Materials to Make Your Own Theater Lights

Household flood lamps can work well in homemade theater lights.a broken lamp image by Ivan Hafizov from Fotolia.com

Making theater lights can be a good project for theater students, but bear in mind that homemade lighting will not have the precision of commercial lighting instruments, which are manufactured according to strict specifications that enhance the brightness, beam control and dissipation of the heat produced by the lamps. When making your own lights, consider what kind of precision you need from the light and choose your supplies accordingly.

Bases and Lamps

Lamp bases, or sockets, are necessary for any light fixture. When making theater lights, make sure you choose bases that are UL listed, which means they have been tested for safety. The socket you choose determines the type of lamp you can use in the fixture. Theater lights use specialized lamps that can use up to several thousand watts of electricity, but these also generate a large amount of heat. For homemade instruments, stick with lower wattage lamps to avoid heat hazards. If you have a small theater, consider using 150-watt household flood lights, which require a simple household lamp base, known as a medium screw base. Bases and lamps can be purchased through theatrical supply stores (specialty types) or home improvement stores (household types).

Every light needs a housing, which is the physical part of the lighting instrument that most people see. The purpose of the housing is to hold the socket, lamp, reflector and lenses (if applicable) in place and help direct the beam of light where you want it--in this case, toward the stage. Housings must be made of heat-resistant nonflammable materials, such as aluminum or steel, and can be as simple as a coffee can or tube of sheet metal.

Reflectors are the primary part of a lighting instrument for directing the light toward your stage. Parabolic-shaped reflectors produce a soft beam, such as that found in parabolic aluminized reflector--or PAR--stage lighting instruments. Ellipsoidal reflectors can produce a harder, more controllable beam of light when combined with lenses to refract the light and bend it into a hard-edged circular shape. Spherical reflectors, which are shaped like the inside of half a sphere, create a soft-edged round beam of light. The reflector is placed at the back of the housing, behind the lamp, so it can direct the light out the front of the housing.

The base of your light must be wired to accept electricity, so three-wire cable (at least 12 gauge), wire nuts or a soldering iron and shrink tube, and some type of male connector plug are necessary. If you are plugging your homemade lights into a professional dimming system, stage pin or twist-lock connectors will most likely be needed. For household circuits, Edison plugs (also called U-ground) are the necessary connectors.

Theatrical lights need some way to hang in the proper position, so a metal U-shape, known as a yoke, is generally necessary, as well as C-clamps for clamping the yoke to where you want the light to hang. If you are planning to color your lights, you will also need gel clips to hold color filters (gels) in front of your light. One-hole plumber's strap can work well as gel clips when bolted or riveted to the front of the housing, using one piece of strap on each side of the light's mouth, and one on the bottom, just like the gel clip placement on commercial lighting instruments.