I would do 4 if we could get the price down a little bit more ($125 ish)...at that price probably only 2.  Then again if this is a one time thing I'd probably be stupid not to get 4, as I'd have no spares if I only got 2.

I want to wait a bit also because there are other members who have circlarc fixtures and may can help get the quantities up.  If so, you can count me in for six.  I only want to be guaranteed they are high quality and have a decent lifespan.  It would suck to spend that much money on something that blows filaments or leaks vacuum in a short time.

Agreed.  I know there are at least 2 other members who haven't chimed in yet (maybe you could PM them, search thru threads for circlarc posts and PM the members that haven't posted here yet? ) and there may be more. 

I would also agree I'd want some sort of guarantee of a decent lifespan w/ replacement if it failed abnormally early (like say under 100 hours or something) if I'm spending several hundred dollars I want to be able to actually use the fixture daily without fear of the tubes failing in a short time.

I want to wait a bit also because there are other members who have circlarc fixtures and may can help get the quantities up.  If so, you can count me in for six.  I only want to be guaranteed they are high quality and have a decent lifespan.  It would suck to spend that much money on something that blows filaments or leaks vacuum in a short time.

Was there ever any more movement on this?

Agreed.  I know there are at least 2 other members who haven't chimed in yet (maybe you could PM them, search thru threads for circlarc posts and PM the members that haven't posted here yet? ) and there may be more. 

I would also agree I'd want some sort of guarantee of a decent lifespan w/ replacement if it failed abnormally early (like say under 100 hours or something) if I'm spending several hundred dollars I want to be able to actually use the fixture daily without fear of the tubes failing in a short time.

Somehow I missed this post when it first came up.

I agree with Ash, the most economical way to produce such a thing would be to cut an existing Circline lamp into two pieces, and reseal new electrodes into the open ends.

The tooling costs to produce a new shape of Circline lamp would be monstrous.  About a decade ago when my company was still producing Circlines we had a request to make half-circlines, like a Circlarc, for ultraviolet facial tanning units.  Instead of staring into a small table-top unit with straight tubes that only irradiate the front of the face, they would have curved around the head to give a more uniform all-around tan with less shadowing.  Technically of course this was feasible.  However it would have required new tooling to the order of around €50,000 on the BendEx machine, which bends and exhausts ordinary straight tubes.  And also something like 2000 man-hours to modify the machinery, and for lamp design, testing and release.  Because of that it never went forward.

In smaller factories with less mechanised equipment it could be easier - but then with high labour cost.

Another technique, albeit chronically slow, is to take a finished straight tube and re-shape it.  That can be done by heating the glass in a moving cylindrical oven while applying a continuous force to bend it to a curved shape.  The heating has to be very slow, if the glass becomes too hot then it sucks in under the vacuum.  There is a company in Italy that used to do that, but still costing some hundreds of € per tube. 

So if the quantity is very low I would suggest a full manual operation with no machines.  And to start with ordinary Circlines cut in half to re-use the glass, and just seal in new electrodes by manual glassblowing techniques.  That would be fairly easy, any scientific glassblower could do it.  If someone happens to know the specs of the original Circlarcs (radius of curvature, tube diameter, and lamp voltage at rated current), I may give it a go and see how easy it could be!

Somehow I missed this post when it first came up.

I agree with Ash, the most economical way to produce such a thing would be to cut an existing Circline lamp into two pieces, and reseal new electrodes into the open ends.

The tooling costs to produce a new shape of Circline lamp would be monstrous.  About a decade ago when my company was still producing Circlines we had a request to make half-circlines, like a Circlarc, for ultraviolet facial tanning units.  Instead of staring into a small table-top unit with straight tubes that only irradiate the front of the face, they would have curved around the head to give a more uniform all-around tan with less shadowing.  Technically of course this was feasible.  However it would have required new tooling to the order of around €50,000 on the BendEx machine, which bends and exhausts ordinary straight tubes.  And also something like 2000 man-hours to modify the machinery, and for lamp design, testing and release.  Because of that it never went forward.

In smaller factories with less mechanised equipment it could be easier - but then with high labour cost.

Another technique, albeit chronically slow, is to take a finished straight tube and re-shape it.  That can be done by heating the glass in a moving cylindrical oven while applying a continuous force to bend it to a curved shape.  The heating has to be very slow, if the glass becomes too hot then it sucks in under the vacuum.  There is a company in Italy that used to do that, but still costing some hundreds of € per tube. 

So if the quantity is very low I would suggest a full manual operation with no machines.  And to start with ordinary Circlines cut in half to re-use the glass, and just seal in new electrodes by manual glassblowing techniques.  That would be fairly easy, any scientific glassblower could do it.  If someone happens to know the specs of the original Circlarcs (radius of curvature, tube diameter, and lamp voltage at rated current), I may give it a go and see how easy it could be!

What is the name of the company you work for? Is it a well known brand?

The "radius" of the Circlarc is not the same as a Circline and to fit the fixture, it must be perfect, as the ends are fixed.  It looks to me like the Circlarc is an arched F15T8 tube.

I am working for Sylvania (Europe).

If the radius is different than any existing Circline, then it could be difficult and not cheap to get replicas made.

Did you ever try to contact Voltarc / LightTech?  They are probably one of the most flexible manufacturers to approach for small series production.  See http://www.light-sources.com/solutions/specialty-fluorescent/products/custom-lamps/

Can a close radius circline be softened and reshaped on a Metal drum form ? I'd expect less trouble than trying to bend a straight tube

If the metal drum is hot and the glass temperature very uniform it might work.  But if I was doing it myself I would find it easier to bend a new straight piece of glass by hand.  Many things in glassblowing you have to get right first time, corrections are often more difficult than starting again from scratch.

Speaking about bending straight fluorescent tubes. I have ordered a new bended tube for my Lazzurro S1 fixture. It is currently the most expensive one in the collection with a value of about €215.-
http://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=533&pos=77&pid=15474
It seems that the tube was made as a standard bi pin TLD 36W/830 by Philips and then later modified by a different workshop for the intended purpose.

I reached out to them on Facebook this week.  They didn't think they could do it unfortunately and even if they did they wanted a minimum commit of 1000 tubes.  Said the tooling would be too much for say 50 to 100 lamps.  They said they've had the request in the past too.

I am working for Sylvania (Europe).

If the radius is different than any existing Circline, then it could be difficult and not cheap to get replicas made.

Did you ever try to contact Voltarc / LightTech?  They are probably one of the most flexible manufacturers to approach for small series production.  See http://www.light-sources.com/solutions/specialty-fluorescent/products/custom-lamps/

Thats a pity about Lightsources.

I wish I could remember who produced the Lazurro tubes.  I can remember seeing a video of them being made at the Hannover Light Fair in 1998.  It was indeed a standard Philips tube that was modified by a small workshop in Italy.  They used a laser to detach the phosphor coating from the tube ends (or even to write clear text in the tube for custom orders), and then bent it by a special process using a travelling electric heater cylinder that gradually moved along the tube to soften the glass, while applying a force to the lamp ends to bend it.

I've always maintained the goal that if I made it someday and had enough money, I would acquire tooling and produce my own tubes. Really just F40T12s and other custom tubes but only as a hobby and to make tubes for private use and not for sale. (Non profit) Thus no bans or restrictions and I could remanufacture the EOL tubes.

The whole Circlarc tube design including fixtures intrigues me so I would include that in my custom tube list. Fluorescent lamps are really just a sealed glass tube filled with pixie farts and fairy dust with a little drop of magic. So it shouldn't be that difficult to reproduce working lamp specimens. Heck one can make a vacuum pump from fridge parts!

If this could ever happen and gets anywhere I would of course inform everyone here. The whole reason I would like to do that is for experimentation. Imagine red, green or blue F40T12 Powergrooves, or maybe coloured circlarcs ? Maybe a neon only F32T8 or HO lamp can be possible ? See thats why I would get into it

If you do.... Can you custom make me a few rainbow 40W tubes?? That'd be so cool!!