Light-up Waheguru Display Piece

I realized that haven’t posted much stuff this year as compared to previous years, probably because it was my final year at university and I was really busy. I recently found a bunch of old stuff that I created years ago but never posted. I’m not sure why, probably because they were small things or didn’t seem impressive enough to me to deserve their own post.. or I just never got around to it. Anyways, its cool to look back on those things now and I thought I’d share some of them.

I probably made this back in 2006/07 ( you can tell from the quality of the pictures). I was still excited about the whole light up plexiglass idea (see Plexiglass LED Table) , and I tried to cut a small piece of it and etch/scratch/engrave “Waheguru” on it in gurmukhi. It was pretty hard and I didn’t do a very good job, which is probably why I didn’t post it then. I added an LED light under it with a battery and switch. Then I used some cardboard and electric tape to make sort of a base/stand for the whole thing.  One thing I was really proud of at the time was that there was a little hinged door thing on the side so that you could slide out the battery and replace it, I thought this was pretty cool- rather than having to take all the electrical tape off every time. I still have this in my room. It doesn’t really serve any function besides looking cool.. and reminding you about Waheguru, of course 🙂

———————–UPDATE————————- 10/30/2012————————-

I took another look at this and realized it was different from the pictures I posted. I must have worked on it some more in between the time that I actually made it years ago and now. I guess it was long enough ago that I forgot. At some point I went over the ‘scratched’ Waheguru with another tool to make it more rounded and smooth. So now it actually looks like this:


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Customized VSK Ultimate Vaja

With LED lit keyboard and built-in phone stand.

Lately, I’ve been thinking of many ideas to customize, improve, and add features to my harmonium. I recently came up with the idea of adding LED lights for the keyboard to assist in seeing the keys while playing in the dark. Although this wasn’t a much needed feature I felt it could have some practical benefits for some people and it definitely looks cool. After putting the lights in I realized I didn’t really like the look of my vaja (it was pretty old and worn out with plenty of cuts and scratches on the paint) and the wiring/LED setup didn’t look very nice either. So I decided to “clean it up” a little and make the electrical work more hidden.  I figured while doing this I might as well customize the look of my vaja and give it a makeover. I went with my favorite black and silver theme, and tried to make it look more elegant too. There is no visible wiring, an easily accessible battery holder, and a push-button switch built into the wood.  My last addition was a hidden iphone/PDA stand which rotates out when you need it. This was the result of my Spring Break:

 

 

What it used to look like:

 

The process and detailed pictures:

 

 


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Lit Glass Angel Birthday Present

It was my sister’s (Simran Kaur) birthday on Dec. 31 st (thats right, New Years Eve!) and I figured I would get her something nice this year, because she always buys me stuff. There was this small glass Angel figurine that caught my eye at a store, and I remembered my sister really likes angels, so I bought it for her. It wasn’t that expensive though, and it didn’t feel like that was enough. So I started to make a base for it. I had an idea that it would look great with a light under it. I punched a hole in an Altoids can and put an LED through it, and batteries inside. Then I cut an opening on the side for a switch. I found an old makeup mirror and I glued that on top, after drilling a partial hole in it to let the light through. After that I spray painted the whole thing gold, to match the halo on the angel. Finally I printed a little note, laminated it and glued it to the bottom of the base. Now its on display at her house! Here are some pictures:


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LED Cell Phone Flashlight Remake

I did this a long time ago, when I got a new phone. When i switched from my old nokia, the new samsung was great. It was really thin, speakerphone, good camera, bluetooth, mp3, all the good stuff. But it lacked the flashlight I installed in my old one. After I was comfortable with the phone, I figured out a way to add on the flashlight without permanently damaging the phone, and keeping it good looking and slim. I added 4 white LEDs, which would provide light in one direction and conserve battery power. I put a switch on the side and was done. Unfortunately the phone gave me other trouble, and I had to stop using it. I undid the lights, and you can’t tell anything was done. I got another phone since, but I never put this post up, so I thought I might as well do it now, several months later.

Pictures:





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