LED Light Bulb diffuser

[Smokedaddy]

Dunno if anyone has tried this before. I did a quick search and didn't see anything using a LED bulb for a diffuser, so I figured I'd post my attempt. I was at a Goodwill-type store the other day here in Bigfork MT. I noticed they were selling burnt-out light bulbs. Some were LED type. Apparently crafty people make Christmas ornaments and other things with them. They were selling them for .25 cents apiece. So I thought they might make a good diffuser. I plan on making some precise ones that snugly fit over specific objectives I might be using (unlike the photo below). Here's my first attempt which went extremely well aesthetically. I thought some might be interested. This particular one ended up measuring 1 13/16" I.D. (about 46mm) on the bottom. Naturally, the top can be anything.

[Chris S.]

Nice contribution, SmokeDaddy! Thanks for sharing.

Must admit that steady market for burned-out light bulbs surprises me. Takes all kinds. . . .

But as you've shown here, the diffusor from a kaput LED bulb can be repurposed elegantly. Nice to know. And looking at the removed components in your photo, I have a hunch they might be fun to adapt, too.

Cutting the diffusor along a smooth, symmetrical, useful line looks challenging.

--Chris S.

[Smokedaddy]

Cutting the diffusor along a smooth, symmetrical, useful line looks challenging.

--Chris S.

Thanks. Actually cutting the TDC circle was the easiest. The problem I had was finding TDC of the sphere but I figured it out. Then I cut the bottom off and properly squared that surface. The top cutout was pretty easy. After finding TDC, I pre-drilled a hole for my hole saw drill bit size. Then inserted the hole arbor and bit into the pre-drilled hole. After that it was a piece of cake, I just turned it by hand making shallow cuts. Once that was done I squared up the surface by placing sandpaper on a granite top, turning the sphere a quarter of a turn, and sanding it. Aesthetically it looks as if it were factory-made.

[Smokedaddy]

Oh, the total height of the diffuser ended up being 1 7/16", or 36mm, face to face, if that matters to anyone.

[Smokedaddy]

I should mention, out of the 100 or so used light bulbs I only saw about 6 LED bulbs and bought them all. The crafty folks rarely use LED bulbs.

[Smokedaddy]

There are quite a few LED Bulb teardowns on Youtube but I happen to follow this guy. Some may find it interesting as well as his other chip teardown videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvb95SpdCfA

-JW:

[rjlittlefield]

That's an interesting teardown.

The Cree bulbs that I looked at some years ago were much more complicated.

--Rik

[Smokedaddy]

That's an interesting teardown.

The Cree bulbs that I looked at some years ago were much more complicated.

--Rik

Yea, I read your older posting when I was searching your site.

-JW:

[Smokedaddy]

I found another use for a LED bulb. Maybe a cup stage? All sorts of adapters could be 3D printed to fit inside the bore.

[PeteM]

I like it - a sort of mega Ping Pong ball diffuser.

[Smokedaddy]

I like it - a sort of mega Ping Pong ball diffuser.

Yea, the bulb is 60mm in diameter and a ping pong ball is about 40mm.

-JW: