Astro-Neon

Description

Product:
This light is designed to be a astronaut holding the moon as a balloon. It is made from 4 individual neon flex cuts in the colours of purple and yellow, 3 being yellow and 1 purple. All these strips are super glued sturdily into grooves within a clear, polished Perspex plastic sheet on which is in a rough outline of the lit up character. Transparent wires are soldered to the ends of each cut flex and are strengthened with moulded glue. This gluing is visible when the light is off but is necessary for extra durability and almost invisible when switched on. Majority of the transparent wires lead into the shining yellow lit up backpack of the astronaut and out into the female DC jack which seems as if it is a jetpack for the astronaut. This DC jack enables the power supply that comes with the product to give electricity and life to the neon strips. The light has also got a hole within the “moon”/design at a balance point to sustain an accessible hang point for walls.

Journey:
The product was made by a student over the course of a week for their work experience, they started off designing it using pen and paper in a rough drawing then moved onto using the CNC cutting software. Once this had been completed they headed down to the massive CNC machine “the Fabertec” and started the cut after placing the Perspex sheet onto the bed. After this was completed they hopped onto the internet and brought wires, neon flex, glue and power supplies. Finally these arrived leading them onto the first step cutting, they sliced all the wires and neon flex into appropriate sizes to fit into the groove. Step 2 they soldered the wire ends and light ends together then stabilised the joint with a hot glue gun. 3rd step they popped it all into place and got gluing. However after it was all glued together it did not work!… they had to melt all the glue back and solder everything apart and restart step 3. It worked this time, gladly they moved onto step 4- getting it sparkly; they smoothed edges with a file and polished the spilled glue with toothpaste. Lastly they drilled a hole at a balance point, hung it on a wall with a nail and took some awesome photographs.

Specifications:
35mm thick and 30cm by 58cm wide and tall
led power total-36W
power supply voltage-12V
power supply max current-3A
Comes with a power supply
Power cord measures 1.2m
5mm thick Acrylic clear plastic base
Wires are delicate but the rest is durable