|
Drilling. Lots and lots of drilling. Turns out that 1/2" schedule 40 PVC will almost fit through a 13/16" hole. So close in fact that with the correct application of 'inducement' (can you say "Whack-A-Mole"?) it makes a very tight friction fit. I'm lazy. So.. I use this :) The holes were drilled on 8 inch centers, so that the 8' board contains 12 holes (the first one is done at 4" in)n
|
|
Did you know that children make excellent slave labor? That aside, here we see my lovely daughter sealing the 1x2 with urethane. I figured it was going to get wet during october.. even if only from the sprinklers. So I sealed first.
|
|
Remember the 'whack-a-mole' comment? After much whacking with a hammer, this is what you get. Out of 8 8' segments, I only had one breakage.
|
|
In this one, you can see some have been hit with flat black spraypaint. This takes *lots* of time, and paint, and you sneeze black for a while after. Bleah. But it looks good.
|
|
This is my prototype setup, when I was trying to find the right mix of resistors,diodes, and LEDs to get the nice glow, without lighting up the neighborhood.
|
|
Tiny Tim needs some holes in his head, to allow the LEDs to shine through. This is the setup I used. Drill right through to the back. There is an amazing amount of material forming the base of the brain pan in these guys.
|
|
In fact, so much stuff, that a dremel comes in real handy, with the mini-endmill attachment. I ground away a goodly amount of the brain pan, giving me two flat spots to glue the LEDs into.
|
|
Speaking of LEDs .. here they are.
|
|
Of course, now I had to mount this to the PVC. Lucky for me, I tipped over a box of #6 1" drywall screws working on this.. I kept looking at the screws, and the skulls.. and the spine opening at the bottom. and inspiration struck. Drill a pilot hole in the PVC and screw these suckers down. Here is the drilling
|
|
And here is the screw through the skull. Notice the angle.
|
|
Here you can see the head of the screw. It fits 'just right'.
|
|
Frontal View
|
|
Rear View
|
|
I only lit up every other head.. I only have so many LEDs. I'll be adding some trim pots to the mix, as I found even this was too bright.
|
|
Used a flash here, so you can see a little better without the contrast problem.
|
|
And here it is at night. Notice the 'glue-gun' webbing too.
|
|
The next morning.
|
