Technology

The Art of the LED Candlestick

This ivy-covered tree structure serves as a candelabra and is sure to be a conversation starter because it combines 21st-century crafts with art. It’s pretty simple to assemble, although you must do some wiring and possibly soldering. A fantastic technology class project would be to build a candelabra with LED lights.

A candelabra can be made with only a few everyday household items, including eight wire coat hangers; a round cake board; ten LED lights; a card; silver spray paint; electrical chocolate block; No Nails adhesive; cable ties; clear ornaments; electrical wire; a soldering iron; and solder (but not always).

Make ‘C’ forms out of the coat hangers by cutting and reshaping them. Make a trunk out of the coat hangers by securing them with two wire ties.

Shape the limbs into something aesthetically pleasing. Remember that the LED lights will be at the end of each branch as you shape the tree, and do your best to distribute them equally so that the whole thing looks good from any angle.

The wire ‘legs’ of the structure are spread out like the ribs of an umbrella at the bottom. Each ‘leg’ should be twisted 90 degrees to form a ‘foot’ (pointing downward).

The ‘feet’ need to be placed into holes cut into the side of the cake board. Drill holes in the cake board using a hammer and nail. To make the hole bigger, tape it precisely and wiggle the pin around before taking it out.

Put some no-nails adhesive in the hole and jam your foot in there. Use sellotape to keep it in place while the glue dries. Place each wire foot into the appropriate spot on the cake board.

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Hold off on removing the sellotape until the glue has dried.

Create unique twisting accents from craft wire to adorn the candelabra’s limbs. ‘Springs’ can be made by winding wire around a pencil. Wrapping the wire’s tail around the coat hangers that make up the trunk is an effective way to secure it. When the cable ties are removed, the wrapping around the box will provide additional support.

Choice 1 – The lights themselves come in a few different varieties. ’99p Store’ offers 20 tiny LED lights powered by a single battery. These lights can be used in their current configuration to illuminate the tree’s branches.

Option 2: You may utilize these inexpensive electrical components from the 99-cent-only store lighting. Additionally, this would suggest that insulating tape and twisting wires together would suffice in place of soldering.

Third, you may purchase the individual components—LED lights, resistor, and battery compartment—and assemble them yourself via soldering.

In the latter two scenarios, you must connect four wires to the candelabra, two for each bulb. Underneath the tree’s main trunk, you may find the battery pack. Do not cut this cable short; you need the extra 5 cm to connect to the battery box. Keep the wires in pairs as you wind them around the tree’s trunk and branches. This wire is meant to simulate ivy climbing a wall. Again, ensure there’s 5cm of wire hanging from the unit’s tip for plugging in the LED bulb.

Each ranch will have 10 LED lights, eight at the ends and 2 nestled in the nooks where the branches emerge.

To each set of paired wires, fasten one LED light bulb. If you remove LED lights from the 99 Store, you can reassemble them by soldering or twisting the wires together. If you turn the wires together, make sure to insulate the joint.

Put a dab of tape on each bulb and attach it to the wire framework.

Spray paint the framework silver, then use newspaper and sellotape to cover each bulb before painting. The outside of the battery compartment should also be sprayed. Follow the directions on the can of spray paint when using it. For a perfect Finnish, you might need to paint your tree twice. Wait for the bulbs to dry before removing the masking.

Remove the plastic hooks from each ornament, creating a little tunnel or hole. Put each LED light inside the bauble hole with a dab of clear drying glue.

New, fully charged batteries must be placed in the battery compartment before the 10 LED lights can be wired. Only one direction of wiring will work for LED lights. Therefore, the pairs of wires at the tree’s base will tell you which ones belong where.

Remove a little piece of plastic covering from the battery compartment to connect the two wires in the battery compartment. Using a little bit of electrical tape, label one of the cables.

Start at the candelabra’s base and work your way up, peeling insulation away from each set of wires until you’re left with just the bare wires you’ll need to attach to the battery compartment. Try switching the wiring if a light bulb still won’t light up.

Mark the wire that connects to the electrical tape when the light bulb turns on. Ultimately, you’ll have ten pieces of wire with markings and ten details without.

Gather the wire’s designated ends into groups of three or four, twist them together, and insert them into the first three holes of a chocolate-shaped electrical block. To hell with them. Place the unmarked wires in spots 4, 5, and 6 on the chocolate block, just like you did with the identified wires. Tighten the screws, please.

Then, divide the wire into two 4-centimeter-long sections and strip the ends. Connect the designated wire from the battery compartment to one end, then connect the other end to the first one by twisting it. The indicated wire from the battery compartment will provide three turns of wire. Place these three wire coils into the chocolate block at the indicated locations (1, 2, 3). To connect the remaining bare cables, follow the same steps, except this time, push the twists into positions 4, 5, and 6. Now, perhaps, every light will turn on.

Attach the battery case and the chocolate block to the cake board with glue, placing them underneath the central support.

Ivy leaves of varying sizes were cut from thin card stock. In total, you’ll need around 20 to 30 leaves. Make a hole in each leaf where the stalk would go using a needle. Leave the ivy leaves to dry after spray painting them silver.

Each leaf is secured to the framework by being threaded onto a separate piece of craft wire, which is then bent around the tree’s wire network and the ends of which are twisted together. Put the larger leaves at the base of the candelabra and work your way up to the smaller ones. It would be best to use the leaves closest to the ground to conceal the battery pack and chocolate bar.

Your finished candelabra is a work of art and will draw compliments wherever it is displayed.

S. Roberts writes for [http://www.santaspostbag.co.uk], a free educational resource full of fun and engaging projects for kids of all ages, from the age-old to the cutting-edge. Photos of candelabras can be found at [http://www.santaspostbag.co.uk/LED-christmas-light-Candelabra-homemade-decoration.html]. These images may be used, but please do not hotlink to them. BigBoysToyz.com is proud to partner with SantasPostbag this holiday season. Maintaining the spirit of Christmas.

linda