Stage Spotlight

This instructable will allow the user to experiment with small-scale stage lighting with one light fixture using features such as a rotating stage, movable fixture, and variable intensity. There are two primary aspects that made up the design: the electrical aspect and the hardware aspect.

Hot glue gun/glue

9V battery

Turntable Fixture - https://www.mcmaster.com/turntables/square-turntab...

LED (25 pack) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0716XSZB4/ref=p...

Plywood squares - https://www.amazon.com/Plywood-Sheet-12-Pack/dp/B0...

Dowel rods - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FD6WQ8X/ref=o...

Clothes pins - https://www.amazon.com/PRO-MART-DAZZ-Heavy-Wooden-...

Action Figures - https://www.amazon.com/Safari-Including-Constructi...

9V battery harness - https://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-Battery-Clip-...

breadboard - https://www.amazon.com/Eiechip-Breadboard-Solderle...

male/female and female/female jumpers - https://www.amazon.com/EDGELEC-Optional-Breadboard...

100 ohm resistor - https://www.amazon.com/Resistor-Assortment-Kit-The...

10 kohm potentiometer - https://www.amazon.com/MCIGICM-Breadboard-Trim-Pot...

Wire the breadboard as shown in the image and set it aside. Leave the battery disconnected for now.

Draw and cut out a circle from a piece of cardboard, using the toilet paper tube as a guide

Use a pen or pencil to poke two holes through the cardboard circle. Each hole should be a few millimeters apart.

Insert an LED into the circle, with the legs going through the holes created in step 2. Place the longer leg on the left.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 two more times so there are 3 LEDs on the circle, all with the longer legs on the left.

On the side with the legs, place a small bead of hot glue on each leg to attach them to the circle.

Connect the LEDs together with the female-female jumpers using a zig-zag pattern as shown below. The long red and black wires.

Hot glue the jumpers onto the LED legs.

Note: Steps 6 and 7 can also be completed by soldering wires onto the LEDs instead of gluing jumpers. Soldering will result in a much more secure connection, but is not required.

Connect the black and red jumpers from step 1 to the light as shown below. Hot glue the jumpers as in step 8.

Hot glue the fully assembled circle with LEDs onto the end of the toilet paper tube.

Test it! Plug in the battery and the light should come on. Turn the potentiometer and see it get brighter and dimmer.

Hot glue the two clothespins to each the side of the light roll on opposite sides of each other

Clip both clips to two dowel rods. Connect the bottoms of each dowel rod perpendicularly to another dowel rod to serve as the base.

For added support, place two more dowel rods behind the clipped dowel rods. Glue their bottoms to the base of the structure. Place the entire structure on two more dowel rods to complete the assembly.

Hot glue the steel turntable to the center of one side of plywood.

Glue the other side of the steel turntable to the other piece of plywood to make a sandwich with plywood as the buns and the turntable as the middle. This structure can now rotate in place.

Now that you have finished building it, you can use it! Experiment by placing different objects on the stage and see how rotating the stage causes the light to hit the object at a different angle. While you can try out different angles of rotation, you can also move the light up and down or at different angles on the rod using the clothes pins. Finally, turn the blue potentiometer on the breadboard to adjust the intensity of the light and see what that does to the object on stage.