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Giant LED Cube

You know when you mean to do something and then forgot and a few years pass? Okay then… I wrote the post Designing a Giant LED Cube in 2018 and hey, it’s time for the next post!

Anyway, I built what was (jokingly) call the “World’s Largest LED Cube!” but eventually settled on “Giant LED Cube” and here are some photos and videos showing it off. And yes, since it uses “LED Bulbs” I consider it an LED Cube. It’s not technically a “cube” because it’s a bit taller in the Z direction but hey, close enough!

To connect all the PCV pipes together I got eight 3-Way Elbows, twelve 4-Way Tees, eight 5-Way Crosses… and 27 Elbows, 28 Tees and a ton of PVC pipe, obviously!

The LED Cube was shown at Maker Faire Milwaukee in 2018 and 2019, as well as the Fall Experiment in 2019, The Elkhorn Mini Maker Faire in 2019, and the Madison Mini Maker Faire in 2019. Sadly at the end of 2019 the department I worked for got shut down and I was left with just the control box, the electronics, and the PVC connectors, as I didn’t have space for all the PVC pipes, though I did get some (not all) of them later on and thought about building a smaller version of the cube but life stuff happened in 2020. Sigh…

While this was a large sculpture (the largest I ever worked on) it was fairly easy to put up and take down, and could fit in a reasonably sized vehicle like a van, small truck, or even a Honda Element. the 5 foot pieces of PVC pipe did take up some room but 5 feet isn’t too unwieldy to deal with. All the other stuff fit in a few bins.

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I changed a bike tire!

Hey, I changed a flat tire! I got a flat about six weeks ago and I ended up taking the bike into the shop and they got it all fixed up the same day and I grabbed an extra tube in case it happened again… well, it happened again. I figured I should (re)learn how to change a bike tire, so that’s what I did.

It’s been, oh, probably 30 years since I changed a bike tire, and that was on my Dumpster Bike, so I did a quick search, ignored the AI results, and found this Removing Rear Wheels Is Easy! post from a bike shop in London. Cheers!

My main concern was that I know how to change a tire (as in, remove the tires, replace inner tube, put tire back on) but the “removing rear wheel from bike” part was where I was a little rusty.

Anyway I got the wheel off, got the tire off, put some air in the old tube, confirmed a leak, then inspected the tire to see if there was any visible damage, any bits of metal, etc. The last time I got a flat I could definitely see a large metal staple. This time, upon close inspection… I found nothing. Some tiny rocks embedded in the tire, but nothing that poked through. Also, the hole in the tube was pretty tiny, so maybe it was just a failed tube?

(Note: The photo of the stangely distorted tube may be the result of messing with trying to fill it on the previous day and having it pop out between the rim and tire. Don’t ask.)

I got it all back together, filled the tube, and did a test ride in the alley. Oh, notice anything? In my haste to test it I forgot to reconnect my rear brake! Argh! Anyway, I got that back in place and all was well. It took about 20 minutes total including the test ride and fixing the rear brakes. Not bad for my first attempt.

The one pain in the ass was doing it all without a bike stand. So I thought to myself “Hey, could I build one from PCV pipe?” mainly because I have a shit-ton of PVC pipe connectors from a past project. Well, it looks like people have made PVC bike stands, so I’ve added making one to my list of things to do.

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Pete’s Prints at Maker Faire Milwaukee

Back in 2015 I became a Producer for Maker Faire Milwaukee, and helped put on the Faire for the next four years until 2019. Life changed a lot in 2020 and I did take part in the event as a Maker in 2021 and 2022, but life got a little upset in 2023 so I just attended as an Attendee. Well, it’s 2024 and I’m back as a Maker!

So come on down to the 2024 Edition of Maker Faire Milwaukee happening on November 23rd & 24th November 2nd & 3rd at Discovery World and see Pete’s Prints.

HEY! So yes, the date has changed! It was November 23rd & 24th but is now November 2nd & 3rd, 2024.

I will be there to show off my unique relief printmaking process. If you missed it, I designed and 3D printed my own mould & deckle and I make my own paper, mostly from recycled junk mail and other scraps of paper, and I then 3D print printing plates and print with them (onto the handmade paper) using a DIY printing press I assembled. Oh, I also 3D print frames for the prints.

Yeah, that’s a lot, so here’s a list of all of the posts I’ve written about my printmaking endeavors over the last year or so:

Whew! If you read all of those (or even just some of them) you might have some insight into my process. If not, feel free to come to Maker Faire Milwaukee and ask some questions!

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Bike Lock Mount Spacer

I have a bike lock that mounts to the seat stay by clamping around the tube and it’s never quite fit right. I can tighten it all I want but the plastic on metal doesn’t really prevent it from rotating slightly. It’s not a huge deal but it’s enough to bother me.

In the past I had a GPS handlebar mount and it came with a little piece of rubber to help shim it tight and grip the bar which prevented it from rotating. I didn’t have any random pieces of rubber around, but I do have flexible filament! TPU (or Thermoplastic PolyUrethane) is 3D printing filament that is sort of soft and flexible, so I loaded it up in the Prusa MINI+ and designed a piece in OpenSCAD.

When I say “designed” there is barely a design, as it’s just a hollowed cylinder with a slit down the side. While 3D printed parts can be complex, they can also be really simple. (I once printed a shim!)

Again, for me it’s all about solving problems. I could have hunted around for a piece of rubber, or ordered some, but I had the filament on-hand, I can design things quickly, and they can print while I do more important work.

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Bike Seat Light Adapter

Back in February I got a set of bike lights and the rear light mounted on the seat post perfectly, but I recently added a bike rack and bag which blocked the light from view. At first I attached the rear light (which is also a reflector) to the back of the bag, but it wasn’t ideal.

So looking at the options I thought mounting it to the back of the seat (on the saddle rails) made sense, but I needed an adapter, so I designed and printed one. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: This is why I like 3D printing. I’m not interested in printing little toys or trinkets, I am interested in solving problems.

I fired up OpenSCAD and designed a cylinder, split it in half, added holes/grooves to fit around the bars on the seat, and then added a hole for a bolt to go through to clamp it together.

One side of the bolt hole allows the head of the bolt to be recessed so it doesn’t stick out, and the other side allows for the hex nut to be held captive so you can tighten the screw with the nut held in place.

I remember back in 2012 when I asked Michael Curry if he got designs right the first time and the first print worked perfectly, and he said that most designs took about three attempts… I’m happy to say this one took just two! (Well, I could probably slightly improve things with a third attempt, but the second was close enough so I called it done.)

I did have to slightly cut down the bolt with a hacksaw to get it to not stick out too far. Again, a third print could have addressed that issue, but sometimes a hacksaw is the right solution to a problem.