[MakeLV] Shakespeare's Eyes

[Ellis Farmer]

Yesterday, we saw the giant Shakespeare head/face for the stagegroup... The
eyes don't light up!  (btw, the poster for the play is the image
attached.)  So, if we can come up with eyes that can be dropped in place it
would be awesome.

The eyes are 25" in circumference with 19-5/8" center to center.

The eyes they have are (fairly) solid plastic spheres that are too opaque
to light up even if we embedded LEDs in them.  I think the hard part will
be finding/making the spheres.  Lets assume we won't be able to find
suitable eyes in a craft store, how would we make them?

As far as the handle that moves the eyes, it is just a few items to pick up
at the hardware store.
2 Small Hinges (so the eyes don't rotate too oddly)
Wood Dowels (or should we use small wood slats so it is easy to attach the
hinges)
Spring (This allows you to pull the handle apart so you can cross the eyes)
Small hooks (To attach the spring to the dowels)
PVC Sleeve (for the spring/rod to travel in)
Threaded Rod & a Nut (this is so we can adjust the length of the bar, but
probably not really needed as long as the dowel is cut after the eyes are
installed)

The LED portion shouldn't be too hard, but might need some time to
experiment with diffusion.
I'm think at least Blue and Red as far as color.  More would just be
gravy.  Blinking?  Fade colors?  All possible, just need someone to spend
the time on the circuit.  Don't forget that someone needs to control the
eyes.  So, we really need to integrate the switch onto the handle.

The eyes will have about 4" of dowel (or wood slat) straight out the back
with a hinge on the end, then from hinge to hinge...  I should diagram
these, but for now here are 3 possibilities:
Hinge - Dowel - PVC sleave - Spring (attached to both dowels) - dowel
Hinge - Dowel - Threaded rod - Nut - PVC Sleeve - Dowel plug inside sleeve
- Spring - dowel - hinge
Hinge - Slat - Drawer slider - Slat - Hinge

*What kind of single axis hinge can you use with a dowel?  Bend it around
the dowel so the screws make a sort of X through it?
How could we make the spheres?  (Still, keep an eye out for them.)
What would make a good toggle switch?  Will need two colors.
We don't have a meeting this Thursday so we need to have everything ready
to go for the following Thursday.*

-Ellis
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