Don't worry, I have years of online business experience and the best security for my online transactions. Just doing this to help guys. (notice I am not charging $10 per reflector)

Note about online safety:
Be smart about the websites you buy from whether you use credit card or not. If the site looks and feels good then shoot em' and email or phone call. If they respond swiftly and professionally you are likely in good hands. Make sure sites have a means of email contact and a phone number. Look them up on a "whois" at netsol.com or the like to see if they are hiding their identity when they registered their URL. There are many things you can do. If all else fails it is TOO easy to get your CC compaies to chargeback transactions. I have had many many dishonest customers over the years that have charged back large transactions and even my contesting it didn't do anything.

That is some great advice jo for puchasing online. One note though make sure you take heed of all of jo's suggestions. I have to much experience with shady companies with excellent customer care departments. (too many folks with great people skills and bad intentions)

word!
unfortunately that makes up a VERY large chunk of people doing business online

does anyone have the new 5th element superbit or special or whatever it is? I will trade a reflector for a borrow!

Joe,

Just picked up my two Soarés at Ikea today, they look very nice. One question though: how would I go about measuring how far out my MS400 bulb should go? It's fits somewhat into the saucer section, obviously not completely. How do I know how far to put it from the bulb?

Thanks!

Now you tell me!

Well, there's an easy way to check the radius of a reflector, as long as it covers at least 90 degrees, (Which this does.)

Use a square. Align the square along the centerline of the reflector, and measure where the reflector contacts the inside lines of the square. (I have it written down somewhere, but I can't remember where...) The distance from the corner of the square that the reflector contacts is the radius of the circle, which is how far from the back you need to put the light source. Since this measures the outside diameter, this is not the distance from the inside surface, but from the outside.

I posted a picture fo the SOARE with my framing square back earlier in this thread...

Hey there! Will this reflector (napkin holder) work for the ED38 bulbs??? Is it a correct size?

Lenses are in from LL
Bulb/ballast are in
CMT529A is here today or tomorrow
Reflector needed
Lexan needed
wood...probably some needed

TIME - if anyone has some extra I could use a little more.

i find it best to do real life aligning watching the results as you move it. mm's matter. line up everything else as best you can then bring the reflector into the picture and align that.

I got My IKEA napkin holder today, and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to mount the little guy. Should I drill a hole in it and affix a screw from the back of my box? Should I make the handle useful somehow.

What has everybody else done???

I'm planning to use the handle. While a screw in the back of the reflector wouldn't harm it, IMO, the handle is just too darn convenient.

sup,

Do you have any plans on how to incorporate the handle??

I think I am going to cut the handle off when it starts to curve, then use the flat part to mount a bolt, and go from there.

I now have XL10 and Optix.
I thought the cheaper "Optix" might be better to use to sandwich the front fresnel.

Go to iReplica.com and click on accessories then DIY projector

Joe, the optix is currently 0.00....are you making money? EDIT: Nvm, you fixed it.

Hey! Joe
Just got my napkin holder, I mean reflector. GREAT doing busness with you,
three day delivery. thats fast!
It's going to be just perfect.
Thanks for the prompt service Joe.

No prob! This really is easy for me to do fast because I already have iReplica.com and a professional shipping setup in place.

Hope there wasn't any of you that wanted the XL10 I just put up too!

So what's the benefit to using Optix vs XL10? I already have a UV Filter sheet I got from Lumenlab when I ordered my lenses. It would seem to me that the Optix with a UV sheet is the better way to go, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I'd like to order it tonight or tomorrow.

I just left home depot with my piece of xl10. I was wondering the same thing. The optix was much thicker and a lot more sturdy than the xl10. I also already have a UV filter. I just was very surprised how flimsy the xl10 was. I am thinking "this thing is going to block all that heat". Home depot only has one thickness of xl10.

The OPTIX is not to block the heat, it is to block the UV radiation from the light.
To block the heat you need a piece of glass with IR reflective coating or a cold mirror. I hate to say this but LL's competition (DIY Projectors) carries IR coated glass.

Hello Where can i get the Eye lamp at??

A web search for M400SX should turn up several results.

thanks brain. I have to tell ya man im hooked on this idea gonna hope to put one together in about a month

I work in a pizza shop and someone broke one of our ladles and I think i`m going to try to polish it up soon. Here is what it looks like, although this one is only 4oz. The one I have is 12oz.

sorry about that I don`t know how to post a link correctly yet!

Just ordered the guide less than a week ago and ordered parts yesterday from LL. I ordered the standard lighting kit for my first 15" projector.

Would like to do something like the nice CNC jobs out there, but we will see, although I did see one that incorporated HAAS' design using handtools????? D'OH!

Question: Will the nick'nack from IKEA work with the S400DD lamp well or is there another standard that is working well for people.

Thanks,

dn

The Ikea napkin ring will work well with the S400DD which a lot of people have started using.

has anyone found a good reflector for the 1023 S400DD Lamp and if so where can i get it and do you have any pics??

just got my ikea reflectors £2.50 for 2 in the UK

I need some IR glass, whats their site? Don't come up on google???

PM'ed ya Fly..

I don't know if we should really be posting competitor's websites, but since Lumenlab doesn't carry IR filtering glass...

http://www.diyprojectorcompany.com/catalog...&products_id=80

The only thing is, while the glass is more or less reasonably priced, their shipping is outrageous. If I were to buy it from them the shipping would be more than the item. You're probably better off buying it locally.

Hence the PM... Oh well.

Looks like you posted when I was still typing my response.

Woo Hoo I just finished reading this whole thread and i can say it was very informative to me as im a idiot lol. Gonna get those napkin rings from joe as soon as i get paid. but i dont know if i should use the LX10,Optix or just use the tempered glass??

Tempered glass is ideal if you can get it.

Call your local glass dealers if you want tempered glass. I have about 4 in my area and the second one I called said they can order it and it'd be about 2 weeks before coming in. The cost is quite a bit (27.00) for me for a 12x15 piece. I am thinking about using LX10 because of the price plus it has uv protection built in.

Is there any IR coated glass with decent light transmission?

I've bumped into one or two that claimed only 70% light transmission, which seemed pretty low to me...

Ive read most of this thread.

Is it possible to cut a mirror without ruining it?

If so wouldnt this be an good solution:



Concave $53.50

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What about this thing?



Mirror, Miracle, 140 mm $56.50

The norpro was 15.9 centimeters in diameter, this comes close, will bulbs work with this?

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Its a little pricey but I think a true mirror would yield some really birght final image.

I believe the miracle mirror is made of plastic now, so it's a no-go. The concave mirror won't work because the reflector must be spherical to maintain a point light source. I tried to figure out ways to make a parabolic or ellipsoidal reflector work but they all hinge upon having a precondenser lense, which would require special engineering for our purpose. We'd have to have one custom made and that's pretty expensive stuff. Brain is working on it, but it's a slow process. Until then, we have to stick with spherical reflectors.

What is that first thing ? I would bet that the second pic is made of plastic and wouldn't take the heat. There were posts a long while back.

this thread is so damn long i cant even remember the beggining of it now.

well i still need a reflector, and id like something proven to work as well as the norpro.

is this ikea thing good?

The scrubby holder is proven, you can search for the words "scrubby holder" in these forums for a link to buy it.

You can order your IKEA napkin ring from Joe: http://www.ireplica.com/?page=shop/browse&...63a64b4cf292bd&
Thats where I got mine.

I attached a doc showing info I have been meaning to share with you all for quite a while. It shows the best tweaked bulb position and focal point I have found. That position gave me the best balanced brightness and whiteness. It is very difficult to get balanced bright white top to bottom with our setup (as I am sure you all have noticed)

I've been talking to a lighting company that has, get this, AN ACTUAL ELLIPSOIDAL REFLECTOR DESIGNED FOR HID LIGHTS! They don't sell these spearately on a retail consumer direct level so I am trying to work out some sort of buy. I will keep you all posted. It is aluminum with an optical coating (no cold mirror, UV, or IR blocking properties). It is a little big, but man o man it is a real elliptical reflector made for our bulbs (with a socket too!)... I'll sacrifice size for that any day.
So I am guessing we'll have to use a condensor on this baby? I guess only experimentation will tell.

You wouldn't need a condenser if the focal length were correct and the beam angle matched the expected angle from the condenser fresnel. Basically the second focus of the ellipse would become the 'point source'. The problem with big reflectors is the focal lengths tend to be long and it would add like 2' to the rear of your box to set it up as such. The ellipsoidal reflector I was working on is small, and requires a small lamp but it would add only an few inches to overall length. Sadly the lamps are about $200 and burn out after 2000 hours, sound familiar?

Sounds very familiar
Thats what I guessed about the need of a condensor. Thanks for input
The focal point is right in front of the reflector opening.
Personally, I am willing to pay with a little more length. I am thinking creatively that the reflector assembly would be the only thing exposed on the rear with neatly tube routed power wires going back into the PJ. I think with the contruction of the base/socket area that air can be vented there and pushed through the front of the reflector. This reflector also allows easy bulb changes.
Gotta get my hands on one to really check it out.

Ellipsoidal, yes please. Efficiency is the name of the game. Would a mirror design, to cut down on length, work or help with the light engine? Like say where the focal point of the elliptical reflector is? I have been eyeballing these reflectors that stores use for lighting. Well as long as I can before I see nothing but red spots.

Yea joe I think the optimal distance is around 210mm Looks about 210mm to me in your pic. This should be added to the next guide cause the 220mm figure is out the window.