Garage Door Shadow Caster DIY

I was looking for and easy way to create a custom Shadow Caster, when I didn't find anything to really guide me, I decided to put this tutorial together. It's much easier than you think!

Flashlight

Drill

Soldering Iron

Hot Glue Gun

3D Printer (you could get by with a non-3d printer, but you'll need a material you can cut out that can be outdoors)

Your Image You want to Cast

Yard Sign Stakes

Zip Ties

Two core wire

5V Power Supply

Find the image you want to cast, then converted it into a 3D model using a tutorial similar to the one found here: From 2D to 3D. How to turn a picture or a photo into a 3D model? - Original Prusa 3D Printers. If you don't have a 3D printer, you can use a standard printer to print your image and then cut out that model. (Use black to prevent light from going through)

Take the 3D print or 2D print cutout to your nearest Home Depot / Harbor Freight / Lowes / Walmart / etc. Most will allow you to turn the flashlights on so you can see how well they work. In this case you can use them to identify which one will give you the best shadow at the size and scale you want.

This step requires opening the flashlight, removing the batteries, and in my case, the battery caddy. The battery caddy in my case turned out to make the following steps easier. Proceed to identify a good spot about a quarter of the way down the flashlight and drill a hole big enough for the two core wire to fit through it.

In this step you will need to identify which end is positive and which side is negative and solder the two wires accordingly. I recommend connecting the wires to your power supply temporarily to validate your solder connections.

For this step you will want to use a Hot Glue gun to water-proof the newly created hole in the flashlight.

You can 3D print a stake as I did to hold up the outline: Multipurpose Stake by hockenmaier - Thingiverse Or use metal spikes: Amazon.com : metal yard sign stakes. Lastly, you can modify the stakes and zip tie it in place.

In my case I had a 5V power supply for some other lighting, but you can find one on Amazon similar to this one: Amazon.com: MTDZKJG 5Volt 3A Power Supply 15W AC/DC Adapter 100V-240V AC to 5V DC Power Supply Adapter 3000mA 2A 1A Transformer 5.5mm X 2.5mm/2.1mm DC Tip for LED Strip Light CCTV Camera Security System : Electronics