Introduction: High Fire

High Fire is a paired set of mittens that symbolizes the bond between friends and creates a magical moment. When four people wearing mittens high five or join hands, the candle is ignited.

PLEASE be careful while playing with fire. I will not be responsible if you burn down your house!

Step 1: MATERIALS

  • 4 pairs of mittens (Chinatown)
  • Matching color yarns (Michael’s)
  • Matching color threads
  • Matching color multi-string wires (length of each wire = 2 yards)
  • Two pieces of wires (length of each wire = 30 inches) for the candle
  • Stretchy conductive fabric (Adafruit)
  • A small piece of black felt
  • A small piece of velcro hooks
  • Copper tape (Adafruit)
  • Electrical tape
  • TIP120 transistor (Adafruit)
  • Adafruit Gemma (Adafruit)
  • Lithium ion polymer battery - 3.7v150mAh (Adafruit)
  • Nichrome wire 26 gauge or thinner (hacked from an aquarium heater)
  • 2 AA batteries
  • 2 AA battery holders (Radio Shack)
  • Matches
  • 4” diameter candle
  • Candle holder

Step 2: TOOLS

  • Mini-B USB cable
  • Soldering iron
  • Helping hands
  • Knife
  • Scissors
  • Flush-cutter
  • Flat-nose plier
  • Sewing needle
  • Alligator clips
  • 220 ohm resistor
  • LED
  • 3V battery
  • Steel rod

Optional

  • Micro Lipo - USB
  • LiIon/LiPoly Charger (Adafruit)
  • Breadboard
  • Hand drill

Step 3: MITTENS

1. Strip a quarter of an inch of insulation off each end of the 4 multi-colored wires. Solder both ends of 3 wires and one end of the 4th wire to a piece of copper tape. Leave one end of the 4th wire stripped for soldering later.

2. Cut the stretchy conductive fabric into oval shapes and tape the soldered copper tape to the back.

3. Multiply four strings of yarns and crochet the chain stitch using your fingers.

TIP! The yarn length needs to be around 6 times the wire length. If your wire length is 2 yards, your yarn lengths need to be 12 yards each – crochet 4 yarn strands together. One colored yarn should be around 48 yards.) To watch a YouTube video on how to start a finger crochet chain & single stitch here.

4. Sew the conductive fabric to each palm of the mittens and around the wire.

5. Weave the wire through the crochet chain to hide the wire.

TIP! Be gentle when weaving through the wire. Don’t bend the wire tip too much because it can break.

6. Sew the end of the crochet chain to the mitten and around the wire.

7. Three pairs of wired mittens are done! Don’t worry about the last pair of mittens, we will come back to it at the end.

Step 4: GEMMA

    1. Go through the instructions on how to set up Gemma at Adafruit.

      2. After Gemma is ready to be programmed, wire up the circuit using alligator clips, electrical tape, 3V battery, 220 ohm resistor, and an LED for testing.

        3. Use the following code, then verify and upload it to Gemma.

        Download the code here.

          4. Using a Lithium ion polymer battery, test if the LED lights up when two pieces of conductive fabric touch each other. A breadboard is optional but a great way to make sure your circuit is well connected.

          Attachments

          Step 5: COMMANDER MITTENS (Part 1)

          1. Once the circuit is working, solder all the parts together and put soldered copper tape on to the last piece of conductive fabric. Be sure to disconnect before soldering.
          TIP! It is better to wrap electrical tape around TIP120 to prevent wires from touching each other.

          2. Test your circuit again using a Lithium ion polymer battery to power Gemma, 3V battery, 220 ohm resistor, and an LED. (An LED on Gemma should light up as well.)

          Step 6: CANDLE

          1. Peel off the plastic on top and bottom of the candle and drill two holes (one on each side of the string) all the way through from the top to the bottom of the candle using a drill and a steel rod to finish if your drill bit isn’t long enough.
          TIP! Leave the plastic wrapper on the side of the candle and wrap the candle in tape to hold it together. This will prevent the candle from cracking and breaking apart while drilling holes. (If the candle wax is dry, it tends to crack and break more.)

          2. Strip both ends of two pieces of wires and feed them through the candle. Light the candle to let the wax melt down a bit.

          3. Curve two channels on the back of the candle for the wires to fit through so that the candle can stand flat.

          4. Bridge the two wires with ~1 inch of nichrome wire, shred the tips of 3 matches and place them near the nichrome wire and the candle string. (I hacked the nichrome wire from an old aquarium heater.)

          TIP! Make sure there are shredded match tips in between nichrome wire and the candle. This can escalate the process.

          Step 7: COMMANDER MITTENS (Part 2)

          1. Once the candle is working, adding one more AA battery to the candle and connect it to the circuit to test if it works.
          TIP! The TIP120 transistor may get warm because 6 amps of current is going through it. (TIP120 transistor can take 5 amps, and maximum of 8 amps.)

          2. Sew the last piece of conductive fabric, Gemma, TIP120, and nearby wires on the mitten. Then sew the crochet chain on to the mitten as well.

          3. Cut a piece of black fabric and sew one end to the glove, and sew a small piece of velcro hooks on the other end to cover the Gemma.

          PLEASE be very careful while working on the project. You are dealing with fire!

          Step 8: FINAL PREP

          1. Solder the commander mittens to the candle and wrap around the exposed wires with electrical tape.
          2. Set up the environment, put the AA batteries in the battery holders, and plug a lithium ion polymer battery to Gemma. Then join hands!