Behold the DiscoLazer
Fun Things to Cut and Glue
This is a cheap and easy craft project. No electronics, accuracy, soldering, welding, nuclear reactions, or mining is involved. Cut and glue, baby!
It's darned close to free if you already have a laser pointer. Our pointer cost $20. We already had a pair of blown speakers, but if you need to, you can buy a pair of blown speakers at any garage sale or second-hand store for $5-$10. You probably have everything else you need already, but everything is available at your local supermarket for a few bucks each.
You should be able to finish this in an afternoon. After you finish, what will you have? A nifty lightshow machine that displays the waveforms of your music on the wall as a two dimensional plot, that's what!
(Now with nicer pics and movies!) It looks way better in person than it does in these shots. Our digital camera bites. Here's a couple of even crappier movies of the DiscoLazer in action. There's no sound, so you'll have to imagine the music that's playing. It's DJ Testosterone.
What you need:
- 1 pair of speakers you don't want to ever use as speakers again. A midrange-size speaker (4 - 6 inches) is best. Whatever the size, it has to be the magnet-and-cone kind. The speakers can be blown and/or have a damaged/torn/missing cone, but must otherwise work.
- 1 laser pointer
- 1 plastic mirror (ours was described as an "unbreakable shower mirror" and cost a buck). Plastic is better than glass because it's easier to cut and weighs a lot less.
- Aluminum foil
- 1 wire coathanger
- Duct tape
- Epoxy
Got all the stuff together? Good!
Next Page: How it all works.
| Intro | How it Works | Prepping the Speakers | Coathanger Mangling | Preparing the Mirror | Preparing the Pivot Rod | Final Assembly | Setup and Operation | Needed Improvements |