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Step 6Electronics
The next step, now you have the acrylic sheets, is to make up the LEDs and control circuits.
We decided to put 50 LEDs on each layer not the full 100 that we have enough holes for. After testing we decided 50 was enough and liked the way that the LEDs reflected internally within the acrylic to light up the 'empty' holes, but you could do the full 100 on each sheet if you wanted.
stripboards
First use the "strip cutting tool" to create the breaks on the strip board as needed.
Next solder 50 resistors in two groups of 25 at each end. In each block of 25 we did them in smaller blocks of 5 for spacing purposes.
Now solder the 2 transistors onto the strip board.
Then run a line of solder down the board to join all the strips with resistors to each other and to where the positive supply will come in. You could also do this with wire if you prefer, joining each strip to the next.
Next solder the transistors onto the stripboard.
After that use a multimeter to make sure that there are no short circuits between strips. Then do a multimeter test to check that all the resistors were soldered correctly by putting one contact on the positive line of solder and the other on the other side of the resistor.
Then cut the wires, you will need 100 wires for each 50 LEDs. We used yellow and white to differentiate between positive and negative. We cut the wires for the sheet 3 to 300mm each, for sheet 2 and sheet 1 we cut them to 800mm.
The yellow wires should be soldered to the positive side of the circuit, beyond the resistors. The white ones are soldered in a cluster in the area not connected to the positive line of solder.
Having attached all the components to the strip board, now solder the LEDs to the ends of the wires. Yellow to the long pin, white to the short pin (and flat edge). We shortened the length of the pins before doing this, making sure to keep the pins different lengths so we knew which side was which.
Repeat another two times so that you have three identical boards.
We decided to put 50 LEDs on each layer not the full 100 that we have enough holes for. After testing we decided 50 was enough and liked the way that the LEDs reflected internally within the acrylic to light up the 'empty' holes, but you could do the full 100 on each sheet if you wanted.
stripboards
First use the "strip cutting tool" to create the breaks on the strip board as needed.
Next solder 50 resistors in two groups of 25 at each end. In each block of 25 we did them in smaller blocks of 5 for spacing purposes.
Now solder the 2 transistors onto the strip board.
Then run a line of solder down the board to join all the strips with resistors to each other and to where the positive supply will come in. You could also do this with wire if you prefer, joining each strip to the next.
Next solder the transistors onto the stripboard.
After that use a multimeter to make sure that there are no short circuits between strips. Then do a multimeter test to check that all the resistors were soldered correctly by putting one contact on the positive line of solder and the other on the other side of the resistor.
Then cut the wires, you will need 100 wires for each 50 LEDs. We used yellow and white to differentiate between positive and negative. We cut the wires for the sheet 3 to 300mm each, for sheet 2 and sheet 1 we cut them to 800mm.
The yellow wires should be soldered to the positive side of the circuit, beyond the resistors. The white ones are soldered in a cluster in the area not connected to the positive line of solder.
Having attached all the components to the strip board, now solder the LEDs to the ends of the wires. Yellow to the long pin, white to the short pin (and flat edge). We shortened the length of the pins before doing this, making sure to keep the pins different lengths so we knew which side was which.
Repeat another two times so that you have three identical boards.
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