Multi-Rotational Mirrored Starburst

This is my entry for the SHOPBOT contest. I work with a small group of creative individuals who are always designing and building unusual and fun things with CNC routed products. We've probably spent more than $40,000 (of other people's money) in CNC services. Having access to our own CNC router would be spectacular to say the very least, and I can only imagine what future projects it would be a critical part of.

This unique decoration was designed as a new dance floor centerpiece for the now former nightclub in Chicago, Crobar. If not immediately clear, this is a fairly complicated build. Built on a truncated icosahedron (Soccer ball geometry) with rotating mirrored spikes. The structure is largely built from a specific brand of foam board called Ultra board and polished aluminum faced Ultraboard, which has a near-mirror finish. Each of the six sided spikes rotates, and in the attached video the whole starburst is hung from a specialized motor that has an electrical socket to power the star. It's a lot of rotation and sparkle. With a little fog in the space, all of the rotating spikes created a lot of movement of light beams around the space. Unfortunately, this nightclub closed and so the only video that exists of this is what I've posted here. It does a decent job of showcasing it, but depending on the lighting and the fog concentration, it was capable of many looks and effects. Though the mirror ball motors are stabilized and functioned fairly well overall, they would be the first revision. Variable speed motors with a little more torque would be spectacular.
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At least part of the inspiration for my "death star" came from the signage device known as the rotosphere. There were 3 of them in the town where i grew up, and i assumed that they were fairly common. as it turns out there were less than 250 of them made, of those only 17 survive. They were manufactured and marketed between 1960 and 1971 as an attention getting add-on for conventional signage. i never realized as a kid just how big they actually were... 19 feet from tip to tip. obviously they were plagued with maintenance issues, which ultimately led to their demise. See the rotosphere with the links below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DVjMJCv_RA&feature=related

http://www.agilitynut.com/sca/roto.html

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Step 1:

in addition to the complete kit of routed parts you will need the following:

about 3 large bottles of moisture activated polyurethane glue (gorilla glue, or elmers' ultimate polyurethane glue)

about 4 rolls of 1 1/2" or 2" good quality masking tape to be used in the gluing process.

about 30 feet of 3/8" threaded rod

30 3/8"x1 1/2" coupling nuts

60 3/8"locking nuts with nylon inserts

permanent thread locking compound (Loctite 262)

30 split pins

30 3/8"x1 3/8"x1/2" bearings

about 20 feet of 1" copper pipe

30 copper reducing fittings 1 1/4" to 1"

plumbers solder and flux

30 inexpensive disco ball motors (around $10/ea from cheaplights.com)

90   3 1/2"x 1/8" carriage bolts

90   1/8" nuts

6   6 outlet power strips

1   6 foot power cord

approximately 1/2 sheet of quality 1" plywood

1 foot section of 1 1/2" black pipe threaded at each end

1 1 1/2" pipe flange

1 1 1/2" pipe cap

1   3 foot length of 1/2" threaded rod

1   1/2"x2" coupling nut

1   1/2"x 5" eye bolt

2   1/2" washers

4   1/2" nuts

1   1/2" locking nut with nylon insert

assorted small hardware and zip ties

NOTE: it is strongly recommended that you review all of this instructible and have a thorough understanding of the materials list and how all the materials come together. i also recommend that you source any materials that interface directly with routed parts, prior to beginning this project, and verify the affected dimensions with calipers, and make any changes if necessary to the files before sending them off to be cut. failure to do so will be quite co$tly.

you will also need access to:

a table saw with a tilting arbor, rip fence, and a good quality miter gauge. (i recommend the
Kreg KMS7102 precision miter gauge)

a drill press and assorted bits 1/8" to 1/2"

plus a good assortment of common hand tools to include but perhaps not limited to a hammer, punch, crescent wrenches, socket wrenches, assorted pliers and vise grips.

common sense safety should be observed at all times, especially for those less experienced.
safety glasses are a must, a mask should be worn while cutting foamboard products on the table saw, and gloves are also recommended when working with the aluminum faced foamboard products as the edges can be very sharp.

this instructable is not recommended for beginners, and i would rate it a 4 out of 5 as far as difficulty is concerned. you should be experienced with the use of table saws and their associated guides, gauges, fences and safety features, and have a personality that works to perfection or precision in all aspects of a project if you desire a satisfactory result.
estimated cost for this project: $2400