RGB LED Moodlamp (sitting Dog Lamp)

"What gift my girlfriend would like to get for her birthday?". This was the main question for several weeks. But then I thought: hmm...what could be more cozy then warm lamp lihgt in late autumn evenings?
That was just an idea but I still needed a design. After spending few hours on the internet I have found really cool lamp - sitting dog lamp. I was really impressed by that simple but very nice design, so I decided to make it. Just one difference: mine had to be RGB mood lamp.

Before starting any work you need to do a list what you will need. Of course it's almost impossible to write down everything, but most of tools and materials can be easily predicted.

I have made a list where I wrote what you will or might need while making this lamp. You will find it in pdf file.

The work begins! I have to say, pencil is the best invention ever. Don't make a mistake and don't draw with ballpoint pen. At least while you are not sure about the shape and other details. Later you can make those lines clearer with pen.
So I was thinking how my "sitting dog" should look like. I have searched photos, how real dogs look like when they are sitting. After few sketches I had my sitting dog drawing. Just only thing...that dog had no head

After cutting out paper dog shape, take 4mm plywood and outline that shape on it. I highly recommend to cut this thin plywood with a jigsaw.
Be sure you have made two sides of full body shape. After this, take your paper dog shape and trim its legs. Don't throw those paper legs away. You will need them later.

Now it's time for main body part. Take your 12mm plywood and draw four body shapes. Be sure that all of them will fit. When you cut body parts, try to cut as close the line as you can. It will be easier and you won't have to sand as much as I had.
As you already have all four parts, take them and align all edges as close as possible. Then take the clamps and press them firmly. Then take two wood screws and screw all four layers together. Now the clamps can be released.

A lot of work was waiting for me. Because my cheap electric jigsaw doesn't cut very straight. I had to spend a lot of time sanding all the bumpings. And worst of all was that I had to sand all the body manually just with sandind paper. But well, I am very proud of myself, because body turned out very smooth.

After sandind, while dog's body is still screwed together drill four holes for wooden furniture plugs. I had 8mm plugs, so I have used 8,5mm drill. You need to use a little bigger drill bit because those plugs have to remove easily. Before removing screws, number all four layers. After this, you can remove them.
When you have all four layers ready, take the second and the third layers. Mark the place where you will place your electronics and cut it out.
Now you can glue second, third and fourth layers to the right side, and first layer to the left side. Don't forget to glue wooden furniture plugs on the left side. Let it dry for 12 hours.

Okay, now we have two parts of body. When you put them together it looks very well but it can fell apart. So I decided to drill three holes in the body which also goes through firniture plugs. So when you put wood screws there it holds all body together.
Then I marked place on the neck where i had to drill a hole for all wires. I have used long 8mm wood drill bit. Be sure that drill you are using is long enough to go through all the neck up to place where electronics will be placed.

Collar was made from three 4mm circles which were glued together. Of course you can cut one circle from 12mm plywood. It makes no difference. How you can see, one circle is marked with sixteen lines. Those lines helped me to maintain equal distances between holes. Also I had to cut out the center of the collar to leave the place for wires.

Now it's time for painting! First I have glued the collar and then painted it, which was really a big mistake. But small brush helped me to avoid painting the body with red paint.
Before applying decorative wood impregnator, sand the body with fine grit sanding sponge. Don't forget to clean all the dust after that. When I applied first layer on the body, I didn't like the color. It wasn't dark enough. So I have applied two more layers to get proper color. What I liked about this wood impregnant, it was with wax. So after few days dog got shiny.

Electronics isn't very difficult and doesn't cost very much. The most expensive parts are RGB 1W LED and power supply. What I like about these electronics is that it don't have too many parts, electronics "heart" PIC12F675 is cheap, the PCB is very small and it is controlled just with potentiometer and one button.
Before attaching electronics in dogs body, mount DC jack, momentary push button and potentiometer in the collar and take all wires through the neck to the body center, where electronics will be placed. Then connect everything to the PCB and mount it in the body.

LED mountig pad is made from two different sizes, 4mm plywood circles. The bigger one is with hole in the center for LED. Before mounting the heatsink, don't forget to paint this pad with wood impregnant. While pad is drying, cut out diffuser holder from 3mm plexigalss. Be sure that holders center hole is big enough for diffuser to fit easily. After you have done this, you can glue the heatsink in mounting pad. Don't forget to drill holes for LEDs mounting. Now all the mounting pad can be fully assembled and put in the cone. Put the cone on dog and screw it tightly.

When electronics are placed and the cone is screwed to the collar, just join both body parts and screw them together. And now you are done! Connect DC adapter and enjoy! It looks very cozy in late autumn evenings.