I've read that the spider can be cut to your specific length. But that made me wonder if it would be strong enough to support the shade. Will the spiders work for any size shade? Mine is about 10 inches tall and 16 inches wide.
Answer
You don't want to cut the spider. You will not have enough support with just the tips of the legs soldered to the seams. It is much better to bend the extra length down so you can solder a length of the leg to the seam. That way you'll have much better support when the shade is hanging or attached to a lamp base. I've seen and repaired some disasters caused by improper attachment of spiders.
