Sunday, October 13, 2013

How to Cut A World Globe In Half For A Pendant Light

This is a project that I have been gearing up to do for sometime now. When my daughter asked for my help in redesigning their basement, I decided to get this done. I have been looking for that "just so perfect" lighting for the basement project, so I'm hoping this goes well with the final theme.

After much research in finding the easy way of doing this, I found very few. When I did find one there was not many pictures. So here is my attempt to show you step-by-step.

First you must unassemble the globe from its stand by taking and pulling on each end of the stand it should come out easily.
After removing it you will then be ready to cut your globe in half. (This is the tricky part). Depending on what type of globe you have there may be steps that you will need to follow or omit.

  • First begin by removing the paper seal that is along the equator. This will be where you will need to divide your globe into separate pieces.  After that is removed you can may be able to see where the globe is joined together like mine. Underneath it is glued together with a band that gives it some sturdiness.
  • I had to use a small hand saw to begin the "opening up" of my globe and then when I had enough room to insert a screwdriver I used it to help pry it open (but do this carefully).
  • After doing this you will have what the picture shows below. Then remove the band  from the inside of the globe as shown below.
  1.  











  • If you are wanting to use these as globes then take your pendant light that you will be using and measure the cut you will need to make to insert your light. I am using lights I bought at my local thrift store. They are easy to insert because of the removable ring (shown below).




  • I used a paddle bit to drill my hole, being careful not to push to hard to collapse the globe. Then used a pair of snips to trim the opening of the hole.



  • What the other sites failed to mention is that at the top of my globe was a metal insert, I suppose to help the integrity of the globe on its rotating stand. I then had to snip out the metal little by little to remove the metal ring because I needed a large opening for my pendant. If you were going to run wiring down through the middle and connect it to your own light fixture you could probably use the metal ring instead. After removing the metal disc and cutting the hole to the measurements of the pendant. You will insert it as shown.



From the underside, screw the ring to the part that you inserted from top and screw together.

  • Once that is done you should have a new light that is not only beautiful, but a conversation piece as well.




  • Thrift Store Globe                       $5.00
  • Thrift Store Lights                      $1.00

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  • TOTAL OF TODAY’S PROJECT       $6.00




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