UKH

UKC hive mind, unleash upon me your creative juices! 

For years I've wanted to make my Dad a fun art piece. When I was a kid we always used to collect beach glass, and I want to make a display of it all for his birthday next month. I envision a glass vase with a bright led bulb in the centre so I can fill the vase full of the beach glass and at night he can turn it on and get a lovely coloured light eminating. 

I've never found anything that could be suitable. I cant drill glass and they don't really make anything for this purpose that I'm aware of. If you had any *bright* ideas to get a bulb wired into a vase I'd appreciate it!

What about some kind of self-contained solar led light - the sort that gather solar power during the day and come on at night? I have a security light that does this (well, it would if it wasn't broken). No wiring to worry about then.

Try item number search on the @&£): bay    234689217256

Battery powered string LED lights, battery back obvs outside the vase and wire has to come out of the top. 

My wife made this, it’s been in the garden a good few years. Glass collected from the East Sands (St Andrews). It’s a ceramic floor tile, layer of cement. You could do a mosaic, of his name, birth sign, whatever. Have a small spot light shining on it (or a solar powered light near it).  

I have recently been wondering about drilling a particular glass bottle in order to convert it to a 240V lampshade. Googling now, there are lots of on-line suggestions about how to successfully do that. Possibly worth a try.

A quick google of "Drillbits for Glass" will give you a bunch of options to drill glass with, probably best to experiment on a scrap bit of glass of a similar thickness first. Also LED strip Lights will produce less a fair bit less heat than an LED Bulb.

Have you envisaged building a kind of "igloo" out of your variously coloured "sea lights" using quick set epoxy adhesive?  you could then arrange the cavity to suit your light source.

I was pleasantly surprised how easy drilling glass was. Use the right bit, plenty of water and patience. Not broken a single piece so far

Fit and drill a lid then mount it upside down on a stand?

If you’re feeling crafty you could use WS2812b “smart LEDs” and stick an Arduino in the base to let you change where the light comes from and its colour/brightness.

As others have said, yes, you can drill glass. Get a diamond-tipped bit from your local DIY or tiling shop and take it slowly. The awkward bit is starting off, unless you have a drill press - you can get suction jigs to guide it, but they only really work on large, flat surfaces. Best to start with the drill at a slight angle to start a groove and then ease it upright, or just use an old bit of wood with a guide hole in it.

This sort of thing would do the job I think.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mason-Jar-Art-Lanterns-Christmas/dp/B07FJLMNXS

It's solar rechargable, but if it was for inside you can just use an AA battery I think.  The lid comes off so you could fill it with the glass.

As others have said, do a search for glass drills, they exist and they work. There are also loads of online craft tutorials on cracking glass vessels, either scoring first or using heat, it's easier than you might expect. If you're going to sandpaper or stone the cut edge, do it wet.

That said, I think you need to think about the heat. You either need to have the vessel properly open top and bottom (like a wine bottle lampshade, you cut the bottle base off) or you need a lower power lamp. Mains LED bulbs run right on the edge of cooking because that's cheap, they need convective cooling to survive.

LED string lights would produce a different effect and not get hot. If you used an upturned Kilner type jam jar you wouldn't even need to drill the lid, just pop the disk bit out.

jk

I'd get a high quality clear acrylic vase.  Much easier to drill and once you have the glass pebbles inside it will be entirely hefty enough to feel authentic.

Looks like I'm getting some glass drill bits! I'll practice on some glass recycling first and then try the final container. 

In terms of the bulb I was thinking the beach glass would be a somewhat reasonable heat sink, LED bulbs don't produce much heat so I didn't think there was any chance of one overheating?

Keep it wet, the dust is nasty and it'll work better.

Down at the circuit board level they run really hot (because proper heatsinks cost money). Without convective cooling they die fast.

jk

Maybe glue the found glass onto the outside of a small vase? Lot more work but no problems with bulbs overheating…

Use several layers of masking tape over the area you want the hole. This stops the bit slipping while you start off the hole. Drilled several bottles to make lamps out of 

Success!! Add glass drilling to my list of skills. 

https://ibb.co/jVXX2hc

Not perfect holes but I got the hang of it. I found better success using two strips of duct tape, as the masking tape just came off when wet, and starting the hole using the drill at an angle before going vertical. 

Will update when the project is complete  

I just felt some of my led corn bulbs, they run hotter than I thought. 

It seems some bulbs are fan cooled with an air-through design. Do you think this could be a solution? I don't really want to go the strip light route if possible. 

 https://amzn.eu/d/iWplg5U

I think those a far too powerful. I'd try a 5W (40 eqiivelent), see what happens.

A fan in a jar will just ingest hot air.

Jk

Go for a 12v flexible led strip and layer the LEDs throughout the jar and coloured glass to give light all around.  They run cool and can be pretty bright.  A small power block will give you the 12v supply. (I had a strip lighting the kitchen area of  my VW van and ist was nice and bright)

LED flexible strips; https://www.eb ay.co.uk/itm/374308743706

12V power supply: https://www.eb ay.co.uk/itm/165990332225 check cable lengths as a working lamp may require a longer cable.