Building lighting effects for an aquatically-themed NYE party in SF.
[[File:2010-12-07_21-13-03_593.jpg|thumb|600px|center|Starting with some uneven, scuffed, and out-of-spec scrap polycarbonate tubing aquired cheaply from [http://www.flowtoys.com/ Flow Toys], I found the most efficient size and set up a jig on the [[radial arm saw]].]]
[[File:2010-12-07_21-13-14_356.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I screwed some scrap wood directly to the MDF deck of the saw, using a square to ensure it was aligned 90 degrees to the blade.]]
[[File:2010-12-07_21-24-04_144.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I figured the size I wanted all the pieces to be and screwed in a backstop.]]
[[File:2010-12-07_21-25-49_939.jpg|thumb|400px|left|After slowly cutting through a few pieces…]]
[[File:2010-12-07_21-57-47_487.jpg|thumb|400px|right|…they’re all the same length.]]
[[File:2010-12-19_12-59-11_352.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I plugged and sealed the ends of the polycarb tubes with 7/8″ clear acrylic rod which I cut into roughly 1″ chunks.]]
[[File:2010-12-19_13-51-03_95.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I cleaned up the ends on the [[drill press]] with a 1″ Forstner bit]]
[[File:2010-12-23_18-52-39_573.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I drilled through the ends with a 3/16″ bit, press-fit the caps into the ends of the tubes, and glued aquarium hose fittings in place.]]
I followed this with some acrylic cement around the edge of the joint, which worked sometimes better than others.
[[File:2010-12-23_18-52-09_576.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I assembled groups of five tubes with some brackets I made on a [[laser cutter]]]]
[[File:2010-12-23_18-52-23_163.jpg|thumb|600px|center]]
[[File:2010-12-23_18-51-44_324.jpg|thumb|600px|center]]
[[File:2010-12-25_01-28-47_120.jpg|thumb|600px|center|After copious gluing of the tubes to the brackets I was ready to start on the boxes. I made 16 identical sides]]
[[File:2010-12-25_01-58-06_615.jpg|thumb|600px|center|and drilled a couple of pilot holes in each, 1/2 the thickness of the plywood from the edge]]
[[File:2010-12-25_02-03-50_382.jpg|thumb|600px|center]]
[[File:2010-12-25_02-25-28_139.jpg|thumb|600px|center|so I could easily turn them into boxes for the base]]
[[File:2010-12-27_01-50-30_107.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I cut some 3/4″ MDF to fit each box, drilled out the holes for the tubes (using a bracket as a stencil), then glued and screwed them in place as the tops]]
[[File:2010-12-29_20-51-24_890.jpg|thumb|600px|center|To prepare the lights/pump assembly, I cut the power cord to the aquarium pump and spliced in a weatherproof light socket]]
[[File:2010-12-29_20-53-39_714.jpg|thumb|600px|center|and wrapped the connection with lots of electrical tape]]
[[File:2010-12-29_19-03-59_990.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I plumbed the tubes in series, with a tall loop at the beginning (run up through the center so it’s less obvious) to prevent water from flowing back into the pump when not in use.]]
[[File:2010-12-29_19-04-07_801.jpg|thumb|600px|center|I used o-rings on the air lines to hold them taught against the brackets/base so they looked cleaner.]]
[[File:2010-12-29_18-38-29_992.jpg|thumb|600px|center|After painting the base and filling each tube with enough water (about 3″ below the top or they overflow when displaced with air)]]
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