LASER CUT LIGHT BOXES – SCOPES-DF

Lesson Details

Subjects *
Age Ranges *
Standards
4.MD.A1, 2.MD.A1, 2.MD.A4, Fab-Safety.1, Fab-Electronics.1, Fab-Modeling.1, Fab-Fabrication.1, Fab-Design.1
Author

Author

CITC Fab Lab
CITC Fab Lab
Informal educator
We are Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s Fabrication Lab. We are based out of Anchorage Alaska serving Alaska Native and American Indian students based in the Anchorage school district. We teach design, building, and fabrication with a cultural emphasis. Our different… Read More

Summary

Create your own personalized light box that includes LED strands and DC power supply. The image, LED light colors and display box dimensions are up to you!! 

Time: 16 hours if designing images, cutting and soldering

 

What You'll Need

Tools:

Computer – Corel or Adobe Illustrator

Soldering Iron

Laser Engraver

 

Contents:

12 Volt DC Power Supply

DC Power Jack

  Power Switch

12 Volt LED Strip (approx. 17.75” long)

2 (or 3) colored wires

    Laser cut box template ( attached file for 5x5x1.5 box or https://www.makercase.com/)

Materials: 

Wire Strippers

Solder

    Flux

    Wire cutters

    Hot glue gun

    Glue sticks

    Painters Tape

Plywood (Acrylic, Cardboard, etc.)

The Instructions

Beginning Your Design/ Modifying Your Box Template

Designing and Cutting out your Box.

Step 1:

Create a design for the front of your light box. Design it using either Corel or Illustrator. If this task seems to challenging or you don’t have enough time, simply find an image you enjoy on the web. Add the vector image to the center of the lid of your light box.

 

Adding the cut outs for hardware:

If you do not use the file (Attached file – 5x5x1.5 box.cdr) make sure you include the power adaptor jack cut out and power switch cut out.

Dimensions are as follows: 0.36” X 0.42” (power adaptor jack) and 0.41” X 0.23” (power switch). This is a great oppurtunity to have students measure the items and get accurate measurements.

 

Step 2: Cut out your light box

If you need help with the vector and/or raster settings, let an instructor know. Use the settings for your specific laser and material.

 

Step 3: Building the Box

Place sides together first. Use painters tape to hold the sides in place while gluing the box together.

 

Make sure you think about where you want your power adaptor jack and switch to be on the box. Hint: The keyhole on the back of the box is to hang the light box on the wall. Once you’ve found the perfect layout for you, go ahead and glue all the sides together.

DO NOT glue both of the covers… leave one side open in order to solder wires. 

 

Step 4: Installing the power adapter and switch

Install the power adaptor jack by inserting it from the inside of the box to the outside of the box. Glue it in place. Insert the power switch from the outside of the box to the inside. Ensure that the metal leads for the power adaptor jack are facing up. You will find that soldering wires to the leads are much easier in this position. 

Installing the Electronics

This section describes how to complete the electronic portion of the box.

Step 5: Soldering the wires

Cut wires to suit the layout of power adaptor jack, switch, and LED strip. Using wire strippers, pull off insulation from both sides of the wires. See the wiring diagram below when soldering. 

 

See layout of wires below see the pictures below for additional help. Remember when soldering to keep the tip clean and use flux often to clean the impurities out of the metal. This will help ensure your solders are adhering well.

 

Decide what color you want the LEDs to be. Notice the “G” “R” “B” written on the LED strip (see Figure 9). Make sure to solder your wire from the middle lead of the power switch to the copper lead of the color of your choosing. If you want to solder two colors together, to create a new color, grab a third piece of wire and solder to both colors of your choosing. The color combinations are as follows: Red and blue make purple, blue and green make teal, etc… 

 

 

Step 6: Check that wiring is correct

After soldering all wires, double check that everything is solder correctly by plugging in your power adapter and seeing if lights work.

 

Troubleshooting suggestions if lights don’t turn on: check to make sure power switch is in the correct “ON” position, check that all wires are fastened properly with solder and connections are good, all wires are correctly soldered (use wiring diagram as a guide), power adapter plug is plugged into working outlet. 

If everything is working correctly, pull off the back paper from the adhesive on LED strips and secure the LEDs around the inside of the box. Shut the front and/or back piece and glue shut (if desired).

Future Directions:

You can decorate the box using paint, markers, or vinyl stickers. Keep in mind that decorating the box before putting it together can be easier than decorating after it has already been assembled. You can also use hot glue to fill in the gaps. This can help diffuse the light and it gives it a nice glow. 

Standards

  • (4.MD.A1): Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), ...
  • (2.MD.A1): Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.
  • (2.MD.A4): Measure to determine how much longer one object is than another, expressing the length difference in terms of a standard length unit.
  • (Fab-Safety.1): I can safely conduct myself in a Fab Lab and observe operations under instructor guidance.
  • (Fab-Electronics.1): I can follow instructions to build a simple electrical circuit using conductive material, basic components, and power.
  • (Fab-Modeling.1): I can arrange and manipulate simple geometric elements, 2D shapes, and 3D solids using a variety of technologies.
  • (Fab-Fabrication.1): I can follow instructor guided steps that link a software to a machine to produce a simple physical artifact.
  • (Fab-Design.1): I can be responsible for various activities throughout a design process within a group under instructor guidance.

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