basketball nets from the 99 cent store in my neighborhood.

Have fun with those hil!!

Here's a link to the thread where Howland talks about how he dyed the basketball net. Just scroll down for his comment. More info about ikea globe lights to:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=26729&forum=18&hilite=Basketball

Here's two of mine that I made from the frosted white ikea globe lamps. I used the blue and yellow glass spray and have blue and yellow bulbs in them. They look REALLY good and a fraction of the cost of buying a real one. No hassle in drilling the hole either. The rope on these are not my best tied nets, but they're up and look great!

Thanks for posting a picture of your ikea globe fugu! Looks awesome!!

Here are mine in Inspiration Point:

Blue:

Yellow:

Yours look fantastic, Polynesiac! Can you get a nice, even coat pretty easily with the glass spray? I'd be afraid of creating a splotchy mess, but I love that yours are not just white when the lights are off.

Not being a handy or crafty kind of guy, this is one of those few times I've looked at one of these types of threads and thought, "Okay, I think I could actually do that..."

IKEA lights and basketball nets will be my next purchases - I HAVE to try this.

Hopechest! Go for it! I'm stoked you're inspired to try!!

Fugu - yes, I sprayed the recommended distance from the globe (12" I think) with light coats. I did maybe 2 coats. The only thing about the spray is that it fades in direct sunlight. In the picture below you can see how the color faded inbetween the rope. No biggie, really, but just an FYI

Have fun!!!

On 2016-02-10 19:31, Polynesiac wrote:
Fugu - yes, I sprayed the recommended distance from the globe (12" I think) with light coats. I did maybe 2 coats. The only thing about the spray is that it fades in direct sunlight. In the picture below you can see how the color faded inbetween the rope. No biggie, really, but just an FYI

I've thought about this process, and the painting/coloring is the challenge. But I figure that I can practice on glass jars before I try it on the final material.

For my application, I'm interested in either coloring LED bulbs directly, or creating and coloring glass "covers" which I would place over the tops of LED bulbs. Durability of the coloring is a concern, so your notes about fading in sunlight are very interesting. I wonder if a layer of spar varnish or something like that would work on glass to block UV light?

Hmmmm...

"I wonder if a layer of spar varnish or something like that would work on glass to block UV light?"

This is what the amber Shellac looks like on a light.

And I look for what I call true color glass or plastic to tie my floats with.
That is to say not painted or what I call flash colored, that is a thin coat
of factory paint or even glass sometimes as it will scratch right off in time.

Anything you put on glass or plastic will come off in time, and if the light is outside
it will just come off faster.

I did the regular frosted krylon spray on this jug then just used a light mist of regular spray paint to keep it translucent.

I bought one of these color changing light bulbs at Toys R Us. It's great! I made my floats from the white globe lamps from Ikea and with this lightbulb I can make them any color I want. The bulb does very well in the green/ Aqua/ blue range which are the colors I like best for my light. It's fun to change it up to red or yellow from time to time too.

http://t.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=61663116&eESource=CA_DF:61663116:TRUS

Try these also.

http://www.simflame.com

Good stuff!

And, tell them Bamboo Ben sent you :wink:

That is very cool! I just might have to look into that!