Awesome led cube

Step 5: Armor

Cut out of the sheet metal futuristic designs and glue them onto the cube.
Make sure that when you glue onto the button you don't stop it from being pressed down, and that it sticks out enough to be pushed down.

To give you an idea, Duck-Lemon made two templates. (last pictures)

Comments

[LogTrotter]

Couldnt you just wrap black tape around the box then cut bits of the tape off instead of putting metal on it, it would be a lot easier?

[midnite17]

wouldnt look as cool/futuristic!

[Firebreathing]

I just had an idea. You could make this like the Companion Cube in Portal 2, and have a small contact on one side of the cube, and make a Button like the ones in the Portal games, and put a contact on there, so that the LED would light up when you put the cube on the button. Then you wouldn't have to worry about replacing the battery.

[imBobertRobert]

why didnt i think of that... try it!

[Chernobyl1]

I didn't use sheet metal, I just painted the box chrome then used a needle to add the detail. Although its not the same feel and look (kinda) it still works!

[woodstockbirdy]

how do u change the battery

[Spiderdog3000]

How does one cut sheet metal? I mean, what tool does one need to cut sheet metal?

[nomooremr.niceguy]

If you're cutting sheet metal, I would recommend using tin snips. You can get them at just about any hard ware store. Although if you want a cheaper route, I've heard of people substituting sheet metal with soda cans (you can use a nice pair of kitchen scissors to cut those). Or you can use aluminum foil (cut it with whatever you want). Also you can use aluminum tape(cut the same way you would cut aluminum foil). You can find it at hardware stores, and it already has adhesive on it, so you don't have to use your glue gun as much. I've heard of people using all those, and I assume they turned out pretty well. They are cheaper alternatives. If you think of any more, let me know. Thanks.

[Vick Jr]

Would aluminum house siding work?

Also, this would look awesome floating in one of these! (Maybe add some lasers in there for good measure while we're at it)

[optox]

i just made one with aluminum house siding and i came out pretty good.

[himynameisbob123123]

to tell u the truth it actuly looks like the amutrix or what ever its called from transformers

[XOIIO]

Thats the first thing I thought!

[wewantska]

does anyone know where i can get plexi glass for cheap?

[karnold70]

Likewise, Home Depo does the same. Obviously, you have a computer, so Google 'Acrylic Outlet' and your home town. I just picked up a BUNCH for a buch a POUND!! Good luck. I I also like the Idea of the sanpaper, instead of filling up with hot glue.

[Funk_D]

If you go to Lowe's, towards the back of the store where they have the lumber saw, there's usually a dumpster filled with all the scrap pieces left over from cutting various things. Sometimes you can find plexiglass there. I know I found a 4x2' sheet there once. Just ask an employee to ask their manager if it's ok so they don't think you're stealing. At the Lowe's near me, they ended up charging me .25 cents for it.

[Thraeryn]

 I got a sheet that'll let me make a 4" cube for just over $3 at the Home Despot.  They have larger sheets which, of course, cost more.

[skaterqwertyuiop]

True Story- I was walking down my street and I saw a bunch of plexiglass. I took all of it home (It took me 6 trips to get it all) , I cleaned it and put it in my basement. It later turned out that I had found over $1,000 worth of plexiglass. I was a happy camper.

[zack247]

lucky!  i wish i had plexiglass, then i could actually do mods on things like an xbox and a computer

[some114]

 Hee hee hee.  "Found".  Nice save!  lol  I'm just kidding, but it made me laugh.

[tato312]

nice!

[XOIIO]

Plexi glass is never cheap.

[Nyxius]

 Plexiglass is not cheap...if you look for it in the wrong places...
If you go to a plastics Manufacturer or Supplier it is much cheaper.  American Plastics has it as cheap as 2.56 for a 4'x8' sheet.

[XOIIO]

Really?

F*&k I hate Canada sometimes!

[Evidenceremoved]

but where can you get it?

[Highjump44]

 i used my plastic covers for my base ball cards

[applecake]

home depo

[wewantska]

im gonna try to get a pattern for a companion cube like in the related
that looks awesome

[Blackice504]

thats really cool geat work i shall make for my car but different shape

[REA]

i might try making a pyramid version of this.

[mikeanator55]

Im gunna make a sphere, pyramid, and a cube adn put strings or something and hand them from the cieling in my room

[panatom]

I believe that you can use a kind of thin cable in order to give power to all of these. I'm gonna try this and I'll let you know

[elyador]

That sounds really cool. i just might steal your home decor idea.

[wazooda]

yeah a pyramid one would be totally sick, but why not use a diffused led instead of loads of glue? you will save loafs of money AND electricity.

[blkarcher77]

a pyramid version would be sick

[IDontLikeJunk]

would it be possible instead of putting a button to turn it on, to put 2 metal contacts that the battery connects to on one side. so you would make the outside of the cube (the non-glowing parts) out of a material that does not conduct electricity. then you just put the cube (contacts down) on a piece of metal (that conducts electricity) or onto some fabric with lots of really thin wires sewn in (you could make a glove like that) and it would just turn on automatically. if you made a glove, it would be cool just putting it on your hand and it turns on, and since its turning on when it touches your clothing, nobody can tell why.

[DIYdave]

Would it be possible to hook the battery up to an external solar cell so you would not need to replace the battery?

[elyador]

I don't see why not. . .

[WaffleKnight49]

Where can you buy the sheet metal?

[elyador]

Any hardware store will have it. they'll probably have lots of different kinds. I once made armor for a haloween costume out of steel sheet metal. the end result was cool, but the stuff was awful to work with. I would use something softer than steel for this. I'm going to try copper. that won't be cheap, but it'll look pretty damn cool.

[unseen wombat]

They have it at home depot or lowes.

[ragashnaga45]

you can cut up the inside of a soda can and use that

[extrordinary1]

covering the LED with elmers glue diffuses the light too. I'm makin the pyramid design like others have mentioned here. The cube is cool, but I like the pyramid more. Great conversation starter. Great project.

[GreenFox]

There's only five sides on the template, do I just leave one side blank?

[29spike]

there are 6 sides but one of them has a hole for the button in it

[tomthebomb]

awesome looks great... but i just used aluminum foil with a glue stick and it did not stay on at all. if i use soda cans and rubber cement or elmers will it work?

[weasel999]

Take an aluminum can and cut of the top+bottom, then make a cut in one side of the cylinder and flatten if ur still confused check this out

[fluffybuddy]

how do you make the light different colours?

[chosenangelx]

tri colour led ( buy it )

[Default117]

Either use an RGB LED or different LED's.

[Rokko8652]

By making a new one with a different LED

[Jacktop]

can I make it so I can replace the batteries?

[danies]

Hey i think i know how to solve a charging problem... Just solder to wires from +/- of the batery to two of thouse plates of steel, so when you want to charge it just type wires from charging device to those plates....

[TXTCLA55]

Use button cells, they tend to last about 3x longer than normal batteries.

[coco911231]

a good button cell has a lifespan of 4 weeks of continus use

[TXTCLA55]

Yes, button cells are best but getting something to house them can be a little tricky. Thats why I use AAA, AA, or 9 Volts just because it I easier to house them.

[Spartan104]

Cut open and AA battery your find a crap load of button cells.

[drummerboy911]

actually its 12 volts not AA's

[bladebaka]

Hey, i was making a led project earlier, and i discovered something on accident. if you use acrylic, you can use a heat source to diffuse the light passing through it.I had some orangey-red-pink acrylic that looked really neat, after i accidentally hit it with the soldering iron.

[BraisedDuck]

Could you name some other things for the armor?thx.

[PikminRed]

I have an idea that might work! So, Ok, You know how people paint those wacky designs on cars with the tape? Well, you could use masking tape and create the design where you would want the light to show through then you spray paint the whole thing silver (Or any other color if you wanted it a different color) Then you peel off the tape when the spraypaint dries and, VIOLA! no metal needed. Pik

[BraisedDuck]

thanks.

[MaliceGA]

Is a cut up pop can a acceptable substitute for sheet metal?

[BraisedDuck]

Ummm.... what's a cut up pop?

[CrazeexGood]

a soda can

[viacin]

a little thin..but probably perfect for this! I'm gonna try it. thanks for a good idea :-)

[sinagaraw]

hmmm? was the transformers all spark cube the inspiration for this design?

[al145]

this can be great for the bionicle cube from 2003

[simon182]

I'm Currently doing this project, though I'm using thick aluminium which is Very time consuming to cut and file to shape! but it gives a really nice effect through the gaps in the thicker metal. Should I submit it when its finished?

[pyroten]

yea just upload sum pics or something

[TechNerd1012]

what i thought of doing was, with the corner that is completely covered by metal, cutting the plexiglass off that corner, and having the LED and battery stuck to that, just held in place with magnets. That way, you could replace the battery, and keep it looking cool still. (This is given that you dont actually fill the cube with glue)

[TechNerd1012]

i wonder what it would look like if you used several layered sheets of foil instead of sheet metal

[icyice]

could you use silver spray paint to paint the parts where you would use the sheet metal?

[coco911231]

shure u can i used gold spraypaint and it looks great!

[Deeder]

If you have access to a laser cutter/ waterjet machine you should be able to use fingerjoints to help in constructon of the cube- make them an interference fit (its only plastic) be careful on the corner edges as you have to be careful how you design the fingerjoints there .. Ive made many a cube this way but now, thanks to the inspiration this instructable has given me I wiill now make them glow an evil box.

[n8man]

what kind of sheet metal. mine started to rust

[REA]

i would suggest aluminum. it doesnt rust.

[PKTraceur]

Well, in theory it "rusts" but It forms a layer of Aluminium Oxide, which prevents further oxidation. The rust he is referring to is prbobly Iron Oxide.

[Resident Expolsives Expert]

(removed by author or community request)

[coco911231]

yea i was goin for a steampunk look so i used some SuperRust liquid (i forget the brand name)

[cd41]

maybe like a future object that was stuck back in time and found hundreds of years later

[garrett10]

Yes it would be cool but if you were to cut yourself [hopefully by accident] you would get 1.Lockjaw or 2. a shot [trust me the shot is better]

[elyador]

Actually, you're safe. Lockjaw is caused by bacteria, not rusty metal.

[Jonny Katana]

Technically, rust doesn't give you lockjaw, the C. tetani bacteria does. Rusty surfaces can just give the bacteria a convenient rough surface to adhere to.

Wiping down the rusty portions of the cube with an alcohol wipe prior to handling would greatly reduce the risk of infection should a cut occur.

[n8man]

I know that and I already got my sheet. The best thing to do is make the cube template out of the sheet, fold the template into a cube shape, then draw the lines that you want to cut.

[cd41]

or print the template (or a custom one if you want) and put it over the metal and cut it from there (don't know if its possible with all metals, i used thin Al(aluminum incase you didn't pay attention in Science)

[hobbs91]

do you only cover 5 sides? or templates just missing one? just a thought-if you do cover all sides, maybe the empty bottom side would give it a nice glow effect all around it on whatever surface.think I'll try that and if not so good just add that side hehe

[REA]

i made a 6th side for the second template. its similar to one of the sides.

[hobbs91]

ah ok i guess because of it's layout i got confused

[AlexTheGreat]

I covered all of the sides. I didn't make the template.

[ericyo9]

can I use duck tape for the sheet metal?

[Brother_D]

I can't see why not. It would look like crap though.

[ericyo9]

hobb the 1 side has a hole on it to turn it on

[Arcan3]

Why dont you try sanding the plastic instead of the hot glue?

[-Aj-]

you could, but might not give the same effect. the glue gives it a weight too. can try tri anyway

[David952]

Couldn't you use aluminum foil instead of sheet metal?

[Kiteman]

It wouldn't look half so cool, though.