Didn’t want to spend over $100 on a couple of 8’ flouresent light strips and so I built a couple of 8’ long shaping strip lights from cheaper 4’ strips. Credit goes to the folks who posted up ideas on this forum. Didn’t find one with build pics and so thought I post some descriptions and pics.
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I purchased two 4’ double T8 bulb strip lights from Home Depot ($24 each - ~ 10% discount from contractor friend. Note, customers with military ID’s get a 10% discount).
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Took apart the light assembly separating out the electronic ballast and bulb mounts.
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Built a 8’ long carrier by ripping 8’ long x 4" wide strips (5 total) of birch plywood and fabricated them into surfboard light carriers. 2 x 4’s would work also but I had scrap pieces of plywood from other home DIY projects.
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Installed ballast and bulb mounts into the completed carriers and wired them up - based on your application. In my case, I spliced in a 14-3 electrical wire and plug; but anything is possible once you get the main carrier assembly built.
Photos of the completed light are attached.
Aloha,
T
