The Lamp Room

Has anyone bought or has looked into buying new cardboard sleeves for fluorescent tubes? I'm not bothered about any text or branding or whatever, just plain cardboard sleeves to store tubes in safely. It really would be incredibly useful if like me you have 1 million tubes laying around most of which have no protection whatsoever...

Ive never bought or looked into it but this is something i would like to do for the more collectable tubes in my collection at some point especially anything GEC,atlas, thorn my BCs and my coloureds at least.

Sounds unlikely to be honest. I can save any sleeves from tubes I install if people are short, but please bear in mind, these days that means T8 only as I only install T12 in SRS circuits due to their non-availability. I guess it might be worth asking James if he can get hold of any from Sylvania?

I might email some cardboard manufacturers and see if they could produce it on a roll so sleeves could just be cut from it as required? No idea if that's possible and I'm guessing it might be expensive unless one orders a significant length!

It's T12 sleeves I need really. I do save T8 sleeves from the cardboard bin at work.

What about a roll of that foam stuff that Philips 8w lamps come in these days?

What about a roll of that foam stuff that Philips 8w lamps come in these days?

I bet that would be too grippy in large size for T12. You'd never be able to slide it all the way on.

Couldn't you make some out of dismantled large cardboard boxes?

Most packing wholesalers can supply single wall corrugate on rolls, from which you could cut sleeves.

Most packing wholesalers can supply single wall corrugate on rolls, from which you could cut sleeves.

This stuff? I have just been looking at some sleeves and how they're made, it looks like this stuff but folded over a square former and the seem taped together or glued. I'm now thinking I could make some & these rolls of single corrugation cardboard are very cheap

This stuff?

Yes, exactly that stuff.

I'm imagining:
Have two 1.375'' square wood battens more than the length of the intended lamp with holes at each end for 4'' long coachbolts with wingnuts.
Cut some card strips about 7'' wide.
Wrap tight around the first wooden batten, glue and press the second batten onto the join whilst it dries, using the bolts to hold them together.