i'm holding in my hand a bunch of glass lumia wheels that will be going up on my ebay in a day, maby tomorrow if i get around to it.
i'm holding in my hand a bunch of glass lumia wheels that will be going up on my ebay in a day, maby tomorrow if i get around to it.
Thanks for posting Greg!
When this topic came up, I was searching furiously through my inbox trying to remember who sold me the Lumia wheel I have. I knew it was someone in Texas, but I couldn't remember who...
Folks - the glass that Greg (Displaser) has is *perfect* for Lumia. He searched and searched until he found the perfect glass, and when he found it, he bought all they had! If you've ever looked at my ustream.tv page, you've probably seen the lumia video I posted. (In the recorded clips section, it's the 5th one.) It was done with this same glass. Awesome effect.
As for the idea of using Epsom salts that Agent C posted, that's quite interesting. You could experiment with different crystal growing techniques, and when you finally got one you liked it would be a simple matter to apply some clear epoxy (or even fiberglass resin) to fix it permanently in place. That way you wouldn't need to worry about it being damaged. (Would have to be sure you used clear resin though; otherwise a higher power projector might overheat and scorch it.)
Re: the shotglass trick - most any faceted glassware will work. I've had good luck with wine glasses myself. Spec once posted a video of a white light beam hitting a crystal water goblet. Very cool stuff.
Back in 2007 when we all went to see Paramount's Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular (in WinterPark, Florida), Ryan Waters took us on-stage to show us the projectors he used for the show. One of the Lumia effects he had was an antique crystal doorknob! It made an awesome "tornado" looking pattern.
Adam
That is such a cool idea. And there IS a way to preserve them, in that liquid plastic stuff that you can mix and pour in place. It's very transparent, a par for acrylic, I think. Only serious problem is heat, if the crystals absorb much from a strong laser. Can make it in two parts, probably, growing crystals on the first half and cleaning the perimeter for a decent bond for the upper layer once they're dry. And maybe drill a tiny hole as a safety vent if water of crystallzation gets liberated by the laser.
Hi All,
Back in about 1980, I had just purchased my 1st Metrologic 5mw HeNe. I made several lumia wheels out of shower-door glass. It looks almost exactly like the "privacy glass" picture that Mike posted. I took a piece of it and mounted it to a DC-powered gearmotor. I used a potentiometer and three 9-volt batteries to run it. Not very efficient, but quick to put together. I made a screw-driven translation stage so I could adjust the position of the beam to a new "track" on the disk. I could slow the motor down 'til it was almost not moving. I made different kinds of wheels out of PlexiGlas. One was made with tiny cubes of clear plastic glued to a disk. Another just had model-airplane glue smeared on it. If I were going to make another one, I'd go to American Science & Surplus (http://www.sciplus.com/category.cfm/.../subsection/18) and check out model #37244. It only draws 15ma no-load (which it will be just turning a lumia wheel). Or model # 93306. I used to hang a sheet over a wall and project the patterns on it. I'm lucky to have a single brain cell left...
Tim
Wired glass is also good. My glass phantoms came from that stuff. Had bobbles on one side of it too though. What's really cool about wired glass is the flaws in the index throughout, and it's nearly a cm thick, it makes for very three-dimensional lumia. Translating across the beam is one thing, pitching and yawing in it quite another, the effects don't just warp and morph, they roll while doing it.
Those cheap little clear ash trays and candy dishes have the angular protrusions all over them work great.
Wanna try something *really* cool? Try firing a scan pattern through the bubbles from one of the "jumbo bubbles" machines they have at Toys R Us for about $30.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFsmdZNzSzI&fmt=18
It doesn't show up very well in the video, but the effect is to splatter moving, changing lumia-mutated versions of the scan pattern all over the room.
wave lumia is a twisted or distorted glass tube spun about its axis by a slow motor.
also known as toffee tube or tortured tube lumia.
poking it with a nail or carbon rod while its soft makes nice distortions.
Looks just like water waves, ie it works mainly in one axis like a cylindrical lense.
I have pounds of glass tubing :-)
Steve
Some of the best lumia is where the laser melts transparent plastic or wax.. I don't know the details, but I've also seen two oils like in a lava lamp used, heated by adsorbtion.
Opps, thats a ion laser trick, sorry, didn't mean to offend you DPSS guys. :-)
Steve