Motorised Model Lighthouse
Lighthouses are the iconic guardians of treacherous coastlines. These tall, illuminated buildings save infinite lives by warning boats of impending danger. In this project, a classically inspired lighthouse is brought to life with a motorised, rotating light.
Attached is a short pdf which shows a breakdown of the making process (with pictures).
Good luck, and happy crafting!
Downloads
Supplies
Clay kiln, clay, potter's wheel, red and white acrylic paint, roll of tinfoil, Epoxy Resin, hollow 0.6cm diameter 20cm long metal straw/pipe, Sellotape, white LED, large gear, small motor, round on/off switch, air drying clay, 2cm thick wood, PVA glue, small pebbles/sand/shells, Gorilla Glue (or similar), small plastic battery compartment (for 4 AA batteries), 4 AA batteries, Velcro strips, 0.6 cm diameter drill bit, 1.8cm diameter drill bit, electric wires, approx. 6.5cm diameter clear plastic pot, approx. 5cm tall, lathe, 0.6cm diameter 2.5cm long steel rod, Lego worm gear, pillar drill, solder, insulating tape, hot glue gun.
Making the Base
1) Cut 2 12cm diameter wooden circles (I used a scroll saw, but you could do this by handsaw).
2) Position your battery compartment in the centre of one of the circles (don't stick it down), and draw around it. Remove the battery compartment, then use a pair of compasses to draw the circle with a radius that will allow it to fit comfortably inside; make sure that you leave a ring of circumference at least 1cm all the way around.
3) Cut around the circumference of the circle you drew. This is the "bottom ring". The other circle will be referred to as the "top circle".
4) Screw the top circle to the bottom ring, drilling in smaller pilot holes first to reduce risk of wood cracking. Make sure to drill from the top circle into the bottom ring, and that they line up around their circumferences.
5) Drill a hole of diameter 0.6cm in the middle of the top circle.
6) In the battery compartment rectangle you drew earlier, stick 2 pieces of Velcro onto the bottom of the top circle (framed by the bottom ring). Stick 2 corresponding pieces of Velcro on the bottom of the battery compartment, making sure it lines up with the Velcro on the top circle.
7) Drill another 0.6cm diameter hole into the top circle, next to where the wires come out of the battery compartment.
8) Drill a 1.8cm diameter hole through one side of the bottom ring. This is where your on/off switch will fit, so make sure it is the correct size!
That's the easy stuff done; next comes the fun part!
Making the Top
There's not a lot to this step- just make a pot.
1) Make an approximately 13.5cm high clay pot on your Potter's wheel. Mine was around 10cm diameter at the bottom, and 7cm diameter at the top, forming a sort of cylindrical frustrum shape. Your pot must be hollow to allow for the electrical components inside, so while making it as spacious as possible, take care not to make the walls thin (or it might not survive being in the kiln!).
2) Make an approximately 1.5cm tall cap for your lighthouse (the same diameter as the top of your lighthouse, so for me that was approx. 7cm diameter). I poked a small hole into the top of the cap so a weather vain could be attached!
3) Fire your pot and cap in the kiln.
4) Paint the pot and cap- I used traditional red-and-white horizontal stripes, but now's your chance to get creative and build that dream designer lighthouse!
5) Once dry, attach the cap and pot together with the plastic pot, using Gorilla Glue (or any suitable alternative). Weigh the model down with a few books, or clamp it (although this may be difficult because of the shape), while it sets. If you can't find a plastic pot that fits your lighthouse, cut one down so that its the right height. Also, the open end of the plastic pot must face down onto the clay pot, with the closed end facing up onto the cap.
6) Finally, should you wish to, decorate with 3D printed decorations (files attached below, including life rings, anchors, star fish, seagulls and crabs), or make a charming weather vain! To make mine, I glued together pieces of silver-painted lollipop sticks with a boat-shaped bead on top.
Almost there- it's time to finish up!
Finishing Up
1) Cut your 0.6cm metal pipe/straw to length and poke it into the central hole in the top circle, until it peaks through in the centre of the bottom ring. Ensure it's the same height as your clay pot and plastic pot on top of that combined, minus about 2cm (to allow for the LED on top). Glue it in place here, using Gorilla Glue again.
2) Solder the wires of the LED to 2 different wires, and wrap them in insulating tape. Then, thread the wires through the metal pole, so they reammerge through the central hole in the top circle, underneath where the battery compartment will be.
3) Enlarge the central hole of your large gear from the plastic gear set linked in the inventory above, either using a file or drill bit, until it is easily threaded onto the metal pipe and rotates freely.
I needed to raise my gear slightly off of the top circle later on, or else my motor wouldn't mesh with it. If this is the case for you, raise the height of the gear up the metal pipe with a few small washers. You may need to reduce the height of the cardboard tube by cutting a bit off of the top end.
4) Cut off a length of approx. 6cm from a cardboard tube from e.g. a roll of clingfilm, baking paper of tinfoil. I suggest using a small saw for this, not scissors. Then cut 2 approx. 0.5cm across, 4 cm down slits into the top of it. The height of the slots should be the same as the height of your plastic pot in between the painted clay pot and clay cap.
5) Stick a layer of tinfoil around the inside of the cut-off piece of tube. This is fiddly, but it will reflect more light out.
6) Cut out 2 rings of cardboard the same diameter as your cardboard tube, and coat these in tinfoil. Hole punch a single hole in the centre of one of them.
7) Sellotape these circles on to either end of the cut-off piece of carboard tube. The circle with a hole in must be at the opposite end to the slits in the tube.
8) Sellotape the cut-off piece of tube (now sealed with a circle at either end) back onto the rest of the tube, with the circle with a hole in facing into the longer piece of tube.
9) Using a small saw, cut the non-slitted end of the cardboard tube to length, so that it is the same height as your clay pot and plastic pot on top of that combined. Ideally it should be slightly shorter that this, so that it will not scrape the bottom of the cap when placed on top of the gear. The metal pipe should slide easily through the hole punched into the foil-coated, circular piece of card beneath the slits in the top part of the cardboard tube. Glue in place with Gorilla Glue.
Now, when you place the clay pot on top of the top circle, over the carboard tube and gear, it should be slightly higher than the top of the tube, and everything fit inside nicely.
10) Using a lathe, create a hole at the end of the steel rod, into which the end of the motor will fit (you want this to be a really tight fit).
11) Use a pillar drill to turn the "+" shaped axle of the Lego worm gear into a circular hole. Reduce the diameter of the steel rod 0.5cm away from the hole, so you can slide the worm gear on (again, you want this to be a tight fit).
Once you are happy with the arrangement, glue the gear onto the metal rod. I wouldn't suggest gluing the metal rod to the motor, as there is a chance glue could splurge out and prevent it from rotating properly.
12) Mould some air drying clay around the bottom of the motor, encasing it and providing a flat surface so that the motor can stand on its side.
13) If the clay doesn't fix the motor completely in place, then glue the clay to the top circle in such a a way that the worm gear meshes with the horizontal plastic gear. Use Gorilla Glue for this.
14) Poke the wires of the motor through the second 0.6cm diameter hole you drilled in the top circle (the non-central hole). Solder one of these wires to one of the wires from the LED, and solder the other to one of the wires from the battery compartment. Wrap all soldered connections with insulating tape.
15) Insert the on-off switch into the hole you drilled earlier, and solder the remaining lose wire from the LED to one of the metal connectors on the switch. Solder the remaining lose wire form the battery compartment to the other connector on the switch. You should now have a series circuit consisting of the battery compartment, the motor, the LED, and the on/off switch. Wrap all soldered connections in insulating tape.
16) Now is the moment of truth! Insert the batteries and flick the switch, and hopefully, the LED will turn on and the motor turn, spinning the cardboard tube glued to it! If your circuit doesn't work, check that none of your components are faulty, or try turning around your LED (you will have to unsolder its connections), or recharge your batteries.
Optionally, you can cover the base of your model in felt or fabric to help contain the battery compartment and soldered wires. Using Velcro will enable the battery compartment to be accessed easily.
17) Place the clay pot back over the mechanism, central on the top circle. To decorate the base, I used 2 main layers of stones: first I used a hot glue gun to stick on larger stones, then PVA to sprinkle on smaller ones. You can also use shells or sand.
And that's it! Your own motorised lighthouse!
Conclusion
I found this project fun and fiddly! It developed my skills in electronics, pottery and woodwork! When I first started out I was unsure how to achieve my goal of creating a miniature motorised version of an iconic lighthouse. However after many hours of toil and experimentation I am pleased to have created an exciting product that never fails to impress friends and family!
If you haven't already, please see the short pdf attached to the introduction. It contains my initial design and a breakdown of the making process with pictures, a more in-depth conclusion, and a few bonus snaps of the final product!
Please enjoy a short video of the final product: