LED Yup'ik male dance fans - SCOPES Digital Fabrication

Lesson Details

Age Ranges
Standards
Fab-Electronics.2, Fab-Design.2
Author

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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

Combine tradition and technology in learning how to make a glowing Yup’ik dance fan! They were used in winter ceremonies, accompanied by masks they helped illustrate the story told by the song, accentuating fluid movements of the dancer’s arms.

 

Use this project to talk about cultural heritage, learn about Yup’ik traditions and ceremonies. You can bring them to life by spicing it up with some technology, and perhaps learning how to dance in the dark.

What You'll Need

to make a PAIR of fans you’ll need:

  •  1/8th inch (3 mm) plywood 24×12″ (60×30 cm) sheet
  • wood/tacky glue
  • 6 coin battery packs with a switch, like: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13883
  • 6 coin batteries 3V
  • 10 LED’s – we used slow color flashing, like: https://amzn.to/2Efk3W0
  • electrical wire in 2 colors
  • 10 feathers about 12″ (30 cm) long

 tools:

  • laser cutter
  • hot glue gun
  • soldering iron + wire
  • wire cutter + strippers

 

The Instructions

Laser cut and glue the plywood layers

The fans will be made of 4 layers of plywood

Download the file and laser cut the shapes. The fans are about 4.5 inch (12 cm) wide.

There is a red line meant to be engraved, not cut! to help you position the little pieces of layers 2 and 3.

 

Glue the first three layers of both fans – all but the big ones without engraving. When gluing in the little pieces, make sure that your LED bulbs will fit in the spaces between them.