Bodgering part troix (um... that's 3 in French)

Nick mentioned on the message board that I could doubtless rig up a snout for my bodgered track lights from a beer can or something. And I know what I said about simple (and inexpensive) solutions. But I just couldn't face the idea of putting something so ugly on my lighting grid, which is loaded with beautiful light fixtures - all black. And yeah - I could get some high-temp black paint.... but he also mentioned that the hard part is rigging up a gel holder for these that sits away from the blistering heat that fades gels fast. And suddenly I had a bizarre thought.

I recently bought a pair of these (very inexpensive) par 16 birdies from Musician's Freind and was a bit disappointed at how dim they are, But looking at one today it ocurred to me that they're very nearly (if not exactly) the same diameter as the track light units. So the rusty wheels started grinding.


This is the snout piece from one of the birdies (and no, I had never thought of it as a snout before, but it seems fitting now). It comes off easily to facilitate changing the light bulb - all you do is loosen the silver screws.


Hmmmm.... interesting. Looks like it would just about fit ~


Yes! Fit it does indeed!!! I didn't have to do anything... just jam it on! It's a nice tight pressure fit. And now I have an attractive black snout with a gel-holder on it!!! I love it when a plan comes together.....

Funny - it looks like the track light/birdie hybrid unit is just as big as the par 46's behind it. Not at all!! Trust me, it's a trick of perspective. That's just one more thing to love about these little units - they're tiny, meaning they fit anywhere (a blessing in limited basement space) and I'm less likely to bang my noggin on one.



... And voila!!! This should be the final bodge required (I hope). I've dug out all the hotglue and replaced with with steel-filled epoxy putty that can definitely take the heat, and I decided to go ahead and hang it from the yoke that came with the birdie - so now I can C-clamp it securely to my grid. The taped-up track pieces just weren't very secure, and the el cheap-o yoke that came on the track lights kept loosening. I like the fact that the (very lightweight) transformer now has some leeway to move around a bit - that further reduces strain on the cord.

I guess that about wraps it up, except for putting the Solux accessories on the third unit when they get here. I'll do a separate demo on that. Man, it's awesome having these Tricked-out Track Lights!!!