Hollowing a Light Bulb

I've seen a few people re-purposing light bulbs for other uses and decided I'd like to do that for a couple projects. To do that I'd first need to figure how to remove the internal filaments and wires from the bulb and to make it clear. I thought I would share my process in case anyone else wants to use this method if they need a small glass container/bucket.

Supplies

- Light Bulb

- Razor Knife

- Needle-Nose Pliers

- Allen Wrench

- Table Salt

Safety - Please use the following items.

- Safety Glasses

- Gloves (I know I didn't wear them and that was a mistake on my part)

Use your razor knife to gently work around the edge of the metal contact lifting up until it pops off.

There will be a small hole under the contact. I used my razor knife to make this slightly larger by using a twisting motion.

Once it's large enough use your needle nose to remove pieces of the black glass until it is all gone.

Now that the black glass is removed you should have a good view of inside of the light bulb.

There will be an internal glass housing protecting some of the wires. Use you Allen wrench to gently apply pressure until you break that glass.

**Be careful not to apply too much pressure and break the actual bulb.

Once that glass is broken you should be able to insert your needle nose and remove all of the internal components of the light bulb

The easiest step is to just pour a small amount of salt into the bulb and shake it up to remove the powder coating inside to bulb and make it clear.

Then just pour out the salt and rinse and dry your bulb and it's ready for use in a future project.

***This particular bulb the actual glass is dyed blue but with most bulbs you should get a clear result.