Here's how I make the bulbs. You can make them yourself or order them from me.
The set comes with two bulbs and a base. It takes a half day to make one of these bulbs. First you must saw the tip off the end of the male socket on a light bulb. This isn't too hard but it sends a cloud of glass and metal dust into the air. I built a special rig for a Dremel tool with a two inch cut off wheel years ago when Scotty York and I were making the Scotty York Lightbulbs. It was Scotty himself who showed the way to saw the end off a lightbulb. Scotty broke a lot of bulbs using his method and I break my share too but not as many using the improved Tabman Method of Sawing A Lightbub in Half.
Once you have this tip (this tip is the end that contacts the positive pole inside the lamp socket, set it aside. You'll need it later on.
Then cut another slice off the bulb's socket. If it hasn't broken yet, you must carefully break the glass "tower" that supports the fine wired filaments and extract it from the bulb. Throw all this stuff away. You will never want to see it again. Do all this while resisting the urge to rub your eyes. Even though you've been wearing eye protection, some of the dust lingers in the air. Once this second slice has been made, take the bulb over to the 1" belt sanding column and carefully grind off any burrs and smooth the edges out. A small file will work for this too.
Now pour about a shot glass full of acetone into the bulb's cavity and swirl around. This disolves the white interior of the bulb and makes it clear. You can start with a clear bulb as well but the softwhite kind are available everywhere. Rinse the bulb with soap and water and scrub the interior with a bottle brush (gently now) if necessary. Let dry. This completes the bulb part.
To make the Secret Socket, you must first obtain the female equivalent of the male screw part of the bulb. This is most easily found residing in the interior of any lamp socket. You know, the part you screw the bulb into. Buy a handful of these socket assemblies at your local electric supply.
First you've got to separate the socket from the rest of the assembly. It might involve putting the socket assembly in your drill press vise and drilling out the two rivets that hold the socket in the insulated part. Or it might be as simple as prying it out with a screw driver. Just look it over and be prepared to destroy one or two of them while you figure the exact way to separate the screw socket from the rest of the fixture. The goal is to end up with two or three of these before moving to the next step.
Now return to the bulb saw and saw a 3/8" section of the threaded part away from the rest of the socket. Keep this piece and discard the rest. Take this piece to the tower sander and carefully deburr being careful to keep from getting burned or grinding some skin off your knuckles and please, for your eye's sake, wear safety goggles while you're doing all this.
Once you have this threaded piece deburred, try screwing it on to the base of the bulb and make sure it works smoothly. Don't go to the next step until you're satisfied that the parts smoothly screw together. Once satisfied however you must remove the female piece and proceed to making it look like the original base of a light bulb.
Here's where that first piece, the slice off the tip of the bulb comes in. You must deburr it and then screw it down into the 3/8" socket slice until it protrudes from the bottom side and now looks like the screw base of an ordinary lightbulb. Once you actually see it, you will get the idea.
Once you're satisfied with how it looks glue it in place with 5 minute epoxy. When this is dry, take it to the sander once more and make sure it looks nice and smooth like the base of a lightbulb.
Get some aluminum paint and carefully paint it making sure you leave the black part of the tip unpainted as well as the center contact. Let it dry overnight. Now give it a slight rub with some four ought steel wool and screw it onto the base of your bulb. You have made your own bulb. This has to open up all kinds of possibilities to the creative performer. Just be careful. These bulbs break easily while you're working on them.
Here's a basic performance idea:
You'll need a paper bag and the bulb with the base off in the bag. Roll up a dollar bill and vanish it using the any cigarette or knife vanishing and retention move or just basically (I am right handed so reverse the hands if you're a lefty) start by holding the rolled up bill in your right hand lenghtwise between your thumb and second finger, palm down, and seemingly transfer it to your palm up left hand by laying it across the left's palm and while rolling the fingers of the left hand around it with the right and stealing the rolled up bill with the same middle finger and the heel of the palm on your right hand while moving the hand away. As you're moving your left hand presumably with the rolled up bill tucked inside up and to the left (let your face and eyes follow this hand) reach your right hand into the bag and insert the rolled up bill. The way I do it is to grasp the bill between my thumb and first finger while I'm going for the bag then grasping the bulb at the small end opening facing into my hand. I hold it with my last two fingers and get it started into the opening with my thumb and first finger. Once it's in the opening about a half inch I push it the rest of the way with my thumb holding the bulb with my last two fingers and pressing the fat part of the blub into my palm. This frees up the thumb and first finger to grasp the secret socket and quickly screw it on. This sounds very hard to do at first but a few tries will convince you that it can be done in just a few seconds. A great way is to do this with a signed bill and breaking the bulb open to reveal it's the same one. This is a real clincher.You can make several of the bulbs. The secret socket supplied with your Billzabulb kit should last a lifetime. You will develop your own ideas with this utility prop.
|
