is there a way to make an inexpensive dimmer for halogen lights?

im talking like the halogen work lights you find at home depot.

yeah man, they're easy to do. We used to make dimmers for our 6" fresnels out of a two gang electrical box, a 600 watt dimmer and a 29 cent 3-prong outlet. It cost under ten bucks to make each one.

The work-light would just plug into the box. However, those home depot work lights are normally 2 500 watts lamps, which would exceed the dimmer (So you'd have to wire each lamp to a separate dimmer). Also, you gotta remember that the color temperature will change drastically depending on what intensity the dimmer is on. And the dimmers will burn out more quickly with 500-600 watts on 'em. But, for ten bucks a piece, it's definitely worth having a few hanging around. BTW, an alternative would be stacking ND gels or wire scrim material in front of the light–then you wouldn't have to worry about changing color temp or overloading dimmers.

all the best,
joren

I was surfing e-bay and found these exact dimmer boxes, in case anyone still cares.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3804205737&category=3860

cool!

thanks alot man!