Home made beauty dish

 A few photographer friends asked me to show the steps I used to make this homemade beauty dish.  Here's the supplies I used: A potting bowl from Menards (about $4.00) Single Gang Box Extender (BE1-2CS) which is an out-lite extender, 1/2" long 1/8" dia. Round Head Stove Bolts, and empty 50 CD/DVD case and mirror, spray paint, white lining material. The whole thing cost me about $8.00 (but I already had the spray paint and material).  The website I saw this on recommended spray paint for plastic. That may work better than what I used.

 Draw around the inside of the out-lite box on the bottom side of the bowl with a Sharpie.

 Cut along lines with a utility knife. It really cuts pretty easy if you use a new blade. :-)

 It took me a while to get an exact fit. I kept shaving away till I got it fit snug.

 Shaving away a little at a time. I'm sure some of you could get it right the first time, but I'm not that skilled.

 When it fits flat, you know you've got it.

 Then draw on the CD/DVD base and start cutting. This is showing the back side. It's a little harder to cut than the pot, so be careful. It also cracks easily, so be careful not to break it.

 Fit all three pieces together. This is a view from the inside of the bowl.

 Drill holes for the bolts using a 9/16 bit. (By the way, cordless drills are some of my favorite tools.The first one we owned my husband gave it to me for my birthday and I was thrilled. We later replaced that one with this one for his birthday, but I still use it more than him.  He always teases me, that I should belong to the Handyman of America club.)

 Here's an inside view with the bolts in place.

 Tighten the bolts and get ready to paint.

 I spray painted the outside black, just for looks.

 On this one, I spray painted the inside silver. My first one I did with white glossy paint. And yes, I use plastic gloves, I hate paint on my hands.

 To make the diffuser panel, I used white lining material. (Left over from my daughter-in-laws wedding dress) Measured, 2" outside the dish, all the way around. (I used a disappearing ink pen, but that's not totally necessary) Make a casing and run 1/4" inch elastic through it, till it fit tight.

 Picture #1:Here's the dish upside down ready to be measured out for the diffuser panel.

Picture #2:Here's what the diffuser looks like finished.

 The inside of the CD/DVD dome I glued a CD first (with craft glue, but hot glue would work too). Then I put a mirror in the center (a cheap one from Walmart, found in the auto department).  I still would like to find a mirror that fits the whole case, but haven't found one yet.

 Here's what it looks like all assembled. (This is my white one) Someone asked which size CD/DVD to use. The website recommended a 50, as a 25 was a little too short, and a 100 too long.  Of course you can use with or without the diffuser, depending on what you're looking for in the lighting.  You loose a stop or two this this set up, so adjust accordingly.

With the diffuser on and my Nikon SB800 speedlight. The out-lite extender fits so tight, I don't use anything else to hold it on. On the website where I saw this, they used some Velcro, which you could use for extra support.  I know the SB900 is a little bit bigger, so the outlite extender would probably not fit. You could use a drain spot extender (I don't know the correct name for it.)  Just take your speed light with you to the hardware store (I did). :-)

   Hope this helps, and happy creating. It took me about 30 minutes to make, plus the paint drying time.  I was a little slow in cutting the hole so it could be done quicker, if you're better with an utility knife than I am.
  For you Cannon users, I have no idea if this would fit a Cannon Speedlight. Like I said before, take it with you to the Hardware store and see what fits your Speedlight.