Hello you fine people, I’m currently involved in a sculpture project
with my brother Steve. We are making a fountain from primarily
copper but he wants to try to find ways to light the thing for night
viewing. We’ve fairly well figured out the reservoir water lighting
from below and it will provide a certain degree of lighting from the
bottom. He wants to light it from above as well but, since it is a
commission piece and the buyer doesn’t want visible lighting
fixtures above it, we are having to rethink our options. I suggested
fiber optics running through the water source tubing. The problem
I’m having is finding a source for the fiber optics themselves.
(Related equipment as well, ie light sources and the like)
I’ve looked online and so far all I’ve found are high priced
fixtures and supplies such as those that would be used in laboratory
settings. I’ve seen lamps and childrens toys that employ fiber
optics selling for cheap prices so I know there are lower priced
options available. I just can’t seem to find them. I’d buy the lamps
and disassemble them but that’s wasteful and I need pieces that may
run as long as four feet. Has anyone out there in Orchidia ever done
anything similar and can you point me towards suppliers for such
things? I’m fairly sure we can handle the design and engineering
phases of this project and I know we can produce the requisite art
portions for it. I just need a supplier of pieces.
On another note I want to thank all of you people for your most
excellent help and advice. I’ve learned a tremendous amount of stuff
here, even about things that may not apply to a topic I’ll ever use.
I find that the knowledge I’ve gained here has proven useful to
other artists that I know and I’ve had the honor of sharing it with
several. Selfish as it sounds, it has made me much more valuable as
an advisor because of the depth of knowledge I’ve gained from you
guys. I let my friends know where I got the too so they
know where to go as well. This forum is priceless for those of us on
limited budgets and/or just starting out. I value you all and hold
you all in the highest esteem. Thank you very much Hanuman, Ton and
all the rest of you!
I just did a Google search for “fiber optics” & lighting and got a
ton of hits that seem to cover a variety of needs. Of the hits was
a book on Amazon called “Fiber Optics in Architectural Lighting:
Methods, Design, and Applications”
fibers are available at from Edmund Industrial Optics. They have
lots of neat stuff. Phone is 1.800.363.6250 in USA or
1.856.573.6250 outside the US. The url is http://www.edmundoptics.com. I found several size fibers on their
website sized from about 1mm to 3mm. They even have a “consulting”
service to help you find what fits your project.
fibers are available at from Edmund Industrial Optics
IMHO, Edmund does have lots of neat stuff, but they’re VERY
expensive. Most anything that you find in their catalog or website is
available for less$$ from another source, if you serch the WWW.
p.s. I have been buying from them since the 1950’s ! ! ! I recently
decided to give up on them, because of high prices.
David Barzilay
Lord of the Rings
607 S Hill St Ste 850
Los Angeles, CA 90014-1718
213-488-9157
I’m sorry if this is irrelevant, but the person looking for fiber
optic strands or cable might take a look at American Science and
Surplus. Sometimes thay have just what you’re looking for:
Christine in Littleton, Massachusetts
No one deserves lung cancer.