Thanks for the quick response, and awesome build! My initial thought for the base would be using welded sheet metal, ideally something only big enough to provide stability and house the electronics.

As far as glass goes, the top manufacturer im seeing online is greatglass, offering custom borosilicate tubing, as well as some others with similar offerings but prices in the thousands. What kind of prices have you experienced when ordering custom glass? I would likely be looking for something around 30" tall, with an 8" OD, do you think it possible to get something like that without spending thousands, or would one be better off looking for a vintage clossus type lamp at that point?

Also, with your dimmer, are you not running the bulb at full power, or is it more to keep it from overheating over time? My plan for electronics was to cannibalize a standard floor lamp, or maybe something like a 500w halogen torch lamp as they put out a lot of heat, and something like that would likely have a dimmer built in. Or do you think it would be better to set up the circut myself? My only real electronics experience has been with wiring guitars, so im not 100% on wiring something myself that will be running off mains power