Continued from Building Light, Part Two. From the sketch I made, these were the parts that I’d need to build this thing:

The Stand
The Board
The Frame
and lots of bulb-holders, bulbs and cables.

Throughout the process, I made sure to select materials that were cheap and easy to obtain in bulk (just in case I want to make several copies of the light).

THE BOARD
What I Need: Something light, heat-resistant and strong. It’d have to withstand being riddled with holes, bolts and screws and then remain cool despite all the heat from several bulbs. After visiting a few photo exhibitions, I noticed that most photos were mounted on a hard, white, plastic-y looking material. Enter Mr. Najam “Chico” Qureishi of Photo Mural Gigiri (who does excellent photo prints and mounts, by the way). I asked him if I could buy the material from him (forex, it’s called).

Chico showed me a variety of different types of forex, the most appropriate was a 1cm thick version; a layer of foam sandwiched by two layers of plastic. Light, but very strong.

2 x 1m square pieces (plus trimmings) = Ksh. 4,500.

THE STAND
What I Need: A larger, stronger version of my own light stands. I used my own rather flimsy light stands in the earlier version of the light. They’re not very strong, and supporting a large weight was a wobbly affair. Enter Kibugi, the sound man who helps Just A Band out with venue sound. While helping him carry sound equipment into a gig venue, I noticed his speaker stands. They were the big brothers of my own light stands. Perfect.

AND they turned out to be cheaper than my light stands, which is strange. They’re bigger, stronger, lighter (!), and Ksh. 5,000 cheaper and available everywhere! These audio guys have it easy!

1 x Sound King Heavy-Duty Speaker Stand = Ksh. 3,000.

THE FRAME
What I Need: Something that can slide onto the stand, and hold the board in place. Strong and light, as well.

The frame needs to sit on the top of the stand:

I figured I’d have to make this piece myself, so I sketched the pieces on paper for my very cool assistant, Eric. He went to Kibera, spent a couple of hours with some metalworkers and came back with the frame. It was a little rough around the edges (literally), but it worked after some filing off of rough bits.

Frame = Ksh. 1,300.

BULBS
The bulbs were the most expensive item the last time. I don’t want to use ordinary tungsten-bulbs – they’re really cheap but they waste a lot of energy and give out too much heat (not to mention the over-warm tone they add to footage). So, it had to be the 23-watt daylight-white CFL bulbs from last time.

CFL Bulbs = Ksh. 460 each.

BULB HOLDERS
In the electrical shops/supermarkets, these things cost between Ksh. 200 – 400. Eric and I visited Toi Market and found a guy who sold the very same things to us at about Ksh. 60 – 70.

Bulb Holder = approx. Ksh. 70 each.

That’s it! On to construction…