The dog was attached to the box using dowel joints on each leg and superglue. I chose to use clear dowel to try and make the joint invisible, but realised afterwards that this was a poor choice and made for a very weak joint. A small piece of metal rod would have been a far better idea.
Now that everything was in place, the electronics were fitted and the bottom side was screwed on. The last detail was to glue on a foam bottom to cover the screws and provide a grippy surface.
I was extremely happy with the final result and feel I got very close to my original aim of finishing it to a professional standard. The biggest finishing error I made was the frosted coating on the tubing, which I ended up leaving a few fingerprints in. However, as it was a homemade christmas gift, and after all it’s the thought that counts, I’m sure this can be overlooked!
Neon Dog Project
Woodwork, Electronics, Product Design
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This neon balloon dog was a christmas gift that I made this year. I was inspired by the work of artist Deepa Mann-Kler a couple of years ago and decided to create a miniature of one of her works to act as a night lamp. My aim for this project was to create something that looked like it could have been bought from a high end home accessories shop.
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This process started off with trying to find a budget friendly alternative to neon tubing. In my research, I came across Electroluminescent (EL) wire which seemed to fit the bill. This is made of a copper wire that is coated with phosphor, which will glow when an AC current is passed through it. To hold the shape of the wire I chose to put it in acrylic tubing, which I could shape and bend using a heat gun. With such a complex shape, I quickly realised a former would be needed to bend the tubing around. This was made from layers of MDF, which could be broken up once the shaping was complete.
To diffuse the light and give a better glow effect, I coated the tubing with a spray that is meant for frosting windows. Due to the form of the dog, it wasn’t easy to get an even surface coating with the spray and it ended up being a bit gloopy. If I was to do it again, I think would look into frosting the surface by some sort of chemical etching.
My next job was to make the stand for the light. This came in the form of a box made from Walnut. To make the box seamless, I needed to bevel the edges of all the sides of the box to a 45 degree angle. This was mostly possible on a mitre saw, but some of the pieces had to be cut on a custom made jig. Once cut, each side could be glued the adjacent side on the beveled edge, but a wooden skeleton was also added for structure.
To give the light a more professional and high end feel, I decided to swap the plastic push button switch that came with the EL wire driver for a metal toggle switch.
With the box mostly complete, holes were drilled in the bottom for the screws to lose up the bottom side. This included countersinking the hole so the screws could sit flush.
I also attached a mounting piece for the electronics the bottom piece and a space for two pieces of scrap steel. These were to give the lamp a bit of weight.
Once all of the wood pieces were complete, the box was finished with a Danish Oil.
