Mini Glowing Tiki Head

Here is a mini Tiki head with epoxy, this serves as a model to bigger head which will act as a lamp.

There are three parts.

Below are the supplies

carving

• Drill or Drill press
• Stick or Dowel one inch in diameter
• Saw
• Chisel
• Dremel and Carving bits
• Sand paper
• Clamp or Vice

epoxy

• 2 part clear casting epoxy resin
• Wax paper or Parchment paper
• Mounting putty
• Popsicle stick
• Epoxy coloring

Circuit

• 3v coin battery
• 3v coin battery holder
• Wire
• Small switch
• Two or three blue LEDs
• Sauntering iron
• Electrical Tape

Once you have your wood cut to length(mine is about 4 and a half inches in length) with all bark removed, sketch your design as a templet.

The lips, nose and exterior of the head will be the outer most layer.

Teeth and the area surrounding the eyes will be the second middle layer.

The nostrils and any grooves will be the lowest layer, carved out the most. While the eyes and mouth will be hollowed out.

So with you tool of choice carve out your design!

You will need to hollow out the inside of the Tiki head, this will allow room for the LEDs and help with adding the epoxy. Make sure that your battery holder can fit in the head. if your Tiki is 1 inch in diameter a 3/4 wide drill bit will work.

Drill out the eyes and then hollow out the inside.

Then drill a hole on the back of head this is where the switch will be inserted. After that cut a small slit large enough for your wires, the slit should be connect the hole for the switch to the top of the Tiki head. Doing this will allow inserting the electronics and the wires connected to the switch much easier.

Once the carving and hollowing of the Tiki is done smooth out any rough edges.

When working with this epoxy it is usually a 1:1 ratio of resin and hardener that will need to be mixed up, but follow the instructions for your epoxy. Epoxy will not stick to wax paper or parchment paper.

Cut and fold out a piece of wax paper with an area big enough for the eyes.

Using mounting putty or a Play-Doh like substance, put the wax paper behind the eye on the inside of the head and use the putty to secure it. The putty will help seal the wax paper to the eye and contain any leaks.

Next clamp the Tiki down and using a Popsicle stick add epoxy to the eye. Once the epoxy has cured or harden remove the putty and wax paper and repeat the same steps for the other eye.

If your putting epoxy in the mouth follow the same process but the divide the mouth in sections so that epoxy wont pool to the edges.

This is a simple circuit with LEDs in parallel connected to a battery and a switch.

Snip your LED pins and wrap your wire around it, wrapping the wires first and soldering last will allow you more easily fix mistakes you might make.

Connect the positive ends of the LED to the positive terminal of the battery holder and the negative ends to one terminal of your switch. Then using a wire connect the other terminal of the switch to the negative end of the battery holder.

After checking that your circuit works solder your connections and wrap the connections in electrical tape, this will prevent any short circuiting that may occur when in the Tiki.

note: If your using you a different color LED or battery with a different voltage you may half to implement the appropriate resistors for the circuit.

Insert the LEDs and battery in to the head with the switch in the back and enjoy.