Here on Make: Online, we’ve featured lots of projects that use electrolumiscent wire, like the barbershop pole, the sequencing costume, and the angler fish. EL wire is a really flexible (pun intended) way to add lighting to your projects, and it’s fairly easy to use. In the newest issue of MAKE, Volume 21, we offer […]
A friend of mine recently finished a deck remodel, whose highlight (literally) is a transparent corrugated roof that diffuses sunlight in a delightful way. This inspired me to find some way to continue that glow after sunset, in the form of a lantern illuminated by tea light candles.
There are many colors and styles of corrugated roofing available, and whole 8-foot sheets (Sequentia brand) are $23 at my local lumberyard — that’s enough material for up to 10 lanterns. The kind my friend used for the deck is fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP), which diffracts light with a sparkly halo. After some feverish experimenting with cut-off scraps, I eventually came up with the graceful lantern design shown here.
From the MAKE Flickr pool … where no LED has gone before. Observe the maiden voyage of a tiny space-faring ship. Upon encountering the above-seen “magnetic anomaly” the ship’s onboard magnetic reed switch is activated. Chief engineer Origamiwolf explains the ship’s schematics – A resistor is added to each of the red LED branches; this […]
