DIY (Do Ironman Yourself)

With the release of Ironman 2 over the weekend, I thought it only appropriate to present a guest submission from modder, electrical engineer and soon-to-be father, Andy Paulsen. Last Halloween Andy created an Ironman "glowing-chest-thingy" for his wife (my coworker/band mate) Carrie Copa. When I saw it, I flipped. Andy has been so kind as to write up step-by-step instructions with photos so you can make your very own "glowing-chest-thingy"!


This was a project I made for Carrie for Halloween last year. I had the parts lying around, but here is what you need to make your own:

(1) Electrical tape in a clear plastic container with lid
(10) White LEDs like DigiKey 67-1691-ND http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=67-1691-ND
(1) 4.7 Ohm resistor like DigiKey 4.7QBK-ND http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=4.7QBK-ND
(1) 2x AA battery holder with wire leads
(2) AA batteries

~1 foot each black and red 24 AWG wire

Cardboard
Diffusing material, like 1/16" white closed-cell foam

soldering iron
solder
compass
ruler
xacto knife


After looking around the house for a suitable base, I noticed that the container from some 3M electrical tape was a reasonable size, transparent, and free.



It is about the perfect size to hold two AA batteries with a ring of LEDs around it, has an easily removable cover, and isn't too thick to hide under a shirt.



With the case found, the next step was to darken the parts that shouldn't be illuminated. To do this I used some cardboard that was black on one side. Using a compass, I drew a circle and cut it out. I wanted to use 10 LEDs so I drew five sets of evenly spaced lines through the center (making 10 sets of lines total) and drew two more circles with the compass to mark the inside and outside of the visible openings.



I cut out the openings with an exacto knife. This took some time and looked like I might have done it with a chainsaw...the corrugated cardboard may not have been the best choice for crisp edges.



A layer of tape was applied around the side of the container to block any light trying to escape out the sides.



The cardboard was dropped into the bottom of the case, with the black side out.



Another layer of tape was added around the cardboard to block any light coming through the edge.



A circle of thin (~1/16") semi-translucent foam was added next to serve as a diffuser to spread out the LED light.



This picture shows a few steps. I cut out another cardboard circle and cut a rectangle in it to hold a 2x AA battery holder. I again drew five lines through the center and a circle about 1/4" in from the edge to mark where the 10 LEDs go. The LEDs were simply pushed through the cardboard with their short leads toward the outside.



LEDs only work in one direction. Luckily there are two simple ways to note the polarity of the LEDs when soldering them together: the flat side of the plastic molding as well as the shorter of the two leads mark the negative side. This will be connected to the (-) side of the battery and the other side will be connected through a resistor to the the (+) side of the battery.

The resistor is needed to set the current through the LEDs. In a simplified explanation, an LED requires a fixed voltage to operate at its rated power level. If you supply a little extra voltage, it will draw an exponentially larger current. Too much current will burn out the LED, so it is usually smart to control the current in some manner to keep things safe. Here we are using two 1.5V batteries for a total of around 3V. This is lower than the rated voltage of the LEDs, but it is still a good idea to add a small resistance to help keep the current stable to account for the LEDs' manufacturing tolerance and battery voltage fluctuations. Additionally, the LEDs are very bright when run at their rated current level and the resistor can be sized to dim them appropriately. In this case, a 4.7 Ohm resistor in series with the LEDs looked about right.



The LEDs are wired together in parallel - black wire segments connect all the short leads together around the outside and red wire segments connect all the long leads together around the inside. Keep the wires close to the cardboard to help hold the LEDs down. Clip the bare LED leads down to the solder joint to avoid any stray shorts. The 4.7 Ohm resistor is attached to the red ring at one point, it doesn't matter where you put it. A battery clip is then soldered to the resistor and the black ring. Here you can see some heat shrink tubing over the resistor to protect against shorts; some electrical tape would work as well.



Place the LED ring into the case, lining up the LEDs with the openings in the lower cardboard ring.



The battery holder fits into a slot in the cardboard.




Thanks, Andy! Tony Stark would be proud.

Back in the Mod Saddle

It's been a crazy month. Decorating committee, website designs, pre-kindergarten classes, college classes... all the while trying to maintain sanity by getting in a mod project or two. Luckily, a week ago I got a request via twitter from a friend looking for some bathroom hook inspiration. It was just the little break I need to avoid a mental breakdown and a future of Kleenex box shoes. Although, now that I think about it, Kleenex box shoes would be a good project... but I digress. Here is what I tweeted back:



Spoons.



Rubber Duckies



Metal Rake Head

I also thought old umbrellas with the hook style handle would work well too.

INSPIRADO!!!

I was just inspired by a tweet from ReadyMade: Make a flexible flashlight for small jobs in tight spaces: plug a nightlight into a household extension cord. I have so many ideas on what I could to with this. Mainly, I'm writing this post so I remember to follow though on those ideas. More to come...

Decorating with Junk: Week 2

The ADDY decorating committee met again last night. This time I got some photos of our things out of stuff progress...


Cans on parade!




Kim is the queen of tin snip tip nipping.



I just love when the aluminum is in bloom!



Wire hangers turned flower stems



Wine bottle vase with a little comic book grass flair.



Last, but certainly not least... the strippers. Wire strippers, that is.

Decorating with Junk

This year, I am co-chairing the decorating committee for the 2010 ADDY awards put on by the American Advertising Federation of North Dakota (AAF-ND.) Our theme is all about eco-consciousness in advertising. I'm excited that there will even be an eco-award added to the lineup! The board wanted some unique decorating ideas that would reflect the theme, so they decided to tap my "things out of stuff" way of thinking. We sent out a message to AAF-ND members asking them to gather items such as old electronics, wine bottles (always abundant in the ad biz,) press sheets, newspapers, CDs, and other typical office castoff. The idea is that we take these would-be-discarded items and turn them into something interesting and beautiful to use on the tables as center pieces.

I picked up the last of the donations yesterday. I'm very excited about what we got! What's funny is that the businesses that donated were just as excited to get rid of the stuff. Win/win! Tonight the committee will be meeting to start deconstruction and hopefully get into some reconstruction as well. We have a very excited crew! I can't wait to start tearing apart some keyboards!

More to come!

Happy Birthday, Bubble Wrap!

Today is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day in honor of bubble wrap's 50 years of providing protection and amusement. Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (BWAD) was officially started by "Spirit 95” Radio, the FM radio station in Bloomington, IN in 2001. The day is celebrated the last Monday in January according to Sealed Air, the first company to make bubble wrap.

Wanna get into the bubble poppin' spirit? Sealed Air has an entire site, BubbleWrapFun.com, dedicated to the fun side of the protective sheets. The site is filled with games and trivia. There is also a bubble wrap gift shop. But the most interesting section to someone like me is the 1001 Uses for bubble wrap! Gotta love a bubble wrap mod. There are also loads of Facebook fan pages and a great deal of Twitter chatter all about bubble wrap. I think I might celebrate by doing a little popping. But since I don't have a sheet next to me, this virtual version will do just fine.

POP ON!

Hard Cover MacBook

When I see things like this, it creates a great deal of conflict in my head. Do I take the time to try and make it, or do I just fork over the cash and buy one. Either way, I can guarantee that it won't be long before I am carrying my MacBook Pro in a leather-bound book (rich mahogany smell and Merlin Olson sold separately.) Thanks for the link Phil! (twitter: @pleitch)