Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Home-made Lamp Terminator

This is topic Home-made Lamp Terminator - Problems!! in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Cathal Griffin (Member # 5166) on 12-03-2009, 11:32 AM:

Hi Guys,

I've got a local engineering crew to build me a lamp terminator. It turned out looking perfect but will not actually break any lamps :-). I'm guessing that I need to get a different tip to the piece that puts pressure on the lamp but thought I'd put it up here before I go any further. Any ideas?

Here's a pic so you get what I mean.

At the moment, the threaded bar is wound down and puts a crushing force on the lamp. I've tried it with a 2k OSRAM lamp but it just seems to scuff the lamp. The lamp isn't moving around or anything, it just seems to hold under the pressure.

Cheers,
Cathal

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 12-03-2009, 11:47 AM:

Damn, what we won't do to have fun! Awesome project, Cathal! How about changing the contact point with a sharp pointed impailer rather than the flat one. Same pressure, only concentrated at a smaller point might be more effective. Or, instead of screwing down the impaler, how about letting impaler shaft slide freely up and down. Spring load it so it stays up, then you can whack it down with a hammer. Hopefully you have enough room in the box for there to be enough space for the impaler to move up and down between the bulb and the top of the box.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 12-03-2009, 12:19 PM:

Perfect! Louis

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 12-03-2009, 12:25 PM:

Comment deleted (redundant with Frank's post).

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 12-03-2009, 01:16 PM:

Very ingenious device, but why bother? I have had no problems with taping the bulb up in its box and throwing it against a wall. [Smile]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-03-2009, 01:18 PM:

But there are so many FUN ways to destroy a bulb!!! After all, nothing beats keeping a 6K handy while driving in traffic. [Razz]

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 12-03-2009, 01:19 PM:

The flat tip will be spreading whatever force the screw is putting on the lamp across a fairly large area.

Change the flat tip to a pointed one (preferably hardened) and I'd reckon it would work OK.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 12-03-2009, 01:23 PM:

Brad's right of course.. and another fun one involves the bulb, an open space and the firearm of your choice.... [thumbsup]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-03-2009, 01:31 PM:

oooooooooooooooooh, that one is a favorite. It comes with an added bonus, if you miss you still win! [Big Grin]

Posted by Cathal Griffin (Member # 5166) on 12-03-2009, 01:32 PM:

Cheers for the advice guys, back to the drawing board I guess. Thankfully, the tip just screws off so not that big a mod to sharpen it. I'll keep ye posted.

Regarding the reasoning behind this, we've got some pretty tight health and safety rules at our cinema. I would never let my projectionists out screwing around with lamps... we've all seen the videos on youtube and I don't fancy trying to explain myself when something goes wrong. When this eventually works it'll all be contained nicely.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 12-03-2009, 04:21 PM:

Just build in some non-conductive mounts and run 80A through the bulb while in that box with no ventilation. I'm sure your lamp will explode in no time! [Big Grin]

--jhawk

Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 12-03-2009, 06:24 PM:

This reminds me, I know of 2 old IMAX bulbs. Wonder what that would look like dropped off a roof? [Big Grin]

Or does anyone have a better idea for these monsters?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-03-2009, 06:42 PM:

Someeone should make those and sell them! BRAD..... [thumbsup]

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 12-03-2009, 07:03 PM:

How about dispensing with the threaded rod all together. Just get a rod that is only large enough to slip through the hole. Put a cross pin in it to keep it from coming out if you like. Sharpen the end of the rod to a point.

Then put the lamp in the box, close it up and hit the rod with a hammer. Bang! Busted lamp!

This is similar to how we used to break them at Cinemark. We'd put them in the cardboard box and poke a large Philips screwdriver through the cardboard until it contacted the glass. Then one sharp crack with a hammer busted the lamp and we simply tossed the whole box in the dumpster.

BTW: I have shot xenon lamps with bullets. It's a pretty spectacular explosion. Pieces of glass and metal can fly several yards!

An air rifle won't break a xenon, even from close up. There's just not enough mass in the projectile. It just goes, "Tink!" and bounces off. It barely leaves a mark.

A .22 cal standard velocity will break a xenon lamp easily even from distances of over 75 yards. Never shot one at 100 yards. It's too hard to see the carnage.

I've also tried it with a .223 cal. but it's no different than the .22 LR.

One thing I haven't tried yet is a .54 cal. muzzle loader. That ought to be fun! But shooting flintlocks is just fun by itself.

One of these days I'd like to get out the video camera and make a movie of a xenon lamp being shot by a bullet.

Too bad I don't have a hi-speed camera. [Shrug]

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 12-03-2009, 07:16 PM:

1. Put the bulb in the box;
2. Close and latch the box;
3. Do not tighten the pressure screw;
4. Throw out of a third floor window onto concrete (if this doesn't work, keep going up a floor each time and throw until it breaks or you can't find it.) [beer]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-03-2009, 07:43 PM:

Ahhh, But make them out of thick lexan so you can see it explode!!!! Now that would sell...

Posted by Michael Voiland (Member # 5386) on 12-03-2009, 10:10 PM:

I would suggest something like this (this being my crude drawing done in ms paint) the bulb might roll if you use a tip without a way to keep the tip under pressure. This will allow the bulb to center under the sharp tip.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-03-2009, 10:43 PM:

Ship them over to Japan. They will make a game show out of throwing them at each other. [thumbsup]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-03-2009, 10:46 PM:

Brad, that's really funny...oh, AND TRUE! [beer]

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 12-03-2009, 11:32 PM:

Might your local engineering crew be able to build a booth-monkey terminator box?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 12-03-2009, 11:42 PM:

Nah, they'll tell you to just tape the box up and heave it against a hard surface..like down a staircase...doesn't cost anything.

..and busting big 6k bulbs, one can actually feel the concussion when those big things popped....

..and you still had fun doing it...

-Monte

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 12-03-2009, 11:47 PM:

Aw come on Monte - no booth monkey replies from you?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 12-04-2009, 03:51 AM:

Nope ... but been around some cinemas where they definitely flourish .. and it's a pretty sad thing to see, like "how on earth does these locations function with all of these "gomer pyles" running around..

..oh wait, management and some owners act like them as well..

..oh wait, booth clowns don't pop bulbs-too scared to even think about it. They just put them in a stockpile located in the storage room waiting for the techs to come around to do the task of getting rid of them.

-Monte

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 12-04-2009, 08:23 AM:

Yeah... then we get to have all the fun!

Where do you think I got all my "targets" from? [evil]

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 12-04-2009, 08:43 AM:

No Brad, ship them to China via the post office, they will just disappear. I currently have a couple of 8k bulbs somewhere between here and China that no one can seem to track or tell me a close proximaty to where they are!

When I used to service the local theaters here, about 40-50 screens at the time, I started saving the used bulbs. If I remember correctly, Tungsten was close to $5 a pound. So I had stockpiled quite a few bulbs that I never did anything with. After I left, I hear from the tech that took over, that he and others took all of the bulbs up to the roof, took them out of the cases, and placed most of them in one big box and dropped it behind the building.

I'm guessing it was pretty awesome, because he couldn't stop laughing as he was telling me the story.

The tungsten was never recovered [uhoh]

Posted by Cathal Griffin (Member # 5166) on 12-04-2009, 08:48 AM:

Been back testing this morning and have cracked the problem. Quite simple really. What I'm doing is placing the lamp in the box, cranking the bar down until there is pressure on the lamp, then hit the top of the threaded bar a crack with the hammer. There's a nice little bang, and another bulb is gone.

Might just put a head on the top of the bar to stop it getting too damaged but no other changes necessary.

Now, where's the patent office.....

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 12-04-2009, 09:51 AM:

I just love it when a plan comes together! Louis

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-04-2009, 10:20 AM:

quote: Cathal Griffin
Been back testing this morning and have cracked the problem.

Good line!

Posted by Michael Voiland (Member # 5386) on 12-04-2009, 12:10 PM:

Glad to hear you have a new cannon firing mechanism.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 12-04-2009, 01:10 PM:

quote: Cathal Griffin
cranking the bar down until there is pressure on the lamp, then hit the top of the threaded bar a crack with the hammer

..but, that's no fun in doing that. It's more fun throwing them down (in the taped up box) the stairs just behind that cinema's booth clown when he's heading downstairs an see how high they can jump when it explodes behind them... [Big Grin]

Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 12-04-2009, 03:10 PM:

Several weeks ago I was having a clear out at a Cinema I cover as Projectionist and had the Pleasure to dispose of 25 old Xenon Lamps that were lying about every where.

All I simply did was to place 4 at a time in their sleeves and placed in a old Film Transit Box and threw against a wall in the Bolier House and after I extracted all the Tungsten metal and when the Scrap price rises again will be down the scrap yard as it must be over 5kg I have now [Smile]

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 12-04-2009, 10:23 PM:

quote: Monte L Fullmer
It's more fun throwing them down (in the taped up box) the stairs just behind that cinema's booth clown when he's heading downstairs an see how high they can jump when it explodes behind them

Now THATS funny [Wink]

Posted by Ed Alvarado (Member # 2760) on 12-10-2009, 06:06 AM:

that looks like a cool item to have but it takes the fun out of destroying the bulbs.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 12-10-2009, 07:32 AM:

quote: Richard Hamilton
The tungsten was never recovered

So does the Will Rogers org collect tungsten now the way they used to collect copper drippings? In the one booth still running carbons, I collect the copper just out of habbit. Maybe one day I will ship that box of drippings to Will Rogers Institute to see if any of them up there even know that they used to collect that stuff by the tons.

Posted by Paul J. Neuhaus (Member # 3205) on 12-14-2009, 12:32 PM:

Michael,
I'm no artist but that looks like an angry third grader got a new box of crayons!! [Wink]