Wind's Lighthouse: Transition Piece

I designed a lighthouse that could turn into a windchime.

Materials: computer, foam core--> final draft would have plywood and woodglue, copper pipe, shoe lace, thick wood, hot glue, hot glue gun, fishing line, wooden box lid, reference measurements from a wind chime, 4 screw eye bolt with hex nut (3/16 in x 2 in), small chain, oil, 3.5 in stainless wire carabiner clip, 2 in Diameter cap PVC fitting, J-B WED clearweld Clear Epoxy Adhesive, .5 in x .5 in in diameter 90 degree elbow PVC fitting, LED Tealight (battery powered, 1.5 in x 1.38 in h), 4 zip ties

Make sure your gear can hold at least 10 lbs of weight.

Tools: drill press, ruler, tape measure, laser cutter, wood clamp, staple gun, angle grinder(to cut pipes), table saw and scroll saw(to cut wood down), a sort of pliers to cut the chain, hammer

programs: TinkerCad, Inkscape

Since I needed to consider sound of a wind chime, I found a hollow cylinder shape was the best approach. I favor the sound of metal windchimes over bamboo, so I found some metal piping similar in size and size of the hole in the center (the hollowness was similar) to an actual windchime. I want the length of the pipes to be similar to the example windchime so I cut pipe accordingly (approx. 12 in) with an angle grinder. I had 3 pipes that I cut in half. I used 5 of the pipes.

I wanted to make sure I could get the right sound from my constructed windchime, so I took measurements from an already created windchime to get an idea of what length the pipes should be, the width of how hollow and thickness of the pipe was considered, and how far apart the pipes were.

Measurements:

5 in diameter (D)

2.75 D x 3/8 in thick center piece of wood (to bounce against pipes)

pipes dangle 16ish in

Measure 2 in down each pipes. Use the drill press to cut through both sides of the pipe for an even cut. Center the pie to make sure drill bit doesn't slide across the surface of the pipe. Make sure the oil the drill bit so the metal doesn't erode it.

Arrange the pipes in to PVC elbows within the wooden box lid. From here, put the PVC cap on the pipes. This upright possition is the bottom 2/3 of the lighthouse. Use the Epoxy to glue the PVC elbows to the wooden box lid, in the same angled postion required for the pipes to be upright and fit into the PVC cap.

Use the scroll saw to make a 2.75 in circular center piece of wood. Use the drill press to drill a hole into the center of it. Drill a hole into the center of the PVC pipe. A shoelace can be used to tighten an approximate position of the centerpiece within the windchime.

Use a solid piece of wood. Cut using the table saw. We had scrap wood available. My dimensions: 7 5/8 x 5.5 in, almost 6/8 in thick

Use the drill press for 5 holes.

4 in the corners- .25x.25 in. That end corner there is where the holes go for the drill press. This is where the eye screws go.

At the center of the wood, drill a hole. The shoelace goes through here, supporting the middle of the windchime component.

From the chain, measure out about 15 in of chain. Repeat 3x.

Put fishing line through one of the pipes. Make sure to equal it out by putting each line side by side. Cut. Do this for all 5 pipes.

Next: Measure out from the center hole a 5 in D. On this line, compare how the pipes are standing from the copper pipes, situated in their elbows. This allows you to determine where to stable on the D circle.

After marking 5 points of contact on the circle, staple gun the wood at those marks. Put both sides of the fishing line through the staple point. Hammer. Repeat for 4 other pipes and fishing line.

During this project, I had a mishap in calculations. Since this is for a class, I have to record how it happened.

thickness: foam core

My sides: 5 in W x 4 in H for 2 sides, the other 2 sides were 2 pieces 4.75 in W (total of 4 pieces)

Roof: 5 W x 4 H in for 2 sides, 4.75 W x 4 H

Sides should have been: 3 in W x on plywood

Roof should have been: somewhat smaller

thickness: plywood

Model on TinkerCad as flat across the bottom. Downland as STL. Open on Inkscape. Make it a DXF for the Laser Cutter to read. Cut accordingly.