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The security lights for the end of the wharf have been made and installed.

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How did I make them?

First, some 1' 1/4" lengths of Evergreen 226  3/16" tube, reamed out one end to take 3mm Hi Intensity (5000 mcd), LEDs.

Using a hole punch, make some dots from .5 mm styrene and glue them to one end of each.  Then file them down.

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Then some lengths of brass tube.  I used 3 mm inside 4 mm.  What ever you think looks "right."

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Solder them together so that they only overlap about 1/2".  That will make a chamber for the ballast resistor.

I used 1 kΩ 1/4 Watt so the lamp is ready for 12 Volts DC.

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Cut a slot in the bottom.  I used a diamond Dremel wheel so the slot is less than 1mm wide.

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Solder the red (+) wire into the slot - making sure that the inside of the tube is still clear and filing off the excess solder on the outside to make the tube a nice fit in the base board.

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Then take the black (-) wire and solder the resistor in about 7 1/2" from one end.

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Then cover it with heat shrink tube.

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Use a little piece of heat shrink tube to anchor the red wire to the black.

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Pull the black wire tight and CA glue it in place so it doesn't fall back when you touch it with the soldering iron.

Then strip the wire back to within 1 mm and tin it with solder.

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Then bend the bottom leg (+) of the LED and solder it to the brass tube.  Bend the top leg and solder it to the black wire.

Trim the wire to look like a finial.

You can make your own covers for the light.  I used a piece of styrene with a piece of 6 mm wide pin striping tape stuck to it.

The main thing is to prevent the light from showing through the top of the tube.

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Hook up and turn on the power to make sure it works.    before installing them into the base board.

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I etch primed these ones and then painted them Heritage Green.

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Sorry about the mixed Imperial/metric.

Cheers

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Images (13)
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WL 12

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Max.  Great job, great thread!  I was particularity interested in the bumpers on the piers as pictured above.  Mind if I ask how you made them?  Not so much the chain and tire assembly but the wooden posts themselves, were they made from anything in particular?  The shape reminds me of some common household item but I can't quite put my finger on it!  Thanks.  (My e-mail is in my profile if you want to respond that way.)

Thanks, Mike.

I think you might be talking about the piles?  If not, keep pressing me.  OZ is a bit different from US but I'm sure that we will get there.

There are some photos of the process in my layout thread . . .

https://ogrforum.com/t...port-elderley?page=1

. . . but basically they are 1/2" dowel.  I put them in a vise and used an Olfa draw knife to cut some "cracks" in them.  The tops were shaped on the corner of the wheel of my bench grinder.  The straps are rings of copper wire - they are a bit under scale. 

I painted them with Golden brand acrylic Titanium White and then washed them over and over with diluted flat black acrylic paint until they looked "right."

Let me know if I've misunderstood your question.

Cheers

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