Backlit World Map From an Old PVC Pipe

Today... I am presenting my one of the most favorite projects... I'm a student of Geography... And I do love the beauty of our very home planet... It's gorgeous Mountains, furious Oceans... The lands... And everything nice on this Earth... From my childhood the map of our world seems much fascinating to me.... Later I studied the process of forming these continents... Their unique features and much more.... So I wanted to have a miniature world map on my wall of room...

Here in this project.. I just tried that thing in a simple approach... I had a relatively medium size PVC pipe in my stock... And I chose that to use for my project.... The truth is I started this project back in 2020...but couldn't finished due to some reason... I had my continents cut out and primed.. But for an unknown reason.. I left the project in my storage...

Now back in 2022..I saw a contest going on PVC pipes... So I decided to finish my half done project now.. As soon as my exams were over... I started to collect materials... And started the project again.....

So here is my attempt to make a "Hand made Backlit World Map" ...

For making this project as it is... We are going to need these followings things...

• A good printed template of the world map(print at least 2 copies.. Otherwise there will be scaling issue later)
• PVC pipe... Mine was 75mm in diameter... And almost 1.5 mm thick
• Heat gun/Electric iron
• Rotary tool.. With cutting disk
• Clear acrylic sheet(1.5 /2 mm thickness)
• 320 grit sand paper
• Coping saw + fine teeth blade
• Good quality glue
• Plastic primer
• Blue metallic paint
• Paint brush
• 12 volt Blue led lights
• Buck convert
• Electrical soldering iron and flux
• Flexible wire
• Enameled copper wire
• 2 female DC barrel connector... 1 male connector
• 12 volt adapter
• 3d printer and my provided files
• Some random tools

Pdf and 3d files 👇

So... It's time to start the project...

For the first step... We have to print the world map template and roughly stick that on the PVC pipe.. Wo we can determine the exact position for cutting.. This will ensure the minimal wastage of material..

After marking the spot... Remove the template

Now take a rotary tool with a cutting disk attached... And with the disk... Carefully cut along the line you just made with the template...

Don't rush in this step... Power tools always need great caution ⚠...

After successfully cutting the pipe.. It's time to use out Heat gun and gently flatten out pipe

Now using medium setting of the heat gun... Start heating the pipe... From the opposite side of the cut..

As soon as the plastic starts to heat up to a certain temperature the pipe will start to bend..

Using something flat.. Gently press on the pipe and try to flatten the pipe in a smooth sheet...

You can use whatever available.. Just don't burn yourself...

In this step... You can also use a baking street and a electric iron... To further flatten the sheet...

After the sheet is flattened.. Place it under some flat and heavy object to lock it's shape... And let it cool for few hours...

Now take the template pieces and stick those on the PVC sheet using some craft glue... Do make sure that the paper is adhered well...

Then let the glue dry completely

Take a coping saw and a fine teeth blade... I used a fine jewellery saw and blade... And i will recommend that one... If you have a scroll saw.. Then use that instead...

Firstly take the big sheet and cut it into kore manageable pieces.... Then using the same method.. Carefully cut out the individual pieces as neatly as possible...

In this step.. Pls be very much careful...with your saw... One wrong stroke is enough to cut your finger in pieces...

Place the continents in their corresponding places on the acrylic sheet and make an rough outline of them...

I used slightly smaller piece for my project because I wanted to use the acrylic sheet just for supporting the pieces and not to cover everything with a back plate...

Then simply cut the pieces with the saw...

Sand the edges with files and sand papers for more clean look...

It's now time to remove the paper pieces from the individual PVC continental pieces...

For that.. Simply soak the pieces in some water and the paper will be removed easily...

After the water is dries... It's time to prime the pieces... I used a plastic primer.. And for my project.. I used two thin coats... You may vary the process...

After the primer is applied... Leave the pieces for at least one whole day to cure the paint completely...

Now.. It's the fun part... Colouring the continents with metallic paints... I used metallic acrylic paint for my project... You may use something else.. I Firstly one base coat... Then let that dry for some time...

Then used a good amount of glue to give some thickness...

After the glue dries... I applied 2nd coat of paint and added some horizontal brush marks for a texture effect...

This is an totally optional step...

I used a 320 grit sand paper and sanded the both sides in horizontal strokes...

This I achieved the desired opaque brushed effect.. Suitable for these kind of projects...

After finishing the continents and the back plate it's time to stick those together...

I printed a new set of templates (I lost the original ones... In this two years 😂).. So I printed another piece and that came out slightly big in size... But I used that anyways.... I used T7000 glue for joining the pieces... Which is both heat resistive and quite strong...

I placed the template under the acrylic backplate and used that as an guide for the setting process...

Use small amount of glue and stick all the small pieces also...

I used 6 big blue LEDS and one small LED for this project... For the small single led.. I also used one 1 k resistor...

I stick those LEDS in place with the same T7000 glue and let them dry for 30 minutes... After that I used flexible wire to connect all the +ve and - ve terminals... Make sure not to short these two polarities...

After the wiring... Get some enameled copper wire(I got mine from and old transformer... And also used that for my arc reactor project)... I used 4 strings of wire and twisted them together with my drill machine(cordless)... I made two of these and braided them together...

After that.. I removed the enamel covering from the ends and soldiered one end with the one of the lights.. And one end with a female dc connector...

I used some hot glue to secure the wire in place on the backplate...

The LEDS shine too much and heats up quite fast on full 12 volt power... So I decided to simply decrease the voltage to around 10.5 volts to..Firstly reduce the excess brightness.. And to deal with the heat which will eventually increase the lifetime of the leds...

So I used LM2596 buck converter and my 3d printed enclosure to reduce the voltage... I attached one female connector at the Input side and one male jack on the output side...

The output is directly fed to the leds... The small cutout in the enclosure will enable for future adjustments

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After finishing the previous steps... It's now time to add the custom made mounting parts...

I printed 7 pieces of 2cm long spacers.. Which will be used for keeping the piece balanced on wall...

And the other two mounting pieces with holes for screw heads...

I also made a jig for the correct spacing between the holes on the wall... Make sure to use small head screws otherwise they will not be compatible with my files...

These were the simple steps for making the back lit world map... Ironically I finished this project right when the world is in the edge of the WW3 🙂.... I want to see this world united peacefully... Helping each other for our better future... The single colour in my project is just for portraying that their shouldn't be anything that divides us from each other...

If anyone reading these lines... Pls pray for a peaceful world... I don't know what's going to be the outcome in near future... And hope is the only thing that I can do right now.. 🙂...

Whatever... Thanks for having a look at my one of the favorite projects... If you have any doubts or suggestions.. Or even any criticism... Pls let me know in the comments down bellow... I will always love to see them...

Have a nice day 😄 😄 😄

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