B.Light Design

Awhile back I made some props for No Strings, a group who weave urgent messages into puppet films and puppet play. No Strings works with some of the masters of the original Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock, reaching children in conflicts, disasters and poverty around the world.

One of the props was the Return Button that featured prominently in “Will This Be Your Life?”. It was a fun project for a great cause.

Things are fine in Daisy Johnson’s life, but growing up offers so many temptations. When walking home from school with her friend Frances and little brother Daniel, who she’s charged with looking after, she is flattered when Clifford, a guy on a motorbike, wants to talk to her. Ritah and Tanya are smoking cigarettes, watching. They’re the cool girls, slightly older. Daisy wants to be like them. When Kibing appears and offers her the amazing opportunity to choose between two futures, represented by Clifford and Frances and Daniel, she doesn’t hesitate. Luckily, she’s given a magical Return Button: at any point she can press it and return to the present with no harm done. It’s a good thing. At first, things seem great. Daisy grows up fast, smoking, drinking, hanging out in bars, and doing things better left until later in life. Then she gets pregnant. Worse, she has lost the Return Button! Much, much worse, she finds she is HIV positive, even though Clifford seemed so healthy. With only Clifford to turn to, she arrives to find him disgusted, flinging her old school bag outside. The Return Button! Daisy rushes back to the present, and to Frances and Daniel. She tells all her friends her story, and how she had a Return Button – but they wouldn’t.

Guess I’ve always been making magic buttons. Also, you haven’t lived until you get chewed out by a Muppet.

Lately, I’ve been making a lot of robot chest plates and bottom plates. I’ve been experimenting with modifying steel electrical plates, technically called universal crossbars. Machining, bending, and modifying them. Typically, I get mine from Grand Brass (and this one).

So far, I like the results.

I ran a Robot Recipes Building Class at ITP Camp last week. It was a of fun, very interesting to see all of the different designs.

I ran a toolbox building session at ITP Camp on Father’s Day. I CNC’d a bunch of parts and showed parents and kids how to put them together.

The latest Robot Recipe came from cans that made flan with peaches (thanks for the recipe Jav). A sink strainer, some drawer pulls, electrical plates, and of course a toggle switch. I love the new blue color I just got my hands on.

Recently, the Nerdy Derby visited ITP Camp. Here was my entry.

It was King of the Hill night, the goal was to roll over a hill the slowest. As my car went down the track the axles tightened on the wheels, slowing it down. It worked some of the time.

Everything that went into making the latest Robot Recipe (plus some internal electronics). When the red button is pushed it pulses like a heart beat (heart beep?) and the top button turns on the eye lights and bottom light.

The birthday girl wants a Mickey robot, the girl gets a Mickey robot. Meet M.I.C.K.E.Y., two tuna cans, a a green bean can, two old Kodak 50mm film canisters, a couple washers, and some white push buttons.

Happy birthday Georgie.

Trying to get my numbers up in my robot army.

This blue guy came from a peach flan recipe, so he is Flan Bot.

An Earl Grey Tea body and evaporated milk head, T.E.A. Bot.

Just a head for the moment, tuna fish can and Altoids lid. Don’t know if I want to eat that meal.

I’ve been working on some dials that go to 11, and I figured I would try electroetching a set. I basically followed this Instructable to the letter. Thanks Switch and Lever.

The stainless steel washer etched really nicely, and polished pretty well too. The galvanized, not so much. Fun to experiment with it though.