[[about]] | [[relevant experience]] | [[tutorials]] | [[irrelevant experience]] These tutorials were written by request for my friends, who have a bit of background in making. If you have any questions, or if you are unsure about how to use these tutorials, feel free to email me at [email protected]. I am happy to help. ![[green lamp e&r.jpg]] ![[green lamp in dark.jpg]] # green lamp > Making neon lights is prohibitively expensive for a hobbyist like me. But I saw a fake neon light done well with a silicone diffuser and decided to try to copy it. It's really less complicated than you might think. ### Materials: - LED strips (what I used) - 12V power supply - A switch, if you can find it and want it - 1/8" clear acrylic - Some way to hang it (command hooks or similar) ### Access to: - A laser cutter (technically optional) - Soldering stuff. I used heat shrink tubing and heat gun, too ### Overview: The strips are cuttable every inch at indicated locations. You'll solder wires to each cut section and thread the wires through the back of a base of acrylic. The wires will all connect to maybe a switch and then to a 12V power supply. ### Instructions: 1. Draw your word. I used Procreate. 2. In Lightburn: scale to size, right click image > image trace, offset > adjust to your liking! 3. Cut the offset line out on acrylic. 4. Etch the word itself _and_ the offset line out onto cardboard or some other scrap material. 5. Place the clear acrylic over the etched material and trace the word out using a Sharpie. 6. Put the LED strips over the sharpie lines and cut them to size. They won't line up _exactly_ because they're only cuttable each inch, so the lines of the letters may be a fraction of an inch too short or too long. 7. Figure out where you'll place the holes for the wires. Drill those holes. 8. Solder on wires to each segment of cut strips. 9. Superglue each segment over the Sharpie lines. Be sure to feed those wires through the holes so they poke out the back. 10. Connect all positives together and all negatives together; in series, in parallel, it doesn't matter. Just solder them together. Heat shrink them as you go, just in case. 12. Add them to the switch and then the power supply :) 13. That's it! Erase the extra Sharpie lines with isopropanol. Don't use acetone as it will mess up the acrylic. Hang it up. Plug it in. Have fun!!! Send me a pic. --- ![[shelf brackets.jpg]] # shelf brackets No drilling required for assembly or installation. ### Materials: - Large, hefty command strips - Something to make the shelf, like a plank of wood ### Access to: - A 3D printer and filament. I used white PETG, but PLA is probably wiser. - Calipers - A leveling device. (Smartphone app works.) - Probably alcohol wipes to wipe down your crusty rental walls and ensure good adhesion ### Instructions: 1. Find a piece of wood, MDF, plastic, or whatever makes you happy. 2. Download my brackets [here]((https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LzE89ktGj6Q0qd_yR1pFq0ffaPlfWCRt/view?usp=drive_link)). 3. Adjust the dimensions to match your piece of found material. > Measure with calipers, not eyeballs, like I was tempted to do. Factor in tolerances. 3D prints _do_ shrink, it's just a matter of how much based on filament type. PLA is best for minimizing shrinkage. > > An effective press fit is crucial to being able to take these shelves apart easily for moving. I guess you could also glue them together... but these are weird shapes to pack. Better not make moving day worse than it has to be. 4. Slice 'em. Print 'em. 5. Piece the parts together. If you weren't lucky with the press fit, you can experiment with sticking bits of rubber band or paper in there, or you can glue. 6. Affix the command strips to the brackets first. 7. Wipe the walls. Let them dry. 8. Mark a level line with pencil. Seriously, you'll regret it if you don't. 9. Stick your shelf on the wall. Voila. Send me a pic!