Black LED

Black LED

One problem the stage has is you ca not see in the dark when you have been staring at stage lights. We often put glow tape on things so you can see spots of light and have an idea of where the edges of items are but they do not work back stage as you cannot see them after five minutes or so. Also, if you have a light of any other kind the audience can see it. The one exception though is black light. As along as the actor is not wearing white black light will not reflect. The actor can see it but the audience cannot. With a black light LED and a watch battery you can now place them anywhere.

They lasted us for a 2 week run and were just as bright as new. You can also build them into the set so that you can only see the LED. These increase safety and actor trust these adding a lot to a back stage.

Cozy MK IV

Cozy Mk IV

I thought it was time to introduce you to my long term project. This will take me the next 3-5 years. I am building an airplane that will seat 4 and can cruise at around 200 with a range of about 1000. It is made from fiberglass and foam. So far I am working on the bulkheads. Here is one that is completed and mine will look very similar.

Here you can follow the actual progress in video form.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmlpE4notq3nKadHLQMxOw

Here is the last video I put up.

I will keep you all up to date on how it goes. Let me know if you have any questions.

Combination Tire and Cable Drive Motor

Combination Tire and Cable Drive Motor

For Music Man, I had to make a drive motor capable of driving three fully loaded revolves for under $100. The 3/4 horse motor and VFD were pulled from an old AC unit the school no longer needed. The tire and belts came from the bus barn and all the unistrut and threaded rod came from past shows. I only had to buy a few cables and pulleys. I geared it down to about 30 RPM on the tire and was able later to drive a twenty foot, two ton revolve for Christmas Carol. The control pickle was able to start, stop, set clockwise or counter-clockwise, and had an Estop. Later, I wired it with limit switches that would flip to automatically stop it at the appropriate time.

Turntable Motor

For Christmas Carol we needed to make a new motor for the 20' turntable. This was what I made for it.

Turntable Motor

The cage is welded out of 1”x1” 12 gauge square tube and reinforced with 1/8” steel plate. The motor is a three phase three horse with a thirty to one gear reducer. On the front end, there is a chain tensioner capable of removing 8” of slack from the system. The control unit is a Creative Conners system. This easily ran a 20’ revolve with 20 actors for Christmas Carol.

PLC Automated Car Project

PLC Automated Car Project

For my final automation project this semester, we had to use a PLC (Programmable logic controller) to accomplish a complicated task. With six technical directors in the class, we had to have one go button that would start a chain of events through all six PLCs twice. Below is my part of the project.

This project is designed to move a toy car around a track after a red,
yellow, green LED progression and a go buzzer sounds. When the
PLC receives the signal from the PLC before it in line, it will start the LED
progression then start the car running around the track. Once the car has
made one revolution around the track it will signal the first loop of the track
to stop and the next PLC in line to start. When the signal from the next PLC
is received the PLC will change the active track to a jumping track, start the
LED progression again, and then send the car down the new track. When
the car makes one revolution around the new track it will signal the PLC to
stop the new loop and the next PLC in line to start.

Life Strikes Again!

Life Strikes Again!

Ok, so the summer is almost over! School is about to start, work it taking off like a mad hornet, and the kids keep getting harder to chase down. That being said now all the fun projects are about to come to life. So keep posted, you may see some of the things on this list.

1. Welding sculptures
2. More 3D printing
3. Drafting and functional design
4. Rail gun (I know it has been on my list for a while)
5. Odds and ends projects in the stage shops (Both of them)
6. Maybe in a few months we will start working on the addition to the house!

Lets have fun!

Selling the 3D printer

Selling the 3D printer

You read it right. I am selling the 3D printer. Two reasons. 1. I need the money. 2. I want to see how much it is worth in the real world. I have built it and I know I can do it. Someday, I will build a bigger one with a better print quality. My next projects will have more to do with school as I am going to be working on my MFA at UW Madison. But I do want to build a rail gun so keep your eyes out for that. You never know when I might have some crazy idea.