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![]() The Scepter
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The Scepter is an exploration in glass, metal, wood, and electronics. The overall design and all of the parts were first sketched out on paper and then developed in CAD. Many of the parts were further detailed in Blender to add surface textures and non-geometric details. The overall dimensions are about 24" long by about 3" wide. The glass parts, many of the metal parts, and various internal parts were 3D printed. I printed the glass and metal parts in castable wax, for use in lost-wax casting. The metal castings were done by a local jewelry caster who I've been working with for many years. (My castings tend to be difficult.) I do all of my own glass casting using colored glass frit and a ceramic shell process. The wax is burned out of the ceramic shell with a torch and then the casting is done in an electric kiln. Internal structural parts including circuit board holders, LED holders, and wire strain reliefs were printed in fused nylon and in a toughened SLA resin. I print the SLA parts myself and have a 3D printing company print the nylon parts. The metal parts are bronze and brass. The parts that weren't cast were milled and/or turned. Most of the metal parts were given a thin copper plating, then patinated, and finished with a verdigris wax. I do the plating, patination, and other finishing operations myself. I made the wood parts from mahogany on a lathe. The pushbutton and connector holes were milled, and the parts were finished with stain, Watco oil, and butcher's wax. The electronics include an Arduino Nano, an accelerometer,
four Neopixel RGBW LED rings, a rechargeable battery, and the necessary
voltage conversion, charging, and switching circuitry. I laid out the
pc boards for the Arduino & Accelerometer and the USB & Switch,
and had them fabricated by a pc board fabrication company. The electronic
components on the USB & Switch board are so small that I had to
solder most of them in place under a microscope. The Arduino controls all of the light patterns and takes input from the accelerometer. The coding is pretty straightforward. The use of the accelerometer provides additional flashes and patterns of colored light in response to moving the Scepter around. |
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When the accelerometers aren't active,
the Scepter has default LED pulsing that includes random color flash sequences.
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Details of the center sphere and surrounding
features.
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This is a raw casting of the tendrils. |
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The tendrils are shown assembled into their cast bronze holders. A connector for the end LED ring can be protruding from each. In the lower right there is a cast bronze end joint which the tendrils holder will be fastened into. In the upper right there is a sphere end joint with the internal LED ring visible. | |
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This is an exploded diagram of the entire
Scepter, minus the wiring.
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Copyright 2025 by Scott Lefton |