Rubik's Cube Lantern

Hi, this is Scott with Elemental LED. I am an LED enthusiast and woodworker. I was browsing through the Elemental LED web page, and I was checking out the Flexible LED Strip Lights: Solid Colors when I was inspired to make a Rubik's cube lantern. Elemental LED has a variety of colors of strip light available, and it so happens that they have every color for each side of a Rubik's cube! I placed an order with Elemental, went to the hardware store to pick up a few items and hit the garage to construct the lantern. I hope you enjoy this post and feel inspired by this cutting edge LED technology.  

Elemental LED Materials List:

2 ft.  Flexible LED Strip Lights: Solid Colors in red, blue, green, amber, warm white and neutral white
12V Adapter - 12W
LED Adapter Splice Cable - female
12V Inline On/Off Switch
16 ft, Two-Strand Lamp Wire - 18/2 AWG, clear
Wire Nut Connector Pair

Additional Materials:
.5" X 2' X 4' - MDF sheet
1" X 3" X 6' - Pine board
qty: 4 - .125" x 9" x 9" frosted acrylic sheets (from TAP Plastics)
Rosin Core Solder
sm. can - Oil Based Glossy Black Paint
sm. box, black - 2" phillips head wood screws
qty: 12 - 1" ,#8 phillips head machine screws/bolts
qty: 12 - .5" nylon washers
sm. box - 18 gauge 1.25" brad nails
sm. box - 18/2 AWG wire staples
8' length of brass chain

TOTAL TIME OF PROJECT: 18 hours

Tools Needed:

(No safety information will be provided in this Instructable. Review your owners manual for each of your tools before proceeding with this project)

Safety glasses
Paint brush
Drill
Drill bits
Hammer
Table Saw
Mitre Saw
Jig Saw
Square
Soldering Iron
Screwdriver
Clamps
Wire Trimmers/Strippers
Pneumatic Finish Nail Gun
Air Compressor

Step 1: Overview

Basic Overview: This lamp will contain an outer cube made of a wood/mdf frame and an inner cube made of mdf that the light strips will adhere to. These two cubes will be connected by 4 wood spacers.

Step 1: On a table saw, rip the 1" X 3" X 6'  pine board (actual size is .75" x .2.75" x 6')  into 3 strips at .75" each. This will give you 3 strips of .75" x .75" x 6'. 

Comments

[jessyho862013]

that is cool! elemental LED is me jess my real name is jessy but my name is jess do i know why that is a no.1 jessy there!

[Elemental LED]

Thank you! Thinking of making one too?

[jessyho862013]

ur welcome elemental led

[EEGeek]

Very cool. Gonna have to build one for the kids' room!

For those with limited table saw experience, I highly recommend using a wider board to rip the 3/4" strips. The second pass on the 1x3 will tricky. Better to start with a 1x6 for such thin strips. (yes, you have some waste, but all 10 fingers)

[Elemental LED]

Awesome - send us photos when you do! And thanks for the alternative tips.

[freakyqwerty]

Cool! It looks like a rubiks touch.

[Elemental LED]

Absolutely! Now to figure out how to make it interactive too...

[jessyratfink]

This is excellent. :D

[Elemental LED]

Why thank you, Jessy :)