Monkey540's Engagement Anniversary Present, Beast's Enchanted Rose Build Thread

[Monkey540]

Well, here it is, my first Build thread.

I guess the one thing I'll have to remember is to take lots of pictures as I go.

Last year, Oct, 2012 I proposed to my girlfriend at DisneyWorld, it went a little something like this:

Yes we are dressed in Harry Potter robes, it was the halloween party. And yes those are real fireworks.

So I've been trying to think of something I could do or make for her as an anniversary of our engagement that was maybe Disney related. I stumbled across the floating rose thread here that was many years old, but I got some good ideas. So I've started work on my Enchanted Rose. It will not be floating, but I'm making it glow.

This is the target

The idea is, I will put an LED in the centre of the rose and with a simple circuit, it will be lit up.

Here is a prelim schematic I did, very simple:

Ok, so all the materials minus electronics came from Micheals.
Fake Flower: $2 I also got one from walmart to see which one I liked better:

Next was the glass bell dome. $29.99 at Micheals, with their normal 40% off coupon, it was $20:

Finally the base with I found in the woodworking area $8.5 down to $5.75 with coupon, not sure what it was meant for but here it is at the base of the dome:

Then I had to get the electronics.
I decided to try a few things, I picked up :
1 AAA battery pack holder
1 disc battery holder
1 2-way switch
a red and a white LED 3mm LEDs I think.
and some heatshrink, all under $10.

So far we are at approx $40.

So I decided to tinker with the LEDs to see which one I was going to use, here are the circuits with Red and White LEDs:

The AAA battery didn't even light up the LED, so 1.5V was no good, moved up to the 3V coin battery.
I decided the Red LED was the better way to go, as it worked better to light up the flower.

Also tested the flower to see how I am going to run the wires. They will run like this but heatshrunk:

Onto the woodwork:

Firstly, used a hole cutting bit to make the pocket for the battery:

Used a dremmel to remove the material for the switch, and dry fitted the pieces:

Then the channels for the wires:

Now it was time for a test fit:

You can see the stem sticking out where I made the channel.

Then I made a channel for the stem to allow the flower to stand upright:

And here we are:

Next to work on the channel on top to allow the dome to fit into the base.

 

[Koipond]

You could also hide the wires with florist tape.

 

[mandarin14]

NIce job!

 

[Monkey540]

You could also hide the wires with florist tape.

It has been suggested to me, but I feel it would be a bit more streamlined if I heatshrink the wires. Still kinda debating the options.

NIce job!

Thank you very much, it's coming along.

 

[Monkey540]

A bit of progress from last night:

I picked up some veneer in roll format. Unfortunately I needed to get the 10" roll as my base is 8.5" dia. And of course, the roll only comes in one length, 99". So add $15 to the cost of the project for this item.

Currently at $55.

I screwed the switch into the bottom to see how it would fit, and I am very satisfied, the wood cracked a bit, but nothing major:

Then I laid out the top channel, and started carving it out:

I got half the circle done in one sitting, it takes a long time, as I'm cutting chips out with my exacto knife. I plan to get some small chisels to clean it up after the initial gouging.

 

[Cinci]

Simply amazing monkey. Wishing you and your financee all the best

 

[Monkey540]

Another update:
Finished the slot, but I need to chisel it down some more.
Installed the LED, it turned out exactly as I wanted. The red LED appears white in all the photos though.

Also, a small video I did trying to show the colour, it's not too much better.
Short Video

 

[Monkey540]

More Progress:
I did a bunch of soldering, and heatshrinking, I think the flower looks great:

Then did a bunch of woodwork, and started staining:
First coat:

Just finished second coat:

 

[Monkey540]

Looks like a number of my photos on the hosting site got lost, darnit

 

[Gphalen]

Awesome build, can`t wait to see the finished project. not bad for a first build thread

 

[Monkey540]

Awesome build, can`t wait to see the finished project. not bad for a first build thread

Thanks

Some progress.
Finished the last bit of soldering/heat shrinking

Screwed the switch back in, and here's how it looks:

And with the veneer piece covering:

View from the top:

And, with the light on:

I made a short video of the rose display with the glass dome on, turning on the light, the led still appears white for some reason
http://s1361.photobucket.com/user/sk8r540/media/20130907_171926_zpsc2977c61.mp4.html


Will need little feeties to allow it to sit flat given the battery clamp is so large.

Next step is hotglue the flower stem and wires then glue the veneer down

 

[JasonCash]

very cool... I really need to make one of these for my wife

 

[cavx]

That is a great idea and build.

 

[Monkey540]

very cool... I really need to make one of these for my wife

Sounds like a nice idea.

That is a great idea and build.

Thanks, it's almost done....

I fixed the newest video link, apparently Photobucket can handle the size of the video file and Imageshack can't, oh well.

 

[Monkey540]

Yea! my Image hosting site was able to recover all the images, I am complete again!

Also, last night, I hot glued the electrical portions in, a solder came undone, I resoldered it.
Here is the bottom:

I also glued the veneer:

Started with 2 clamps, but the piece kept moving and separating, so I had to run to the store to pick up a bunch more clamps. Hopefully it won't need too much adjusting.

 

[Monkey540]

Almost finished, after the gluing, I had the piece clamped, check out my spidery clampage:

I did a bit of trimming, and looks like a bit of the veneer didn't sit well, but it won't be seen so I'm fine with it, and here's what's left:

Just a little bit of staining touchup.

Also, I dropped some pedals from the flower to see how they would fall, and I superglued them in place, but I found a bit of an issue. Where the superglue is holding the pedal to the base, there is a large brown spot, as the pedal material is very thin and the superglue made it transparent.

I tried out some pink acrylic paint to see if it would fix the dark patches, here was the result.

So, this is now the final look for the prop, I'm very happy with the results, but the camera still doesn't show the LED as red.

 

[Cinci]

Spectacular! Monkey, she'll love it!

 

[Mxlplx]

Great job, great project!

 

[Gearhead]

This is easily one of the coolest romantic projects I've yet seen. Simple, but instantly recognizable!
I may have to try this myself!

 

[Monkey540]

Spectacular! Monkey, she'll love it!

Thanks Buddy!

Great job, great project!

Thanks it`s been a fun project.

This is easily one of the coolest romantic projects I've yet seen. Simple, but instantly recognizable!
I may have to try this myself!

Thanks, it was all for the lady I love, so definitely worth the time and effort.