Water Bottle - Track Lighting,
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I started working with water bottles a while back and made it into a reflector for led light. https://www.instructables.com/id/Water_Bottle_Hack_LED_Booklight/. It was just a last minute thing, and the beginning of a bigger idea. This instructable is the continuation of what I started, but never had enough inspiration to finish.
Materials
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For this project you will need:
Lots of LED's - I used, 30 RED, 20 BLUE, 20 GREEN. But you can use any color you like.
resistors 270 ohm
wood - piece i used is 2" x 1" x 62"
water bottles - I used 10 smart water bottles
pref board, wire, wood stain, RGB led driver (optional)
Lots of LED's - I used, 30 RED, 20 BLUE, 20 GREEN. But you can use any color you like.
resistors 270 ohm
wood - piece i used is 2" x 1" x 62"
water bottles - I used 10 smart water bottles
pref board, wire, wood stain, RGB led driver (optional)
Assembly Electronics
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Mark out your pref board to the size that fits the bottle neck and cut it out. I used a set of dikes to cut out the circle. Pick out the LED's you intend to use. Lay them out on your board and solder them in. I used this website for my particular needs: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz It will give you the schematic and the arrangements after you fill in the details of your LEDs.
Woodwork
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In this step you are going to have to drill holes big enough to fit the bottle cap tightly. I am not sure what size drill to use, since i shaved off both sides of a paddle bit to get the desired size.
All 10 lights are 9 inches apart and all holes were drilled 5/8" deep.
On the other side you want to bore out canal for wires and electronics.
Sand it, stain it, make it look good.
All 10 lights are 9 inches apart and all holes were drilled 5/8" deep.
On the other side you want to bore out canal for wires and electronics.
Sand it, stain it, make it look good.
Bottle Field
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This is where I cut all the bottles. My previous box idea for cutting the bottles just wasn't cutting it. So I had to set up a different rig. Making my rig is a whole different instructable in itself. I am not going to go step by step. Bottom line is to get the bottles cut to size (2.5" from the top). Lightly sand it down.
Final Assembly
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This is where everything is coming together. Wait for the wood to dry than insert all bottle caps into the holes. You don't have to glue them in if it's a tight fit. Use a pushpin to poke holes and insert your assembled LED in to the caps. For my light I stripped some cat-5 and soldered them on to the leads on the back end. Connect your LED's to desired RGB led driver, or just a 12v power supply and light up your night.
To cover exposed wired you can use a thin piece of wood, or just duck tape over it. Screw in your bottle tops to complete the project.
The RGB driver for my LED's that i am using right now can be found here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Versatile-RGB-LED-PWM-Driver/
To cover exposed wired you can use a thin piece of wood, or just duck tape over it. Screw in your bottle tops to complete the project.
The RGB driver for my LED's that i am using right now can be found here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Versatile-RGB-LED-PWM-Driver/