Lumia Extravaganza
Well, extravaganza might be pushing it, but with a little help I would like to see a de facto lumia thread...
For some great reason, lumia effects have been popping up in threads here and there on PL lately. This is strange and wonderful to me, since just this last weekend I felt compelled to build my first lumia wheel, even before my browsing detected the pattern here. Maybe we are in sync like bees?
Pictures Please! Whether it is a sample of modified glass, plastic, etc- samples of great lumia pics new and old (although I can tell you for a fact that cameras don't do these justice), motor drive & controller ideas, ...
With that being said, here is my lumia story:
As a kid back in about 1980 or so, my mom took my brother and I to a sold-out Pink Floyd laser show in Omaha, NE at the Civic Auditorium Music Hall. As we walked in, I remember my mom saying, "I wonder why it smells so sweet in here?" to which my brother, at about 14yo exclaimed, "that's hash!" This could be why they didn't need hazers back then to get great beams...
The show was incredible and left a lasting impression on me to this day. There were no graphics or pictures- just effects that were expertly matched to the mood in the music, and the crowd. The effect that I remember most vividly was a slowly swirling veil of shimmering red light that looked like something from heaven. It was so cool I almost couldn't stand it.
Fast forward to about 2001- I am in my neighbor's attic and he is showing me a collection of vintage Stingray bicycles. He gestures to a stack of solid wood doors and tells me that he rescued them from a dumpster at the University of NE Omaha during a reconstruction in about 1980. He gives me one, which I take home and cut lengthwise to make a corner decoration in the house I just bought. I removed 2 pieces of privacy glass from the door & replaced with clear glass in order to frame some family photos. I placed the old glass panels in my "shit box" and forgot about them for about 8 years.
Last Saturday, I dug one of the glass panels out and cut a circle. I have made a few stained-glass windows, so luckily I had all of the tools at hand. This is probably another reason why I didn't junk the privacy glass in the first place too. I used a Dremel moto tool with a diamond bit to punch the center hole through the glass.
I attached the wheel to a disco ball motor & fired up a spare green 100mw to check it out. Wow! Why hadn't I tried this a few decades ago with my grocery store hene!?
As it sets, the disco motor rated ar 1.5 RPM is still too fast. I'd like to find something controllable from 0 to 2 RPM. Maybe a trip to the thrift store is in order. Any ideas? I am definitely going to use an analog driver with a potentiometer so I can make the colors BLEED in softly and slowly. I'll be sure to post some more pics and vids as things develop. Care to join this trip?
-Mike
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Originally Posted by allthatwhichis
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